REMEMBERING MOTHERS

When our mothers pass from earth to sky

And we face life on our own

Don’t seek to answer the question “why?”

But realise we are not alone.

Their voice and spirit guide us through

Whatever comes our way

No matter what we did or do

We know just what they’d say.

“Stand tall and proud my sweet child

Keep doing the best you can

Living wild or living mild

What counts is where you land.”

Yes Mother dear you were so right

I’m where I’m supposed to be

You may now be out of sight

But your smile I clearly see.

Happy Mother’s Day 

Antoinetta DeWit

May 2024

RISE UP/WISE UP

 

LESSONS LEARNED OR LESSONS LINGERING

Recently I set out to find out more about why the Japanese came to British Columbia in the late 1800s. I attended a presentation at the local library entitled “History of the Japanese in Ridge Meadows,” and what a great history lesson it was.

Back in the late 1800s, British Columbia was a basically new place to develop and settle. The province needed workers to build the great potential of the fishery, lumber and mining industries, and later workers to build the Trans Canada railway and highway. People of Japan received the news with open arms and sought this opportunity to carve out a better life for themselves and their families.

Initially things went great. They were welcomed and appreciated, until it became obvious that there were excelling exponentially in their business acumen and seemingly dominating in terms of success. Community and workplace spats and fights turned to bigotry and racism. Discriminatory laws were passed to salvage ‘white’ supremacy, and the lives of the Japanese became sad, scary and lonely.

Then, suddenly, when Japan bombed Pearl Harbour things got even worse. Anyone that was or looked Japanese was triggered as a spy or enemy. Drastic measures were taken. Paranoia plagued the world and panic led public policy decision making.

One such example was the plight of all Japanese and people of Japanese descent in the coastal regions of British Columbia— including Maple Ridge. They were hurriedly packed up like herds of cattle, and either imprisoned, interned in remote camps or left to settle with nothing but the shirts on their back in inland communities. Their properties and belongings were seized and sold. The government made sure they were thinly spread around remote areas so they could not congregate, plot or strategize ways to communicate information to or from Japan.

Yet, despite their sadness, fear and loneliness, they persevered in the worst of circumstances and conditions. Although they had been marginalized and racialised, they steadfastly rebuilt their lives, settled in new places, and learned how to live through the atrocities before them. Very few ultimately returned to Japan and, in 1949 when restrictions were lifted, even fewer returned to the coastal regions. They are proud people.

We can only guess at the very real impact the state betrayal, and the community prejudice, judgement and racism, had on an innocent group of people with different skin colour and facial features. And, what about the impact on the generations of Canadians of Japanese descent that followed? Is everyone now supposed to forget about it, pretend it didn’t happen or even minimize the impact?

The Japanese story in British Columbia is not unique. Such atrocities happened all around the world. It is only now when subsequent generations of reasonable thinking people have stepped to the plate and said “Hey wait a minute!”, that retribution and some forms of reconciliation or settlement measures have taken place — socially and politically.

Apologies and retribution have been accomplished for the Japanese story — that whole process went very quickly and smoothly because it was a no brainer to do so.

Presentations like this one about the Japanese don’t only take place to inform and educate the audience about something Japan-specific. They are instrumental in opening eyes and ears to parallel examples that for generations have been ignored or overlooked. That said: let’s all hope we can keep those informed brain cells healthy and alive to bring the other shameful political, social and human atrocities we all know about — to resolution as well.

Rise up and wise up! 

DREAMING

Dreaming. Yes, dreaming. Tulip has been doing a lot of that lately. It used to be just during the day as she walks around the neighbourhood or enjoys aquafit classes in the local pool  or cycles along the many endless cycling areas of her community.

One specific dream has now crept into her nighttime life — the life that happens when she is sleeping. She figured that out a few months ago when she would wake up and remember seeing new growth sprout out of the top of a human head. It was initially unusual and creepy.  

Overtime, as the future nights lived out, the image of that emoji of the brains springing out of the skull came to mind — but in a positive way. It meant a dream had found its way out from within and raised its bets on survival in the outside world.

It was not difficult for her to figure out which nighttime dream had consummated with the dominant daytime dream. All kinds of expressions came to mind like the world is her oyster or don’t give up on your dreams or where there is smoke there is fire or, best of all: the future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.

