new blog...Resilience ~ A Journey

The Journey continues at my new blog site entitled "Resilience ~ a Journey", at this address:
resilienceajourney.blogspot.com 
(newer blog 9/12/12: journeyofresilience.wordpress.com)


Be well ~ S StJ

A Leaving....and a Coming

A Leaving...and a Coming...a last blog entry 

Peace is something which must be won again and again, each new moment of our lives.

As I chose to leave Peace Corps Jamaica last week, for many reasons, I wrote for hours on the home journey. A new blog will arise from this transition, "Resilience"....soon.

A new,new shiny day ~ of hope and forward movement ~ of leaving with no regrets ~ of knowing life awaits ~
Of myriad stars in a dark morning ceiling, over city lights on mountains: a human reflection of the power of stars.

There is relaxation, fatigue, washed clean of questions for now. There is grounded knowledge of an accepted pathway, branching beyond the expected, the planned, evolving through days & nights of meditation & wondering, grieving and questing.
What awaits?Who? Where? Moving toward my right outcomes.
Finding, reclaiming freedom ~ being blessed with new life and hope when such sorrow enveloped.


Turn now, towards a distant sun, northern lights, winter dark. Move away from hot, stifling, breathless, heavy light, and into a light from within tall trees in a misted, cooling muted homeplace.


Now ~ be ready! Refine your attention. Ask with sincerity. Take on the coat of many colors to be a part of the whole/of all. 
Peace Corps: such a romantic ideal, to those who aspire and train, to those who observe and hope ~ such a valiant vision....Is it possible?
Perhaps a new "vision" is needed, a higher use, not just higher calling.
PC is small, self-absorbed, not advisory in any encompassing way~ which big, overwhelming America COULD do.


Be clear here: there is a certain beauty, appealing to some and not all. Myth of the tropical island: lost in failure, poverty, anger, extreme violence, endless cheap imports entrapping the culture, rather than empowering.
Thankful for the gift of learning, of living within another people, of community integration, of conquering and embracing the new and the fear and the hope.


I came in light, to live and find more light ~ in the glare of a relentless sun and over abundance of sheer noise, humans wanting more, bigger, better, adopting the worst of American ideals ~ I came in light, and found the dying of the light in a child's eyes, in the struggling anger of the people's children, random violence of disenfranchised youth.


I learned thankfully about the stamina and faith of the elders, about the land and the hopes, until it fell apart with the fighting urge to win freedom. I have never aspired to live on a tropical island, being a pure "northerner", but made the most of it..tried my best, I did my best. I learned and gave, I came away a more complete person in some respects.


I know where I am going now...I have found "home"....in a surge of resilience through saying yes to a new shining day. Message: We never realize completely what good we have, what an amazing world of connecting souls.
Open to each other! Look into someone's eyes! Walk slowly, and be able to see, hear ,breathe life itself.

Take time ~ patience ~ and hope. 
(top photo: Oregon sky / lower photo: Jamaican sky)

What Matters Most

AS LONG AS WE DO OUR BEST AT WHAT MATTERS MOST .... THINGS WILL FIND THEIR WAY.
                                                                                                                        ~ A. St.J. 2008

 

    Only we can know what matters most for each of us. One persons journey is not that of another. We may search for commonalities to promote and establish peace, but in the end our journey remains unique and singular.
   
   As we search for what matters most, in order to do our best, moments of opportunity to absorb life disappear.

   Children laughing as they finally find the right word in their ever-darkening memory. Children singing, tapping out a swaying beat on a desk,a drum,a friend's shoulder,... allowing inner, innate music to take hold. Children helping children. Growing together.

    Adults - searching for more - miss the moments, and only look up as a struggle occurs. Missing the beauty. Missing the wonder. Missing what matters most.
   Listen. Look. Be present. Be a present help. Become. Come to be....and sing, beat the drum, dance, move and be moved.

   What matters most? Find it for yourself - then do your best at it. The rest will come.


