Speaking up

I think I am a compassionate person - or at least I try to be. I think I have mostly goodwill in my heart toward people who are different than me.  But I realize that I'm kinda' clueless about what life is really like for them. I have never walked in their shoes but I have made feeble attempts to learn more about such things.  It is easy to see that in many cases, black lives do not matter and that is not okay with me.

A couple years ago I was challenged to read Black authors so I made a commitment to read and listen and learn.  I am finding so many writers from whom I can learn more about their reality. 

Jacalyn Wetzel is one of the many Black writers I've found and this is one of her everyday normal life stories.

I don't often speak up or share the things I'm reading.  Maybe I'm hesitant to get up on my soapbox.  But I am deeply troubled by the things that must be endured by so many - simply because of their skin color.

Maybe I could find the courage to speak up once in awhile.

Different can be beautiful

Sometimes
something
can look beautiful
just because
it's different
in some way
from all the things
around it.

One red petunia
in a window box
will look very beautiful
if all the rest of them 
are white,
and vice-versa.

-  Andy Warhol

The Philosophy of Andy Warhol

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Photo was shot at the Felt Mansion, Saugatuck, Michigan, 2013

This week in my town

Why in the world did you move to Flint?

What is there to like about Flint?

We still get strange looks and comments and questions like these.

I’ve written about some of my answers to those questions here and there.  I mention things like culture and diversity and history and the arts.  This city is full of those things.  

Maybe I should just tell you about last week.  

It was quite a week.  Lots happening in Carriage Town Historical Neighborhood as well as downtown Flint. Lots of culture and diversity and history and the arts - but also a bit of celebrity.

Let’s start with Sunday...

We had invited a few new friends over for a cookout, but not quite as many as the previous week for another cookout to welcome International students.  That night 53 people showed up - people from a bunch of other countries and quite a few Americans.  

But this night was much more relaxed.  We had invited just a few and we had a lovely time together.

And yes, some celebs came to town this week - including  Michael Moore, Chris Hayes of MSNBC’s "All In" show, Miss Michigan, and the CEO of General Motors. 

Michael Moore had come back home and appeared at the Whiting with Dr. Mona for a screening of his new movie on Monday night.  On Tuesday Chris Hayes interviewed Michael Moore, Dan Kildee, Miss Michigan, Emily Sioma, and several of the "water warriors" during two different shows. 

The live show with Moore happened right here in Carriage Town at Factory Two.  The place was hopping with big white trucks, men in black suits, helicopters overhead, people standing in long security lines and over-flowing parking lots. 

On Wednesday those parking lots held an abundance of Corvettes and Cadillacs as well a long row of shiny Chevy trucks parked along Water Street for the gala event for General Motors big-wigs. 

This was also the week for the usual Friday Art Walk and the annual Hispanic Festival at the Farmers’ Market. 

What a lovely evening to stroll downtown browsing art work on display and listening to sidewalk musicians playing! 

At the market the leisurely stroll became a quest to find one’s way through the festival crowd.

Amazing food options

Mariachi music in a big tent

Beautiful people everywhere.

There has been yet another bit of excitement in Carriage Town.  For months we have been looking forward to new pedestrian bridges at the confluence where Swartz Creek joins the Flint River.  These bridges will “fill the gap” between the Flint River Trail to the north of the city and the Genesee Valley Trail to the west affecting far more than just our neighborhood.  Hikers and cyclists from all across the county will benefit from this new connection.

We’ve been watching the progress at the site and were excited when the first span of bridge arrived and was waiting on shore.  Could this be the week for the other bridge to arrive?  Sure enough; on Thursday it was spotted being transported across Corunna Road. By mid-Friday the final section was put into position and Saturday morning kayakers were paddling under the new bridge!  Learn more about Kayak Flint here and here.  

'Twas a busy and exciting week in the neighborhood.

Now we wait for the completion of the trail and the bridge approaches so we can ride across it.

AND we wait for SOMEbody to set up an ice cream shop somewhere in the neighborhood!

Fireworks with friends

Fourth of July surprise

I just realized some things...

Sitting in a comfy lawn chair in my own backyard* with a perfect view of the fireworks exploding over the river...  I realized that this was one of the most comfortable and convenient settings from which I have witnessed a fireworks show.  

Great American values... comfort and convenience.

I also thought back over the years and realized that we didn’t often attend fireworks shows through much of my life.  Maybe it was too much bother to pack up chairs and blankets and load everybody into the van to drive to town and try to find a spot in a crowded park amongst the throng.

But now… here we are living in a city where the fireworks are launched less than half-a-mile from our house.  How cool is that?!?  A time to celebrate America and a time to celebrate new friendships.

And then I realized something else.