June 21, 2024 will be a magical day. 

EARTH DAY POEM 2024

TINY FORESTS

Every seed holds a poem

Every seed holds a song

Every seed starts a forest

that can grow on and on.

Every seed gives us hope 

of something more to come

Every seed sends us a message

A slow humming one.

It’s wondering and worrying

about its plight on our earth

Weary or delirious

Questioning its worth.

Our Earth is sad and shaking

more than ever before

But with collective determination 

we can do so much more.

Earth Day is but our one way

of standing our ground

To speak up clearly united 

about what research has found.

We must sow all of the seeds

with tenderness and care

Keeping them nourished

with clean water and air.

Their roots will sing as they grow

just like words in a song

Humming and encouraging us

to focus, and follow along.

From seeds to small forests

We all know what needs to be done

Let’s stand rooted together

Choosing to walk rather than run.

Antoinetta DeWit

1st Prize, Maple Ridge Earth Day 2024 Contest

EARTH DAY MISSIVE

 

EARTH DAY 2024

Most communities across Canada recognize Earth Day in April. As each year unfolds there is a growing trend of more initiatives in business practices, home-based efforts and personal decision making to understand and appreciate the very real connection between humanity and our Earth. We all have a role to play.

Awhile back, while getting the feel of AquaYOGA and qiGong exercises, something cerebral happened. I zoned out and went into a quiet trance-like state. I didn’t fight it, but just let it happen. It was mysterious and kind of magnetic, and put me into a completely relaxed state of calm and peace of mind. (No I hadn’t smoked anything before hand.) It was a type of energy that put me into a domain I had never entered before. It was very comforting and pleasant. I’m believing it had something to do with messaging from Mother Earth or Mother Ocean or my mother in heaven who has discovered something from which I could benefit. It is all still very mystifying, but I am listening, hearing the message and playing along. I am believing there is a connection between humanity and something intangible within the Earth or the heavens. That feeling is catching on as more and more people jump on board. This is but one of the personal sides of Earth Day — the self-centered one. The Earth and things beyond the stratosphere are communicating with us and we need to listen.

The other sides of embracing Earth Day also relate to individual efforts to reuse, reduce and refuse. It’s about the choices we make when we buy things or go places. Smart choices sometimes mean we need to give something up. I like to try the challenge and see what happens, and most often nothing impossible to accept happens. I have been cycling far more now than ever before in my lifetime. At first it seemed like a bother, but now it is my first choice for local travel. I like to make that choice easier for others by supporting bicycle giveaways and safer cycling infrastructure in my community.

When government jumped on board and implemented environmental laws dictating the role of citizens, there was outcry, protests, boycotts, unlawful behavior…but, eventually the dust settled and slowly most people caught on. As bothersome as it was (and is) to have to separate waste, it is making a difference: we are helping Mother Nature and helping the health of our planet. Equally as importantly, we are helping each other, ourselves and future generations. The ultimate stubborn types, thankfully a minority, can’t see beyond the cement wall they’ve erected around their brains; but, the rest of us are doing a pretty good job at working around them.

Humanity and the Earth, and the mysteries beyond, are interdependent and interconnected. So on Earth Day and every day, whether it’s our personal life choices or government policies or business practices, let’s continue to plant healthy “seeds” in our lives, help them grow with confident roots, and serve us and our planet well forever more.

QI Gong Strong

Tulip allowed something new into her life during retirement — the ancient Chinese healing tradition called qi gong (chee-gong) . It is an effortless and sometimes mentally intense exercise, yet very calming to the heart, mind and soul. It diverts her thinking about the stresses and pressures of everyday life, creates a pause, a welcome pause, and sometimes even changes the trajectory of her life. It’s like a mysterious power, a cleansing of sorts. It’s a tremendous realization of how the mind can indeed transcend traditional health care practices or decisions that aim to restore personal confidence, self awareness and self love, as well as provide a more confident appreciation of simple self-help health practices, the power of nature and peaceful living.

Her first exposure to qi gong came on the Caribbean island of Aruba located at the southern most part of the main body of the big, blue, beautiful Sea. It is a simple, small Dutch island of 100,000 residents and almost solely depends on tourism for its economic survival. Most people work in the tourism industry and smart entrepreneurs have created sustainable businesses encompassing that reality.

