Salmon run

We watched the salmon run today at Etienne Brule Park.   It was another beautiful day in this unusually warm Thanksgiving long weekend.  Lots of people were out in the park.   Lots of people were watching the salmon.

We cheered each time one of the fish struggled frantically to get up the falls.  And we sighed in sympathy and disappointment each time one of them didn't make it up.  We didn't actually see any of them make it up today.  But from the cheering we heard when we were walking on the path on the other side of the falls, we're pretty sure that one of them did.

Regardless of whether they made it, their struggle was moving to watch.  As silly as it seemed, we couldn't help but to cheer them on.  We could see how hard they were swishing their tails to push themselves up the waterfall.  And we could see them trying again and again each time the water pushed them back down.

I don't think these fish have any idea that we were watching or cheering them on.  They were just doing what they had to do.  And in doing that, and in struggling and not giving up, they impacted people in ways they don't even know.

When dreams meet reality

I pulled up an old email a while back.  It was written four years ago.  I wrote it to one of the leaders in  my community, telling him about some of the things I hope to work on and achieve, so that he could assign me tasks accordingly.  Looking at what I wrote, I realize how much things have changed -- or how much I have changed.

It's not that I'm now opposed to the goals and plans I wrote about.  No.  I still believe that these are good things to do.  But what I see in that email was a tremendous amount of hope and optimism that I have since lost.  Reading that email, I'm almost astounded by the naivete of this girl who had and expressed these dreams just a few years back.  It's sad.  I couldn't imagine writing the same thing now -- or even anything close to it.

Maybe that's just how things go.  We have dreams, we try to implement them and when they encounter reality, they get changed, or lost, or broken, or crushed.  Then what are we supposed to do?  Do we find our dreams again, put them back together and try again?  Just the thought of doing that puts a knot in my chest.  Or do we stop dreaming -- put these dreams back on the shelf where they will be safe from the hazards of reality and where they will remain as mere dreams?  No.  I can't do that.  What is the point of the day to day struggle if there is nothing to strive for?   No, I won't shelve my dreams.

No, I'm going to find those dreams again.  I'm going to put them back together and nourish them back to health and try to bring them to reality again.  The alternative is just unacceptable.

The Waterskiing Principle

When talking about community development and big projects, Muhammad Alshareef has used this analogy to water-skiing.

When you start water-skiing, you float in the water in your life jacket and skis, holding on to the rope attached to the boat. At this point, most of the rope is beneath the surface of the water, you don’t see it. Then, the boat starts pulling the rope taut and you still don’t see it. But you know it’s getting pulled, although you still don’t feel it. And then suddenly you feel the pull of the rope and you’re pulled up on your skis (or in my case you fly in the air and fall on your face in a big splash).

Often, when you’re doing community work, you won’t see the results right away. You keep working and working and nothing seems to be happening. It’s like the boat that’s pulling the rope under the water. Nothing seems to be happening. But underneath the surface, the rope is being pulled and it’s just a matter of time before it gets pulled taut and you’ll be pulled up on your skis (and hopefully not fall on your face in a big splash).