Tag: learning

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What happens if I change this

Speaking English is a form of privilege

Winnipeg Free Press writer Melissa Martin has been living in Ukraine for a while now, and has an excellent newsletter called Re/Light. Her most recent issue features a shout-out for an organization that pairs English speakers with Ukranians wanting to improve their English skills. (Ukraine’s applications to NATO and EU has apparently increased locals’ appetite to speak English). The organization pairing speakers and learners for online lessons is called Balakun, and it looks really well organized.

This got me wondering if there are organizations doing the same thing for Palestinians. Not that too many people in Gaza would have extracurricular learning opportunities on their minds these days. But being able to speak English is a form of privilege on the world stage. Sharing English-language skills can potentially be as valuable as making monetary donations.

So I looked into it, and indeed, there is an organization in the West Bank called Go Palestine that supports what looks like online opportunities to teach English in exchange for learning Arabic. We know settler violence has increased in the West Bank in the past year; for example, the number of Palestinian children killed by Israeli forces tripled in the past year, going from 39 to 115. And yet, Go Palestine still appears to be functioning, and the appetite to improve English skills are still there.

Back in the ’90s, with the rise of globalization, I used to joke that going abroad to teach English was linguistic imperialism. I see it very differently now.

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What happens if I change this

This is only interesting in retrospect

The mere fact of writing daily blog posts is pretty unremarkable when you’ve only been doing it for less than two weeks. I wonder when it will become notable. When I’ve been doing it for a year? I wonder if that’s when I will let people know it exists. Or will I wait for clear themes emerge? Or maybe when it coheres into something more purposeful? Oh, let’s be real—I really just want this to be the place where I park public thoughts. The moment it becomes “purposeful” is the moment I’ll entirely lose interest in doing it.

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What happens if I change this

life lessons from improv

Coming back home from improv today, I thought about how Zen the practice really is. In improv, everything is better if you:

  • be fully in the present moment
  • don’t try to control the situation or the other people
  • don’t get all up in your head
  • be honest & real (or “real”?)
  • allow vulnerability; be willing to be unarmed
  • work in service of the scene, not yourself
  • listen well
  • be with what is

Most of us know that “yes and” is improv’s signature line. I think what I learned today is that that’s not just about being open. It’s also about looking out for your fellow actors. When you “yes and” them, you’re receiving what they’re giving you.

I never thought improv could hold so many lessons about life.

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What happens if I change this

A fall revelation

In the past couple of months, I have been filled with the sense that I am completely okay with my life as it is. If I were to be given a prognosis of having only 3 or 12 or 18 months to live, I feel very much like I would not have feel any any despair about

the work I have not done

the books I haven’t published

the potential I have not fulfilled

I would feel despair, of course! But I imagine it would be about my loved ones, plus just the weird gnarliness of, like, mortality.

But after having a real shit 18 months before this summer, feeling contentment is most welcome.

I am convinced it has everything to do with the blessings of middle age. It’s this thing that I wrote about yesterday, that Bowie said, about aging being a moment when you can become more of yourself.

That’s what it is–I feel more myself than I have felt, like, ever, or perhaps since I was 12.

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What happens if I change this

Becoming the person i always should have been

“Aging is an extraordinary process whereby you become the person you always should have been.”

—David Bowie

2024 has been a year whe I have re-connected with the person I used to be. It feels very much like this is the person I always should have been. Herewith are five things I loved as a kid that I have resumed doing as an adult:

  1. This summer, I picked up some alcohol-based markers after hearing about them on TikTok. Apparently they are more blendable than water-based markers? I don’t really know, since my technique still sucks, but damn, I am having fun with them. Most evenings, in that sliver between post-dinner kitchen cleanup and getting into bed, I break out my Coco Wyo colouring books, turn on Las Culturistas, and get lost in making something pretty. Soooooo satisfying. 9/10, highly recommend.
  2. A few weeks ago, I started improv classes, which I thought was going to be pure shits ‘n’ gigs. Turns out improv is far more intellectually stimulating than I’d imagined. The willingness to be vulnerable creates all kinds of beautiful analogues with mindfulness, self-trust, and a sort of Zen appreciation of the present moment. It’s quite extraordinary. Of course, there has to be at least one excruciating moment per class in which I judge the shit out of myself, so it’s not all prayer hands and enlightenment. On the other hand, giving yourself a weekly opportunity to intentionally be with what is very much feels like a spiritual practice. 10/10, highly recommend.
  3. Next, I signed up for Spanish lessons. But upon arriving at a classroom at my local high school for my first class, I discovered a) the temperature in the room was jacked to at least 25 degrees Celcius, and b) my fellow students were mostly men who were far more confident in their Spanish-speaking abilities than their actual skill level would suggest. Actual experience: 3/10. The pleasure of peace’ing out and getting a refund: 8/10.
  4. Swimming is one of those things I’ve always loved, so I’ve never minded that I was never all that great at it. But when I started going back to the pool in March, I discovered my front crawl was complete and total trash. Then I gave myself something called “swimmers knee” as a result of too much frog kick/whip kick, i.e. avoiding front crawl entirely. So I’m going back to the drawing board. So I’m starting a 4 week program in TOTAL IMMERSION swimming this week. It’s a technique that apparently has a bit of woo built in to its philosophy (there’s talk of becoming one with the water, for example), which I find appealing. Rating: TBD.
  5. Finally, the only reason why I’ve been able to become the cyclist I’ve always wanted to be is because I bought an e-assist bike. This magical invention allows me to power up hills, defeat barreling winds and just have way more fun in the saddle. And although the helmet does get in the way of the wind blowing through my hair, there are still wonderful opportunities to commune with nature on a bike. Just yesterday morning, I rode along a beautiful tree-lined trail while a sprinkle of raindrops cooled down my overheated perimenopausal body. I’m even experiencing anticipatory grief at having to put my bike away once the roads become icy. Finding my biking groove, finally, in my early 50s: 11/10, highly, highly recommended.

It has been absolutely wonderful to return to five four things I loved as a kid: making pretty things with paper, drama, learning a language, swimming and biking.

David Bowie was really on to something about this whole aging thing.