Raising Consciousness, Part IV

Dear Friends, I had meant to do this blog at a little later date, but it is better for me to do it today, before hard reality sets in.

In the first part, I talked about being able to see things from different points of view. This is also a very important part of raising consciousness, of looking at things objectively rather than subjectively. This is a very important step - to put aside your own viewpoint and consider someone else's.

Today, my company was informed that we will be shutting down in a few short months. This is a result of being bought by a larger company 18 months ago. It's nothing new in the world of business and economics. I will be laid off shortly, after 5 years. As a single mom, in the world's 2nd most expensive place to live in the world, it is a little alarming and daunting. But that is not what I want to talk about.

I started in 2006, working as a temporary office worker. It had been 12 years since I had been in the workforce. The first day back in an office was horrible. After the first hour I wanted to cry, and by lunchtime I wanted to go home and never come back. I couldn't do that, because I knew I had to get back to work to support my family. I was also struggling to manage my rheumatoid arthritis. Because of my job, my wrists and feet literally ached for months.

After about a year, though, I found the rhythm to what I was doing. It was a start up company, and I had 4 people working under me, just trying to keep up with the deluge of work. I loved it! People appreciated my being there, I felt valued, I was making some money, working outside the home, meeting people. I had a job in which I could make my own decisions, organize my work, set my own pace.

The thing I loved most though, was the people. I had a chance to meet and work with people from all over the world: India, Sri Lanka, Romania, Germany, France, Madagascar, Africa, the Philippines, China, without going very far at all! My travel opportunities off the continent have been limited so far to the UK and Hawaii, not very exciting, but eye-opening nevertheless.

The point is, my life has been enriched by the people I have met from different cultures. It doesn't matter if it is for only a short time, or long, and hopefully theirs were enriched in return. It may be hard for someone to imagine who is a "world traveller", who is used to seeing different places and people. Who takes "hopping across the pond" very lightly, as matter of fact. This is not the case for me. My parents grew up in small towns on the Prairies, and never dreamed that one day they might get to see places like the Sandwich Islands, Borneo, Scandinavia, or Australia, but they did!

Having the chance to meet someone from another country is something I would put a high value on, not just for my own sake, but for the sake of a larger, world-view, and especially for those who might otherwise never have an opportunity to expand their own. The benefit of hosting and enabling an inter-continental conference works both ways, my friends, both ways.

Sparks