I realized that this might be the first time I had celebrated the Fourth of July with such a diverse collection of nationalities.  There we were gathered with representatives from several regions of the world - even though we had not planned it that way. I mean... we DID move here to be near Internationals and we DO often host events for them, but not this time.  This was just an informal gathering of new friends - who just happen to represent a bunch of other countries - like Brazil, Canada, Tonga, Nepal, India, Ecuador, Germany, England, Ireland, Mexico...  Sure enough; we are all from somewhere else.

Now there's another great American value: diversity!

It was about 5 generations back that my ancestors sailed across the ocean and came through Canada to Michigan and here we are - celebrating America’s independence with first and second generation immigrants.

Feeling blessed I am.

So very blessed.

In so many ways.

And so much wanting to bless others.

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* Disclaimer: Well, ALMOST in my own back yard.  My chair was actually a few feet over the line onto our wonderful and generous neighbor's property.

International Women's Day

In recent years I’ve chosen to observe International Women’s Day by celebrating women I know from around the world as well as other amazing women who are working to make the world a better place…  because that was all I knew to commemorate the day.

But THIS YEAR it was my privilege to celebrate WITH phenomenal women from all over the world at our local event co-sponsored by the International Center of Greater Flint. 

We enjoyed flavors of the world, we heard successful International women discuss the challenges in their lives and careers here in mid-Michigan and we were entertained by the Kuungana African Drum/Dance Company.  ’Twas an interesting and inspiring evening.

I am so happy to be in a place where I can now participate in such wonderful festivities - and am especially grateful that they are not isolated events for me.  In the last few months I have met people from more than 20 countries and often bump into them on campus, around town and get to hang out with some of them regularly.  What an incredible privilege!

Amazing Day #7: Diversity

I well remember the days when I used to wish for some diversity in my world.  I wished to know people who were different than me.  Different background, different philosophy, different worldview, different life experiences, maybe different color or different language…  


I remember how I used to try to figure out how to connect with people like that because I somehow sensed that my life would be richer.

And now it has happened. 









Suddenly I live in a place of great diversity.  I am now surrounded by people who are different than me in lots of ways.  

Every time I step outside my door or even look out the window I see people who look or sound different than I do. 


And every week I get to hang out with some of the coolest people from all around the world. 





How amazing is that?!?!?!

I am overjoyed to land in a place where my life is enriched by so much diversity.






...

This post is one in a series called the 31 Amazing Days challenge.  Read the rest of the series here.

Life to live

Yikes!

What in the world has happened to my blogging habit?

Well, I’ll tell you what happened.  I have let myself get so involved in life that I run out of time and simply can’t do all of the things that I think I’m going to do.  I think I wrote about that once - about how life can get in the way of writing about life!  Or something like that.  

Much has happened in recent months.  Lots of excitement.  Lots of fun.  Lots that I do want to write about - if I can ever find the time to sit myself down to make it happen.

Our recent move has opened up a whole new world. For example, after being on the road for a few years and experiencing a lack of community, suddenly the opportunities abound and I find myself jumping in with both feet.

There are fascinating and exciting
things to do, 
places to go, 
trails to explore, people to meet, 
food to taste, 
mulberries to pick, roses to smell…  

Life to live… 

And the fun-filled weeks slip by.  

There are 
car shows, 
tractor shows, 
art shows, 
and music shows.  
I’ve attended
a literary festival, 
an art festival, 
and a world-famous
festival of races.

We made this move to be near the International students, many of whom have been away during the summer but they are just now arriving back for the fall semester.

In the last couple days we have met new people from 10 different countries - and are expecting many of them to show up at our house on Saturday for an American hot dog roast.  We are working hard to find and provide some meatless options - at least some dishes with no beef for the Hindus and some with no pork for the Muslims.  Yes, we will serve Koegel Viennas but we also have turkey dogs and even some vegetarian ones.

Yep, there is lots of life to live.  I do want to write about many of these various things, but in the meantime, I’m enjoying pretty much every minute of my new life.

Uncommon

An uncommon life.
That's what he called it.
That's what we have - an uncommon life.
I tend to agree.
And I am indeed grateful.
...
Reminds me of a song.
And of the way I want to live.
I want to lend my voice only to sounds of freedom.

