Things I Want to Be Involved In:

Community Literacy
Hope Little Theatre
Story Time in the Park
Kayaking
Writing
Celebration of Diversity
House building
Soccer event
Acquired Brain Injury Association
Friends
Homelessness project
Learning
Travel

Unsung Blues

I have spent my days stringing and unstringing my instrument while the song I came to sing remains unsung. ~Rabindranath Tagore

What if the instrument is broken and you can't hear the song anymore?

What if you were never taught how to play or how to sing?

What if there never was a song?

Writing Practice

Once upon a time there was an old abandoned delapitated house in a hamlet in the canyon. Some said it was haunted. The children of the village didn't go near the property when it was dark. There were rumours that someone had taken his own life in one of the out buildings situated next to the house. Some locals said there was a feeling around the place that made them uneasy.

One day a man and woman drove down the lane, parking the car just short of where the bushes and brambles were too thick to pass through. A tall, shaggy weeping willow guarded the entry onto the acre of land. Blackberry bushes all but obliterated the terraced rock-walled gardens. As they carefully picked their way through the prickly, clinging branches, they could hear the sounds of Spring above and below. Once they passed the various shacks hidden behind the vines, they found themselves in a small clearing. As they took a 360 degrees turn, they both realized at the same moment that they had to buy this beautiful place. Ahead was the old house. A look to the right revealed the mighty river forging through the rock canyon below. To the left and up hill were the gardens, almost snuffed out under the invasive blackberry bushes. Behind was the gate keeper, Mr Weeping Willow.

to be continued

Big Foot in the Mouth

I participated in the Big Foot Toastmasters in Agassiz on three Mondays in September. I spoke on the table topics for 2 nights, (one on weather and one on a gardening metaphor with no prep time) and shared the "thought for the day" one evening. Nothing profound and I did have time to prepare.

I don't like going to these meetings but once I'm there, I'm glad I'm there, if that makes any sense at all. My goal is to change my style of speaking. I want to learn how to organize my thoughts and articulate them. I am not shy in front of a group. I have facilitated so many groups of varied sizes, in so many ways, in so many places. I do it well. I listen to the group and change things as I go, to reflect where the group wants to take it. I have no script.

What needs work, I think, is to speak with more content and less passion. I say what I feel but have a hard time saying what I think in any way that is concise and coherent. If people don't seem to get what I'm saying, I just say it over again with more passion. I don't usually have more information to give. I am short on details. I am a lousy debater.

The last 3 Mondays I have been unable to attend due to family and friends gathering for a celebration and a memorial. Next Monday I have to go to an event to promote my literacy program. I'm hoping that the following Monday, I will start again and maybe even pay the membership fee.