Caetera desunt

I went to the butterfly garden today as my outing  

Thar was my grand gesture, as I’m technically not allowed off the floor, never mind outdoors on a Saturday when most of the therapists are off duty.  My afternoon session was just a loop on the floor, far less fun than being able to go out exploring.  I’ve been trying to get these to work all afternoon with limited success, but maybe it’ll allow me to use two different angles.

 

The flowers are all designed to attract pollinators, primarily butterflies 🦋 but also bees and wasps  it will take a long time before they are back in their numbers but it’s definitely worth adding flowers of all types to attract pollinators.

The orange ribbons are to honour the memories of the 215 children found in the BC residential school.  I have no words for this, and I’m beyond horrified that this happened.  I admit that I don’t know much about the specific details of what happened at residential schools, nor do I understand the thinking behind their establishment.  I am ashamed of my lack of knowledge, which I can excuse in a number of ways, but I won’t except to say that it is an exercise in privilege.

We talked about this before.  Privilege allows us to overlook or ignore things that don’t directly affect us.  I am not indigenous, nor did I grow up in Canada,  Therefore anything that I learned about the indigenous experience came from popular culture.  It has only been in very recent time that I became aware of the horrors of the residential school system, and the Sixties scoop among other repugnant stories.  I had my own moments of anger and indignation about elements of anti-black, anti-Asian, anti-south Asian racism, so I had few spare elements for ones that didn’t affect me directly.  In all honesty, though, that’s weak.  Any form of racism dehumanizes everyone, and its presence affects all of us.  This is just one of the reasons not to allow these poisons to emerge at all.  

I can do nothing for these recently uncovered children.  I’m not sure if I can do much in the face of the enormity of the problem.  What I, and we as individuals, can do is ensure that we don’t let the story fade into anonymity by remaining and ensuring that we keep asking about progress on the 94 recommendations made by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC)  

We can also remain alert to other anti-racist movements and the work being done to increase diversity and inclusion in public life, as it’s all one piece.  I know that it can seem overwhelming… I mean, I worked on one such board just before I retired, and just defining our area of responsibility was quite intense!  I’ll reiterate, though, that even at an individual level, what we can do is reach out to at least 1 new person a month and build a relationship.  Try a new food.  Support an artist.  Read a book or a magazine.  Watch a show or play.  Think of how much richer your life would be!  When you see and hear the negative stories (because you will!)  just stay focused on the goal.  One person at a time!

We can effect change one person at a time.  Let’s do that.