  "As long as we do our best at what matters most, things will find their way."
                                                                                       ~ Adam


NOTE: Reality of this job at a Special Ed. school for all ages in Jamaica: Teachers miss moments, struggle to calm, to quiet, to stop, to start, to criticize, to faintly praise...so faintly, when there is much to be praised. Missing children growing toward soulful understanding. A deep continuous sense of loss pervades, fueled by the anger of frustration and misunderstanding. The children simply desire to learn, to give joy, to succeed, to be what matters most.


    

Why Are We Here? Engaged Mindfulness....

One moment can change a day.
One day can change a life.
One life can change the world.......We are the world.

"WE ARE THE WORLD. WE ARE THE CHILDREN....WE'RE SAVING OUR OWN LIVES."
~(Jackson/Ritchie)

~ I'm reminding myself of a few thoughts today, needed for support & encouragement....come along if you like. 

                                  THIS WE KNOW: THE EARTH DOES NOT BELONG TO MAN; MAN BELONGS TO THE EARTH. THIS WE KNOW: ALL THINGS ARE CONNECTED LIKE THE BLOOD WHICH UNITES A FAMILY.        ~ Chief Seattle

"....go out and help people and do so in mindfulness...Mindfulness must be engaged. Once there is seeing, there must be acting. Otherwise, what is the use of seeing? We must be aware of the real problems of the world. Then, with mindfulness, we will know what to do and what not to do to be of help....PEACE is in every step. "~  THICH NHAT HANH 

PUT THINGS IN ORDER, LISTEN TO MY APPEAL, AGREE WITH ONE ANOTHER, LIVE IN PEACE. AND THE GOD OF LOVE AND PEACE WILL BE WITH YOU.
                                                    ~ 2 CORINTHIANS 13:11


"Just as a mother would protect her only child, even at risk of her own life; even so let one cultivate a boundless heart toward all beings."  ~ SHAKAMUNI BUDDHA

 Make me an instrument of thy peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith;where there is despair,hope;where there is sadness, joy; where there is darkness, light.  
~ ST FRANCIS OF ASSISI ~ 

Why are we here? Are we mindfully engaged? We can only answer for ourselves. I'll start with bringing  what little peace I am empowered to bring. The responsibility is daunting, but we must begin....begin anywhere we find need. ~ Susan St. John, Peace Corps Volunteer, Special Education




 

Land of Contrasts...Striving for Peace

CONSTANT PRAYERS FOR PEACE, FOR UNDERSTANDING, FOR COMPASSION, FOR WISDOM AMONG ALL PEOPLE, ALL THE TIME ~Personal prayer on 9/11/11

....Night falls ~ sounds envelope you like the Tiki Room at Disneyland, or the night scenes in Jungle Book,.in city neighborhoods and country roads alike, a riotous concert until dawn, of crickets & frogs, night birds & croaking lizards ~ all as brilliant & rhythmic as Jamaican people. You know it is dawn by the momentary tangible silence preceding the morning birdsong.
  Yet, close your eyes in the heat of the mid-day sun, and you could be anywhere, even home in the U.S. ~ backyard sounds of a Saturday(weedeaters, children playing, steady rock beat from passing cars, neighbors calling). You could almost forget that you are in the midst of palm trees on a small tropical island, in a deep blue sea surrounded by a vast ocean. 
Remember who you are in this grand plan~ no matter the time or place.

Laundry!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 Laundry blowing in the sunny winds, among the mango trees....hard work, but after 3 months, a natural part of weekly life. Did I tell you my arthritis in hands and wrists is fading rather than increasing!...possibly helped by hours of hand-laundering and wringing of wet towels and cotton clothes?
  The rain is suddenly falling on my newly washed laundry, neatly pegged to the line. We are told to leave it there...until the sun returns! Ah...the cool wind blows through the wooden slats on the windows. Guavas & oranges fall at our feet in the rain. Hibiscus & rose petals mix with ancient aloe & orchids. The sun returns quickly, as rain and thunder roll across the ever-deep blue of this Jamaican sky. Here they say: Just wait a few minutes and the weather will change.
  Jamaica, land of contrasts ~ so Americanized, yet so uniquely its own singular home of grief and joy, sun and storm, glorious peace and passionate strife. These people have a prosperity of spirit over all things. Remember, this nation is just 50 years old, with 350 years of violent history.
Remember who you are in this grand plan, no matter the place or time.