Don't worry mother

It'll be alright

And don't worry sister

Say your prayers and sleep tight

And it'll be fine

Lover of mine

It'll be just fine

And lend your voices only

To sounds of freedom

No longer lend your strength

To that which you wish

To be free from

Fill your lives

With love and bravery

And you shall lead

A life uncommon

I've heard your anguish

I've heard your hearts cry out

We are tired, we are weary

But we aren't worn out

Set down your chains

Until only faith remains

Set down your chains

And lend your voices only

To sounds of freedom

No longer lend your strength

To that which you wish

To be free from

Fill your lives

With love and bravery

And we shall lead

A life uncommon

There are plenty of people

Who pray for peace

But if praying were enough

It would've come to be

Let your words enslave no one

And the heavens will hush themselves

To hear our voices ring out clear

With sounds of freedom

Sounds of freedom

Come on you unbelievers

Move out of the way

There is a new army coming

And we are armed with faith

To live, we must give

To live

And lend our voices only

To sounds of freedom

No longer lend our strength

To that which we wish

To be free from

Fill your lives

With love and bravery

And we shall lead

And lend our voices only

To sounds of freedom

No longer lend our strength

To that which we wish

To be free from

Fill your lives

With love and bravery

And we shall lead

A life uncommon

- Jewel

Buying a house?!?

Big news!

We are buying a house.

That's right.  After coming off the road a year ago, we've decided we like it.

I wrote recently about our one-year lease on a small apartment.

I described how that one year has been so right in so many ways.

It has been a time to get through the rest of those bins and boxes that got moved out of the big house five years ago and hadn’t been dealt with yet.  That is MAJOR accomplishment!

It has been a chance to try a winter back in Michigan and figure out that there is much about it that we like or at least can cope with. 

It has been a time to explore our new little town and to look for places where we could get involved. I have worked hard to make connections here but none of them have really been a good fit for either of us.

This year has also been a chance to explore the Flint area - AND to get acquainted with International students - which has been a long-term dream for us. We volunteer once a week helping students with conversational English. Through that connection, we have realized that that is where we belong. And that is where we long to live - near the university so that we can hang out with students on a more regular basis and so that we can serve them in other ways as well.

So, as the end of our one-year lease approached, we began looking at houses - and we found one!  It is smack dab between two universities.  In fact, it is within walking distance of U of M Flint as well as the old downtown area.  AND the farmers’ market.  I’m not even sure which we are most excited about - because there are so many things we love about the area.

Are there concerns about living in Flint, Michigan?  

Of course, there are.

Flint is often in the national news because of the lead in the water.

And yes, there are safety issues in any city.

But there are concerns about living anywhere. 

In any town or city.   

And even about living out in the country.

On the other hand, there is much to love about living in the city and I’m just beginning to explore them.  In fact, my list is growing by the day.  I’m guessing the things on that list will become topics for lots of blog posts in the coming weeks.

So this country girl is ready to try living in the city.

Stay tuned for the next adventures!

...

Two late notes:

First, we won't be making the move for about a month.
Secondly, you can read Bob's perspective on his travel blog.

Global culture - and rice and curry

Rice and curry - Yum!

Takes me back to my childhood when a family from India visited our little town. The wife offered to cook an Indian meal for us so my mom took her to the store to TRY to find the necessary ingredients. And so I had my first taste of rice and curry. 

...

Fast forward a few years to when I was introduced to my husband’s aunt and her version of African rice and curry. She had lived in Africa for 40 years and her recipe quickly became a favorite of mine. She often made rice and curry for big family dinners - much to my delight!

Fast forward again to the present time...  




Rice and curry - Indian style again.

Diwali Night in the Grand Ballroom at UM-Flint

We were treated to a cultural extravaganza of song and dance and beautiful Indian fashion - AND rice and curry. 

What a fun evening!  How cool to hang out with such beautiful people.

Pretty much all my life I’ve been drawn to people from other cultures and particularly International students. I have such fond memories from my childhood of students from Africa that my aunt and uncle used to bring to family gatherings. Oh, the exciting stories.

Through the years my wish to hang out with people from other countries has intensified. I am convinced that exposure to other cultures is one of the coolest things that can happen to a person - of any age. 

The memories of those guys from Africa who came to our family gatherings with my cousins have stuck with me to this day. Because of those encounters we chose to be intentional about finding ways to welcome Internationals into our family as well. Oh, how fun it is to have friends on six continents!

...

And NOW…

One of the things that attracted us to our current location was the proximity to the universities in Flint where lots of Internationals study. Getting to know some of them has been one of our top goals. And that is how we ended up at Diwali Night.  What a privilege to enjoy this celebration of one of their biggest cultural events, the Festival of Light.

I am thrilled to have made this connection with International students - first when they gave us henna tattoos at the Flint Farmers’ Market and now at Diwali Night. 

This event also provided connections with students from other countries as well - so I'm hopeful that this is just the beginning.  In fact, I just learned that there might be a chance to include some new friends in our Thanksgiving plans again.  Wouldn't that be fun?  Sorta' like old times! 

...

I guess I had some pretty good insight when I was a kid.  I thought it was just about the coolest thing ever to know somebody from another country.

Sure enough. 