When the words qi gong first appeared on the Daily Activities Board at the La Cabana Resort — where Tulip resides now and then, her typical  reaction was typical of anything new or unrecognizable : “Too weird, forget it!” 

But then, her curiosity peaked as she watched, from afar, the group of twelve sitting in chairs one Wednesday morning, barefooted, calm and oblivious to anything else around them, and just calmly and peacefully doing simple, slow leg, arm and head exercises. It was enough to bring Tulip out from behind the fully bloomed plumeria to sign up for the next session.  

Tulip refers to the entrepreneur/instructor as the “Island Shifu (teacher of qi gong”. She is a calm, pleasant, learned person with a very clear vision of the good life — a life of peace and harmony with the earth, nature and one’s inner self. 

Through brief conversations and a bit of research, Tulip has learned that she left the busyness and loudness of urban life in her motherland — The Netherlands, travelled around a lot, lived in different places and then finally settled in the warm, predictably quiet, serene life of a small island. She drew strength from her passion for meditative processes and natural, sensible health care, immersed herself in studying, learning and practicing various options, and has now created an empire of offerings for people of all walks of life, all ages and abilities, tourists and residents, to discover, appreciate and embrace. Her presentation truly reflects and respects a successful and happy matrimonial relationship between Mother Nature and humanity, and her demeanor envelops a genuine caring for the well being of those who join in.

Attendance has been consistently impressive and classes have sprung up at various locations, and at various times, to maximize access for the tourists and residents of the Island.  Sessions and special events are now being advertised on social media, on a website, and through word of mouth, making this entrepreneurial venture more than just a personal success story.

Thanks to the hard work, passion, commitment and dedication of “the Island Shifu of meditative medicine”, over the past two decades, the people of Aruba and tourists now have easy access to an impressive array of self help, self awareness and self care exercises such as Tai Chi, Tao Yoga, Breathing Therapy, Mind Ninja, Energy Healing, Sound Healing, Acupuncture and the amazing world of qi gong.

The humble Shifu has lifted her being and skillsets to great heights and all the while she has maintained her groundedness, as well as her calm and peaceful demeanor, getting much pleasure from sharing her passion and knowledge willingly and freely with others. In turn, she has encouraged and inspired a diverse mix of local people and tourists whose minds, spirits, bodies and lives have now been positively enriched, and impacted forever more.

Tulip, who lives a half a world away, is one of the beneficiaries of qi gong exercises and carries those skills proudly with her every day. She realises it is but one way to nurture her inner self, to keep the blood flowing and the breathing easy. It is also the best way for her to manage or avoid stress in her increasingly active retirement lifestyle, filled with a wide range of social, cultural, creative, recreational and community  activities and projects. Her life may seem overwhelming; but, short time-outs along the way for a bit of qi gong works amazingly better than any pill!

ADOPTION

 

Tulip attended a special viewing of a documentary about adoption at a local church auditorium in the community of Hammond recently. It was a very personal story about the life of an adoptee which is a topic that few ever really take the time to think about.

Chrystal was first adopted at around five days old. Originally the plan was for her to join a family of four who wanted a boy. Almost immediately the plan changed and she was adopted by a family of four who really wanted a girl.

Her adoptive family loved her fully from day one. She had a fantastic upbringing and they made her aware of her adoption early in life. The limited information available at the time was that she was of indigenous heritage and the birth mother wanted her to have a better chance in living a good life. The best part was the family never made her feel adopted or different from her brothers. She was always one of them, and equally loved.

As outsiders looking in one might say well that was 100% fantastic. But the reality is that it was not 100% fantastic for Chrystal. Something was missing and she needed to find it. 

Feelings were driving her to continually think about her adoption and to react to it — why it happened, why it had to happen, who was her birth mom and her circumstances etc. For her, being adopted was kind of like missing a limb and after years of fighting it, in various ways for various reasons, after she married and had children of her own, she finally took the giant step forward to find out.

It was a hard and emotional journey that started with ancestry DNA testing leads and ends with a plethora of events: meeting her mom, meeting blood relatives, visiting the grave sites on Cree Nation in Manitoba, familiarizing herself with her history and culture, feeling her spirit reconcile with her being, and then even meeting her father who had no idea she existed.