Taxi & Road Culture!!....the short scenic 1/2 mile walk of daily danger to my school!!!
About taxis~ the main source of transportation....
  Few bicycles are seen on the roads of Jamaica, due to the extreme danger of riding on narrow, rocky roads with neurotic, speeding public taxi & mini-bus drivers flying by.Once in a while, you luckily happen upon a driver who is careful, relaxed....actually gives a pedestrian a bit of space.
  Here is the fact of Jamaican life: city and country alike...the main way to go anywhere on public transportation is the private taxi. Look for the red license plate(certified) and usually a tiny white Toyota Corolla. Often the gas tank is on E and the back doors are broken. Christian praise music pours out and seats and floors are ancient, rarely clean. People are crammed in - unless you are fortunate to be travelling a rarely-used route, or you're the first passenger, so the front seat is yours(at least for a while.)
  When you arrive in town, you hand the driver the fare and he's out of the car with the engine running to get change from other drivers  milling about. The town square is swarming with taxis, waiting, pushing through crowds...honking, speeding, surrounded by market sellers and shoppers. We ask for the next taxi to go to the other side of town...they shout to a friend, who waves me over. I make sure his route will actually go to my destination, since otherwise I will pay "charter fare", 3 times higher than "route fare". Ah...so much to learn! But the Peace Corps has taught us well, over & over & over......
  You ask: where are the buses? Buses!? They only go between larger cities, or longer distances. Kingston has regular city buses, but then, that's Kingston, another entity altogether!
  The roads are so narrow, often with stone walls & jungle forest on each side, that pedestrians & cyclists take their lives in their hands everywhere. Speed limits are rarely observed, or non-existent. Horns beeping at EVERY bend of the narrow roads, or beeping at pedestrians in case they need a ride! I wave them by each day, as I continue my walk. It's all part of this passionate life - and we exist only by the grace of our own faith.

Land of great contrasts, as is so much of our world. Faith abides through tears, anger and the struggle to exist. My ninety-four year old host "mother", a descendant of the many peoples who conquered this land, sings hymns throughout the house & garden, in a light high sweet voice, then laughs with joy at "being alive to see another day". I am connected in spirit to my great aunts, mother and grandmother, as I hear the truth in her hopeful words.
Remember who you are in this grand plan....and give thanks.

in peace ~ S.StJ.

A Light in Jamaica....Sworn In!

"Wherever we go, may we be a light in Jamaica that brightens the lives of many." ~ C.H., Peace Corps Volunteer, speech for Swearing In ceremony, 2011

 This photo shows two of my young PCV friends with me on the morning before our Swearing In at the US Embassy in Kingston: Ruby, a Philippino American from California and Carline, an African American from Florida...both young enough to be my daughters! Carline wrote a wonderful speech for the ceremony, which I record here as an example of where we are in heart and mind, at this point along our journey. All 28 of us have dispersed to our permanent sites across the island, alone yet connected, working with schools, farmers, fisheries, and youth centers....challenges and joys await...learning continues.

Speech for Peace Corps Jamaica Volunteer Swearing In Ceremony, 9/2011 ~

"Hello ~ Can you hear me? You can hear me?...If you can hear me now, you have officially passed the test. Yes, you heard me correctly: training is concluded. There is no session yet to be presented. There is no form yet to be filled out. 'Me no talk no foreign chat', you're free to go to site. If you can hear me now,you're ready. You're ready to hear the petitions of people you've yet to meet. You're ready to hear the laughter of children you're yet to teach. You're ready to hear the concerns of neighbors you've yet to encounter.

