Tag Archives: life experiences

The Road to Diamond, Day 343: A Short Stint

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Posted by on in children, collaborating, distraction issues, impediments, Inner Struggles, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving

November 5, 2025- Some things never seem to change. Two little girls decided to shut out their more officious row-mate, after she called attention to something they supposedly said. I have two thoughts on reporting vs. tattling. On the one hand, I thoroughly believe that children should be seen, heard and believed. The days when only adults were allowed to speak are, mercifully, long gone. On the other hand, not being naive, I know that children, being human, can also be wrong-in their assessment or even in their intentions. A child’s frame of reference is most likely limited by the brevity of their life experiences. Nevertheless, I listened carefully to her report, and equally carefully heard their side, not assessing blame or credit to either.

As it happened, we were starting what is called “Centers”, where students rotate among different activities in the classroom. So, the two girls went to one area and the third occupied herself in drawing and reading. They later were all collaborating on another activity, the earlier dispute seemingly set aside. The regular teacher returned shortly afterward, and I was on my merry way.

We can be very funny about hanging onto bad exchanges with others. I learned a long time ago that grudges are like dead weights. The kids who came across as bullies, in my younger days, were all different. Early on, I decided to look at them individually. The good-hearted boy who was always on my case about one thing or another became the man who was earnestly interested in my well-being. The troubled kid who was constantly trying to beat up others was, as I later witnessed, terrified by others who were stronger and meaner than he. The duo who harassed other kids, by riding up to them on their bikes and taking things, later became men who found themselves being targeted by more nefarious grifters. Holding grudges would have weighed me down. I’m glad to have moved on.

Hopefully, the very competent regular teacher will handle any ongoing tension between the three girls and their different personalities will find a way to mesh, over the years.

The Road to Diamond, Day 194: On Silent Wings

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Posted by on in animal and plant life, children, collaborating, Community, impediments, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

June 10, 2025- At the close of an online meeting of friends, marking the Strawberry Moon, one sister lauded a young man who had traveled to the border of Tibet and had laid a vase in the ground. This practice of interring ceramic vases in significant places has gone on for nearly a decade, inspired by the words of a Nepalese monk. The vases are found all over the globe.

The sister spoke of an owl, which graces the skies of her home in Alberta, “flying on silent wings”, and likened the young man’s journey to that of the great raptor-quiet, graceful and with mission.

There are many purposeful journeys being undertaken now. Across the globe, children looking to be born make their way towards the light, in their mother’s safe and loving wombs. The women themselves walk the hard road towards delivery, in most cases supported by loving companions. Those of us who are past the child bearing or child rearing age walk the path of self-reliance, of self-healing, for as long as our minds and hearts allow. Youths who are not yet ready to assume the mantle of adulthood make their way through the morass of discovery.

No matter how we walk, ride or fly; whether we are silent, or noisome, the journey continues. Sometime, it is in fits and starts. Other days, it is smooth and steady. There are those who press on, ever forward. Others, longing for a past that was seldom as idyllic as they imagine, push backwards. To me, those who, like myself, recall a rather happy and fulfilling childhood and adolescence, are not fearful of change. Those whose memories are dark and terrifying want a reset, if for no other reason than to experience some light in their life, which they can associate with childhood innocence, even as their bodies are aging. Then, too, there are those who seek stasis, a period of entropy. Both in physical and metaphysical terms, these are bound to face disappointment. In both the visible and invisible realms of the Universe, nothing stands still.

So it continues, the flight on silent wings.

“How’s That for Love?”

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Posted by on in Assistance, collaborating, impediments, Inner Struggles, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving

November 19, 2024- So says Kate, the adolescent daughter of a pediatric surgeon and an intelligence operative, to her mother, after hugging her father, after he’d been attacked by the father of one of his patients. This began the second episode of “Lioness”.

Love doesn’t always come easily and even the deepest is not always requited. We humans always need to have free will, before any kind of attachment or commitment can be made. I am no different, in that regard. There are those whom I have placed in the categories of friend, or extended sibling, who once wished that I would offer a different, more intimate role in my life.

Then, there are situations where mutual love exists, but the life experiences of one or both parties serve as blocks to the free expression of that love. A fear of commitment may follow the sudden death of a spouse, after which there was no time for grieving, for processing, for closure. Compound that by the incomplete grieving of one’s children, and the wariness is multiplied.

The real deal, in this set of circumstances, places the needs of the loved one, and the loved one’s family, front and center. Nothing changes, in the lover’s self-concept. Alternative plans are prepared, just in case, but the communication does not stop. Life goes on, in every other avenue of endeavour, while every effort continues to help the beloved achieve dreams and goals. There is wide latitude given, in the hope that the grieving over the prior loss can resume, and become complete. There is a standing offer of emotional and spiritual support.

How’s that for love?