Tulip has learned that adoption hits people in different ways. It impacts not only the adoptee, but also the birth mother, the birth father, adoptive parents and siblings, and all the relatives. The reality is that it is hard on everyone, and not every example works out.

Chrystal’s life has come fully circle and her documentary speaks to her character: determined, passionate, tenacious and resilient; both her upbringing and her late in life discoveries, plus her supportive husband and children, leave her feeling blessed and honoured, and still ready to learn more.

IONA CAMPAGNOLO

I had a hard time sleeping last night as I was thinking about death and dying.  The thoughts were triggered by the recent passing of one of my inspirations — a wonderful woman who steadfastly created a trail for others; a person who was a devoted daughter, wonderful mother to two fine women, a grandmother, politician, non-politician, a radio and television show host, a staunch defender of the Indigenous file and friend to indigenous peoples, British Columbia’s Lieutenant Governor and someone who encouraged me in my quest to become a creative writer. Her name: Iona Campagnolo and I met her in 1980. Our paths crossed many times since.

One of the first creative pieces I shared with her was my first self-published short story entitled Ratz Tales.  Years later when she become our Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia, Canada, she remembered the main character in the story was architect Francis Rattenbury who was nicknamed Ratz. While living at Government House she was told that the table in her private dining room on the second floor was designed by Rattenbury. She knew I just had to be invited over for a visit. The visit happened and I was so honoured.  That speaks to her character.

I pondered over that experience for a very long time and doing so enabled me to craft a unique poem that described her life then, and also applied to her many years of ongoing life. 

I called the poem The Ivy Sea.  Her initials were I.V.C. and her life unfolded (metaphorically) much like a very healthy ivy plant that reaches great heights. Its arms branch out in many directions, much like a wide open sea, and each remain strong, confident and determined. That describes her character and her spirit. 

GROWING AND GROWING, UP AND DOWN THE ROCK HILL

FINDING A WAY WITH A VERY STRONG WILL

BRANCHING AND REACHING HEIGHTS ONCE UNKNOWN

DEFYING THE ODDS, MOVING ALL ON HER OWN

TENACIOUS AND CAREFUL, DETERMINED TO SPREAD

CONFIDENCE AND VISION, WHILE PASSING THE BREAD

SHE CLIMBS TO THE MOUNTAINS AND DOWN TO THE GROUND

IMPRESSES MANY PEOPLE AND LIVES SAFE AND SOUND

IVY SEA, IVY SEA, LIKE A MOUNTAIN OF WEALTH

WORTHY OF MUCH HAPPINESS AND YEARS OF GOOD HEALTH.

Iona: as you now rest in peace, a state you so richly deserve, thank you for including me in parts of your life; for appreciating the poem, encouraging me, enjoying pub fare and for your lifelong commitment to good citizenship. You have given all of us who know you, have met you and have followed your lifespan, so much nutrition to apply to our own lives; together we all will work hard to keep our own “ivy” seeds growing.

Rest in peace fine lady.

FUN WITH LAUGHTER

 

This week Tulip found herself at the Maple Ridge Library in a room filled with other curious seniors ready to enjoy a session about the power of laughter.

The hosts, Bubble Gum and Billy her clown husband, were long time residents who met more than fifty years ago in Montreal, 3000 miles east of where they live now. They had been asked to step in at a neighbour’s birthday party to entertain the children. They winged an act, were well received and found their calling. Five decades later here they were still loving the good life, now entertaining seniors.

Bubble Gum and Billy brought youthfulness to the room with their stories, puppeteering, ventriloquism and balloon twisting. Their audience was mesmerized while remembering the days of olde and finding themselves reemerged in joyful laughter and fun. Their joy emulated in their eyes, cheeks, ears and mouth, as suddenly the realities of aging, the sadness of loss, the difficulties in movement and stresses of finances were forgotten ever so briefly, perhaps restoring a sense of hope and promise and youthfulness to carry them forward with a boosted sense of happiness and memories of playful fun.

They all certainly were given a lot to laugh about and given a lot to reflect on, as they each strolled home with smiles stretching from cheek to cheek — including Tulip as she carried her rather oddly shaped yellow balloon home with her while laughing tears poured from her eyes. Artwork was never her strong point!