  Am I coming in clearly in the back? Can you see this now? If you can see it now, you've aced the exam. No, your eyes aren't playing tricks on you, the powerpoint presentation is done! The tour has come to its final stop. Put down that notebook; there are no notes left to browse.So 'wipe dat matta from yuh yie'! Wake up and see what is before you. If you can see this now, you're well prepared. You're prepared to see real issues faced daily by troubled youth. You're prepared to see the true needs of the communities in Jamaica. Set your sight on the ambition of these things.

  Can you see your hands? Are you sure they're not in your luggage? ..Well, if you can locate them, look at them. And look carefully...They are so nice, soft and pretty...right? May this be the last day this be the case. "Me Aunt Ditty always seh,"Mine yuh and", as I chop vegetables for her recipes. Or when I would use scissors to cut something, she'd again remind me: "Mine yuh and,darlin". But from today forward, I give you different instructions. "Mash up yuh and...yuh ear wha me seh? Mash up yuh and!" and take your hands and set them to some hard work. May they be caloused from building new friendships, and may they be scarred from aiding people making changes in their lives. May they be sore from your tireless effort to mold, craft and sculpt young minds. May your hands become soiled in nurturing the growth and understanding of all the lives you'll touch in your community each day.

  So, if you can hear me...Class dismissed ~ Please leave your evaluations on the table in the back and don't forget your name! You're more than ready for this Peace Corps mission ~ this training has more than conditioned you into the form of a great volunteer. Sure we have a good share of bumps and bruises earned in the process, but more endurance and strength to record on our medical charts, let alone our Trimester Reports! As if you haven't been told: "this is the toughest job you'll ever love"!( US Peace Corps motto) So hang tight to your friends and colleagues around you: and be swift to place your feet on the bridge that unites us and will unite us to the Jamaican people. As we stand at the crossroads of our mission, don't be timid to step across it.

  Jamaica, we already love you. Teach us what we have yet to learn, and love us in capacities we never knew our hearts could expand to. It's our hope and prayer that out of this many people, we will become one(Jamaican motto). Wherever we go, may we be a light in Jamaica that brightens the lives of many."  (printed by permission of the author, Carline Hines, PCV Jamaica, Group 82)

Peace to all...May Jamaica be a light to us! ~(above photo is one of my teaching colleagues on site) S. St.J.

A Musical Waiting To Happen!

"Every moment is a musical waiting to happen!", expressed one of our volunteers, as she described charming, chaotic everyday Jamaican scenarios.
The public bus, the taxi stands, markets, churches, town centers, roadways, schools, ~ swarming with passionate life. Song erupting everywhere, carelessly and freely shared, and expressed with abandon.
   Like the "street scenes" in Porgy and Bess, La Boheme, Oliver, Carmen and others...public life in Jamaica erupts, surges, sways, dances, all to a mutual beat. Look up, around, over ~ and witness the overwhelming potential of a grand expressive musical/operatic experience just waiting to happen. And what glorious music it would be! Tragedy, Joy, Struggle, Success...
   SCENE: The bus park in a central Jamaican city: We enter from the crowded roadway in a small group ~ so clearly visible as some foreign white women travelling with shoulder bags to Kingston. The bus loaders yell out and grab at us, shout in our faces with gesturing, conducting arms, surging as an operatic men's chorus..with cries of: "Kingston dis way!" "Tek yuh bags?" Mi find yuh good seat!" "Come,come ladies, Kingston bus ovah here!" We are propelled and urged forward, even as we yell back:" NO tek bags! We keep bags!" 
   The buses are small "Coaster" vehicles, with approximately 30 seats ~ but where you find 3 seats, 6 are forced to sit. The loader and driver expertly maneuver each of us into every available centimeter of space ~ Children in crevices, bags under seats and feet, bags across laps, windows wide open on both sides, people selling fruit, drinks and banana chips through the windows, shouting and trading.As the door closes on the last standing passenger, the Chistian music starts and we jolt forward onto the mountain roads and highways, 2 hours of passionate Jamaican life!
   Songs begin. People sing. Money is passed overhead trustingly throughout the bus, as the loader calls for the fare. Everyone helps, cooperates, as if part of a scripted scene ~ until one woman erupts in protest over here child's fare. AH! Time out for an aria, duet with the loader, trio with the driver perhaps, as he stops the bus, walks back to her window...and what ensues potentially becomes a full jazz opera! ....passion more real and intense than any stage can set or inspire.

