It's raining awfully hard here today.
Today is the day where Chris said he was going to that one ten-day program at CAMH. I am thinking about him and wondering how things will turn out for him. I wish I could've gotten his contact information, or even his last name.
Also, man, I like lists. I am reading this book that I have, for the second time, borrowed from my parents. It's called Open Hand: Pursuing Courageous Relationships and it's written by Rod E. Smith, who is a family therapist, a writer, a speaker as well as a columnist for The Indianapolis Star.
It's literally a smorgasbord of articles, stories, lists, ideas, about sociology, humans, us, healing, relating to one another, transformation, all of that. And he talks about God, too.
I found this list and I wanted to share it. It's called 'Characteristics of Healthy People,' (mature, or differentiated, also being words that, in this case, could replace the word 'healthy'). It's long, so here is half of the list; I can share the rest later:
1. They can relate to and relax with people of all ages, races and persuasions - they are accepting.
2. They can mourn after disappointments and losses and, after a time, rise up and face similar challenges again - they are resilient.
3. They have done what is possible to understand their childhood and, despite past trauma, take responsibility for what they are becoming - they are responsible.
4. They are humoured by their own foibles and saddened by cruelty they see around them, but they do not lose hope - they are optimistic.
5. They are aware of the pattern of the cycle of life and they welcome the transitions from each to each - they are growing.
6. They are eager to learn about other people, relationships, life and the world - they are engaged.
7. They can enter the world and the experience of another, listen, appreciate and value without passing judgment, offering advice or modifying what they want to see - they are intimate.
8. They have a few friendships of mutual vulnerability and deeper intimacy with one other person - they know others and are known.
9. They are involved in mutually satisfying relationships with immediate and extended family and have a rich family of choice - they are connected.
10. They are at peace more than they are unsettled, they can be calm in a crisis and can go without company when it is necessary - they are anchored.
11. They live and love deeply, they learn to trust and forgive easily - they are passionate.
12. They can listen to others without speaking, and from the multiple voices around and within them, they can distinguish the voice of the same and deliberate self - they are listeners.
the future . . .
is decidedly exciting. And it has been a while since I typed in here. Sometimes real life takes priority over life created on screens. Though, it seems life seen through screens is quickly becoming reality. But that's another blog post.
This summer(!) I am going to St. John's, Newfoundland for a week, France for two months, and possibly roadtripping from Vancouver to Portland, Oregon, for a weekend.
Then, there's the possibility (and hope) of finding some wicked seat sales to Vancouver for mid-June, then taking a roadtrip with my pals Kari and Claire to visit our friend Mika -- she's finishing highschool and it's her graduation party! Graduation parties are a much bigger deal to Americans than Canadians. I love the excuse to get together. Keeping my fingers crossed for some sweet deals!
Then. France.
I've been wanting to go to a French-speaking country since I was about 10 or 11. I was always jealous of kids who got to do exchanges and things like that. I looked into working and studying in France, but it can be so expensive! I volunteered with YWAM in Vancouver last summer, and that's who I will be staying and working with this summer. I'm leaving end of June and I'll come back end of August.
I am going to be staying in a little village an hour and a half east of Paris. I will be helping with whatever I can, cleaning, cooking, translation. They'll be running some kids' camps in August. There's a two-week mission trip to Paris in the middle of July. We'll be using art, music, drama, dance, etc. to initiate conversations about spirituality. "Mission work" in France is going to look a bit different than what would be done in a country like Congo.
of course, my head is already planning beyond this summer, too. But anything past 2010 is just speculation. But so exciting, nonetheless.
My mom proposed the idea this past weekend of doing a 6-month school with YWAM in the time I have between graduating 4th year in 2011 and teacher's college. YWAM is big on mentoring and intentional discipleship in the context of serving others. They have this sort of introductory 6-month program they do called Discipleship Training School (DTS). For 3 months you stay at one of their many, many bases around the world and you learn about character, integrity, compassion; you are challenged to grow, to learn about yourself and others and God, and you make friends all over the world, too. Then, for the other months you do what they call 'outreach' -- you simply put into practice everything you have been learning, in a different context and generally in a different culture, in hopes to stretch and challenge you and, ideally, to give your mind a bigger picture of what's going on in the world.
Wouldn't that be crazy? Ideas come and go in my head, but some of them stick, and then I make them happen. Whether it's with YWAM, or doing a DTS, or doing something else entirely, I am pretty sure something exciting is in the works for the future....
it's decidedly an exciting time to be alive.
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