Now I know it is.

I also know what a privilege it is. And I am grateful.

Tiny steps I can take

The recent racial tension in our culture has been more than a little upsetting to me. It makes me very sad and it scares me. I certainly don't have the answers, but I wish somebody did because I sure would love to see things get better. Yes, I know there are no simple answers to such complex issues.

On the other hand, I can't help wondering if there are some "simple steps" that each of us could do to make things better in our own corner of the world. Things like kindness and respect and treating others the way we would want to be treated. Of course, we need to start by learning to understand what life must be like in the shoes of the "other."

People don't like to be labeled as racist - even when their attitudes and actions seem to betray their racism. I get that. I sure don't want to be racist and yet I am aware that there are traces of racism within me. I'm guessing that would be true for most of us - so why would we not admit it?

A young friend of mine has done just that. Today on Facebook he "confessed" a bit of racism that he spotted within himself. Daniel describes sitting in the dentist chair when "...my dentist, a young black man, walked in, and I immediately felt nervous. I so quickly had (unspoken) concerns about his credentials and his ability to do this work effectively."

Daniel "thankfully realized his foolishness" and reports that of course the doctor was professional and that the procedure was quick and painless. "While I'm somewhat ashamed to admit my prejudice, I think its important that we acknowledge these moments so that we can grow from them. As long as we are living in a society that tells us that black people consistently and distinctly inferior to whites, we are going to have racism seeping into our minds. We need to be diligent in rooting it out and confessing it."

I can learn from wise friends like Daniel. I hope to follow his example of honesty.

How about you?
What steps can you take to make the world a better place?
  

So THAT's what's wrong with me!

 

I used to wonder what was wrong with me. Or at least I used to get frustrated with certain of my tendencies. Tendencies like being a great starter but a lousy finisher. Like letting my FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) lure me away from getting things done and meeting my own deadlines. Like my intense interest in so many kinds of projects, jobs, ideas, etc. Like my inability to decide between all of the wonderful options. Like my uncanny ability to gather and remember connections with people from around the world, but not knowing whether/how could be a positive thing. Like my longing to take this class and that course just because I wanted to learn about it, but had no idea how to use it for any financial benefit.

I was intrigued by my idiosyncrasies, but was sometimes embarrassed by them as well. I guess I often felt that I was weird. Abnormal. A misfit and maybe even a loser - because of my perceived failure to follow through on supposedly important things.

I finally began to realize that those idiosyncrasies are a special part of my uniqueness and I am mostly happy about them now. I am intrigued by them and by wondering where they will lead.

As I have gradually begun to accept and celebrate the benefits of the complex being that is me, one of the things that has helped me is the idea that I am a multipotentialite. Yep, there is a name for this! For people like me. How fun!!! I bumped into Puttylike a couple years ago and quickly identified with the things discussed on this site. I discovered others who are learning to celebrate their own multipotentialite selves. Learning how others make the most of their multipotentiality has been beneficial to my own journey.

Over at Puttylike, Emilie Wapnick describes a multipotentialite as "a person who has many different interests and creative pursuits in life."

Multipotentialites have no "one true calling" the way specialists do. Being a multipotentialite is our destiny. We have many paths and we pursue all of them, either sequentially or simultaneously (or both). Multipotentialites thrive on learning, exploring, and mastering new skills. We are excellent at bringing disparate ideas together in creative ways. This makes us incredible innovators and problem solvers. When it comes to new interests that emerge, our insatiable curiosity leads us to absorb everything we can get our hands on. As a result, we pick up new skills fast and tend to be a wealth of information.

One area particularly affected by my multipotentiality is my writing. I recently enrolled in a writing course as a major step toward becoming a serious writer. One of the first lessons was about finding your voice - which seemed to mean that I would have to drastically narrow my focus. A couple years earlier when I first started my blog, I hadn't a clue what I really wanted to write about. Somehow I had the foresight at that time to pick a name that has ended up being an umbrella for the diverse topics I have since found myself writing about - from my travel wanderings to my theological wonderings and everything in between. As I worked my way through that writing course, I chose to be patient with myself and to wait and see what would emerge - rather than forcing myself to arbitrarily narrow my focus. I am now rather happy with that decision. Even though I can easily admit that my wandering writing may lose me readership, I can also celebrate the broad diversity that I have ended up writing about. Most importantly I have been writing for me rather than trying to please a faceless audience. Presumably I will continue to learn more about writing for an audience and about building a readership, but writing for me has been a healthy start to my blogging career.

...

So yes, I am a multipotentialite and am enjoying the discovery of what all that might mean in my life. I can now celebrate this diversity that is within me. And I am realizing that many of my friends are also multipotentialites as well.

What about you? Might this describe you as well?