   Driving on, standard neighborliness settles once more. We are one. We are the world. Who will write our musical? Every moment in Jamaica...a musical waiting to happen.
Peace to you all ~ Susan/Mom

A Wellness of Spirit Experience

It is in helping others that we help ourselves......

   Saturday, 7am, off to help with my home host's free geriatric health clinic in a rural town in Jamaica. My friend,the nurse, plus 2 other health professionals,provide through the auspices of the Lion's Club International, monthly geriatric clinics on Saturday mornings, serving over 100 people on a bi-monthly schedule.
   Meeting in the 200 year old plantation colonial-style meeting hall,surrounded by acres of HUGE ancient ficus trees(like the small ones we put in our American homes) and gracious fields, the people just kept coming.
   When we arrived, 25 were waiting respectfully & joyously ~ elderly men and women smiling toothless joyful grins, hugging and laughing, surrounding the nurse, pulling me close and declaring instantly: "I love you, sweetie!"

  Hours passed easily in the warm air, stirred by ancient ceiling fans in the arched wooden, open-sided hall. The nurse read blood pressure and dispensed medications, sent each one on for glaucoma meds if needed, and a quick private check-up with the doctor. I simply did as asked - recording names, dates and times on patient file cards, handing out appt. cards for October, sometimes promising to try to be there next time to see them smiling again.(IF my next permanent site will be close!)
   And the people kept coming ~ walking,ambling through the tall grass down the long drive from the Linstead road. It seemed an epic scene from some long ago time. Our last visitor came slowly, slowly...and couldn't give us her age...only her birth year of 1904!
   The Patois was garbled and hushed by those toothless mouths - but their eyes, and a few words - told their intent and gratitude. It was an opportunity of learning and giving like no other.
   As I circled the group with my camera,- finding more smiles, Nike hats on balding gray heads,bright red ruffled blouses on stooped shoulders, and beautiful joy and respect all around - 

...I knew I was exactly where I wanted to be...where I should be.

Market Experience....Look up! a star!

Look up! Tilt your head way back and look into the very center of the faintly lightening sky of a Jamaican dawn. One loan star shines and blinks through scattered clouds. Think: everyone you know could see that same star, thousands of miles across the land. "What are you lookin' at?" A young Jamaican woman looks up with me, then when I say "one star in the whole sky", she looks at me like I'm completely crazy! Perhaps she only sees the old dirty tarps strung on ropes overhead, making a makeshift roof for the hundreds of produce farmers in the timelessly old Linstead Market. I keep glancing up, holding to my touchstone star. It's one world,one home,one time to live.
   When I peel my banana this morning, I remember the faces of the men who sold them ~ a family, young and old, standing in the dark street, overflowing with heaps of garbage. An old goat sifts through the debris. When I eat my pineapple and watermelon, I see the smiles and hear the welcoming greetings of the "deep rural" women selling inside the old market building ~ their beautiful mounds of cabbage, beans, peppers and ginger. Ginger! Huge piles of ginger root, and everyone buying it as a staple! Another man we visit sells us very large bundles of scallions and thyme. 
   The young man who sells tomatoes, cucumbers, plantain and green bananas by the tree branch)bunch) is a friend, as are all the sellers and farmers in this intimate yet bustling community.
Hand trucks made of wood with a steering wheel maneuver through tight aisles and filthy streets. Some young men sail by as if on skateboards!

   Here, because Linstead is small(unlike the huge city Kingston market), everyone knows each other. Everyone laughs, greets, asks if we are blessed this morning before dawn, helps, accepts....never astonished that I am like that lone star: one lone white person in a thousand faces of various darker shades. I have no pictures of the market..this is just another day, another town....it would not be wise or appropriate to take pictures while "integrating", as the Peace Corps calls it. At 4 AM, we wander through the happy hard-working market, my host family's mother connecting with patients and friends(she is a parish(county) nurse). People call me "miss" and "beautiful" and "lady" and "love" and "sweetheart"..men and women alike. In a harsh land of beauty, it is their way..,to give and help.
(top photo is ackee, a Jamaican fruit)

Promoting Understanding

 Third Goal of the U.S. Peace Corps:
To help promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of all Americans.

IMPRESSIONS: Mountains! Trees,flowers,fruit,jungle and forestland ~ A valley surrounded by rolling green mountains,buried deep in coconut palms and bananas, ackee fruit and oranges, avocado and almond, cashew and limes, hibiscus and orchid, jasmine and starfruit...oh, and the glorious acres of sugarcane and bamboo taller than a house!
   Rough, winding narrow roads, disintegrating beneath heavy rains and traffic. Buildings both impressive and depressed. People greeting,colorful clothes and storefronts. Cars and more cars and taxis and trucks and semis and delivery vans..and always people walking bravely.
   "Jamaica is very beautiful, one of the most beautiful places in the world, but we don't take care of it."
 Thoughts of a Jamaican family. Sadly, it can be a harsh place to live, within such beauty. Jamaicans are a proud,strong people, often with unknown priorities. Independent, yet insecure. Dreamers lacking a real dream. Faithful, religious, hopeful on a Sunday ~ yet, where does the hope and faith truly serve?

We come to connect, to learn, to serve. We, from the orderly,prioritized,organized, regulated USA, come to wild, brilliant, relaxed and yearning Jamaica. The contrasts are many and huge ~ the need great. The similarities largest of all: We are all human beings, born on this planet, living as best we can with what we are given.
(Photos are school children in summer camp,sugarcane fields, a north coast public beach, me with my host family's daughter)

We MUST Be the Change We Wish to See

"We must be the change we wish to see in the world." ~ GANDHI

How many times and places have we read or heard this Gandhi quote in recent years? We nod and appreciate it's bold truth, yet who can find the resilient courage and compassion to live it? Quite an ongoing re-committment, wherever we are, however we apply it.
Beautiful, exhilarating Jamaica envelopes us in welcomes and joy...yet we learn of intense need at every turn. People are grateful for our presence and commitment, even while their own lives are joyous and strong in overcoming difficult odds. It is a vibrant, noisy, bold, grand, desperate, country of deep longing and dreams. Positive sayings are painted on walls and billboards, angels on houses, brilliant colors everywhere in the midst of wild tropical flowers and trees, white egrets and blue herons, turquoise sea and overwhelming thunderhead clouds. Life can be good, is always hopeful, often a struggle. For Americans, there are abundant lessons to be learned and taken home. We all hope we can be of some assistance as we learn and donate our individual skills.

Our Peace Corps group encompasses ages from 22 to 77, careers including counseling & psychology, engineering, business admin., organic farming, teaching, sports coaches/athletes, musicians, artists, actors and dancers, judges and lawyers, professors, activists and pacifists and much more. May we be the change we wish to see in the world.....
in peace ~ Susan/Mom

Small Voice

"I am but a small voice..." Small voice, large dream, help needed....Jamaica.
Yes, we are here, we are learning, we are living a very new & different life. Training,Peace Corps Jamaica style, is professionally presented in all the newest educational and business management approaches and forms. We have been given dynamic instructive professional music performances, interactive talks by Security from the Embassy plus many Peace Corps staff members, welcomes by the Ambassador, and open arms of our host families who will proceed to care for us and teach us the language and culture for 2 weeks, while we attend more classes.
Life in Jamaica is not easy even for those who have homes and education..it is incredibly difficult for those we will end up helping in September at our permanent sites.
I really feel I am one but one small voice in a land of huge hopeful dreams, where endless help is needed. It's hard to believe that all those luxurious resorts ring the island's beaches...we have barely even seen the blue Caribbean Sea.
Onward in learning and growing. Peace is a far distant goal, while site-specific help may be possible.

Be peaceful each day...kind to someone...Be Well ~

Journey Toward Peace, through teaching & learning

"Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase; just take the first step."
                       ~M. L. King

This watercolor by my son Kent represents for me the infinite, hopeful iconic journey...the path where we place our first step in faith....and move forward in discovery.

One week ~ finally! ~ until my Peace Corps departure. One friend called this life-changing journey: "BOLD". So true. So daunting. So necessary. A time of learning. A time to trust. The world is small and connected, more than we can imagine. WE are the world....together.

Here's a brief overview of my next 2+ months: 
TRAINING: June 27th travel to Miami for staging/hotel stay
June 29th to Kingston, Jamaica/Peace Corps office/orientation/ hotel stay
July 1st ~  2 weeks in Hellshire Hills, south coast/training classes/home stay
5 weeks ~ Ewarton, central mountains/practicum training in schools/home stay
2 weeks ~ Peace Corps office and on-site job shadowing/hotel & home stays(receive post assignment)
1 week ~ Peace Corps office/final conference & swearing-in/hotel stay
Sept. 2 ~ Begin permanent 2 year post (TBA!)
PC Volunteer ASSIGNMENT: Sept. 2, 2011 ~ Sept. 2, 2013 

I am with you all in spirit. Always thankful for your encouragement ("Courage" being the center of that term). in peace ~ Susan/ Mom

INCREASE PEACE...Be Present...ANTICIPATION

   PEOPLE SACRIFICE THE PRESENT FOR THE FUTURE. BUT LIFE IS AVAILABLE ONLY IN THE PRESENT. ~~ Thich Nhat Hanh
  Increase peace(see peacecorps.gov)...a simple thought, but oh, so difficult to begin to achieve in this world. Anticipation: with just 26 days until our Peace Corps Jamaica Group #82 (32 of us, several over 50!) departs for training, every moment seems full of hope, fear, excitement, elation, wonder....and organizing, packing and re-packing, buying, giving away, reading & writing, studying more & more...yet it will never be enough. We are told: be open, no expectations, relax, come to learn and to help, be ready to be challenged in unforeseen ways, just BE. Be Present.
Here we go! here we are! Our lives, and all we know, will be changed for the better...we hope. 
in peace, be well ~ Susan/Mom

Out of many ~ One people

"Out of many ~ One people" ...the Jamaican National Motto

My 61st birthday was a brilliant shining day, spent on our glorious Pacific Ocean coast...taking pictures to share with Caribbean Sea Jamaicans soon. 
Our lives connect around the world, as one people, only when we are fortunately inspired with such a vision.

Learning and packing and tying up the details of a lifetime, I prepare for 2+ years of simplicity, giving, teaching & learning in a new culture. Connecting with friends, family, neighbors, as we all look forward through the years ahead. I will continue to fill the remaining several weeks with study & restorative communication with many of you.
all is well....may you be well, and know that, as the Jamaicans, we can become "out of many, one people".
in peace ~ Susan(Mom)

Resilient Life

"We are the world.  We are the children.  We are the ones who'll make a better day, 

......so let's start giving." (Jackson/Richie)

My first blogpost, with son Adam's help!....after climbing and climbing and hiking mountain trails in the spring snow...for miles...finding these amazingly friendly gray Canadian jays in the old growth firs at 3000 feet.

  As I prepare to leave for the Peace Corps soon...my life becomes increasingly RESILIENT!!!

We ALL are the world, always.

 ~ in peace, Susan