The litmus test- our love for the earth

If your children or their spouse are not flying back for Chinese New Year, they may have a valid reason or excuse, to save the earth. It is estimated that a person on a round trip flight from New York to Paris pumps about 2.2 tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. As a comparison a person in a developed country generates an annual carbon footprint of about 7 tonnes a year through electricity usage, ground transportation and waste disposal. Just by travelling 3 times a year, a person would have committed a carbon sin twice the norm. This is really sad to hear for any one who loves to travel and for retirees who look to travel to create some zing in their life. Our love to experience new places will now be underlined with a sense of guilt.

Baby boomers are already slapped with accusations for ruining the earth, first with our insatiable desire to own material things proliferating consumerism and ballooning into excesses. The 'out with the old'  mentality created waste and throwaways polluting the earth and depleting the world's resources. When tired of possessing things we moved onto gaining new experiences, hence the boom in air travel. This is made easier with competing offers from airlines.

If air travel continues to grow and the effects of climate change and global warming become prevalently disastrous a day will come when airlines will be struck with an emission tax. This will translate into higher cost for air travel which will rein in the damage to the environment.

For many of us, the litmus test for our love of the earth is to restrict holiday air travel . It's indeed a very hard call, failing which a sense of guilt will linger somewhere at the back of our minds even when taking in the beauty of a landscape overseas.

The door that remains opened

When one door closes another opens. Many people have used this phrase in a philosophical way when reflecting on events which reshaped their lives. For me a small outcome reminds me of this quote.

So I together with many die-hards have tried our best to hang onto KK Women Hospital's bone building exercise classes designed for people suffering from or at the fringe of osteoporosis.  However due to the overwhelming demand and lack of hospital resources it not only was getting difficult to get a slot but the physiotherapist are encouraging people to join other exercise programs conducted in community clubs all over the city. Still participants out of preference for the familiar refuse to budge. The hospital then introduced an assessment every half year to gauge one's readiness to go for exercise classes outside. Each assessment is $44 after subsidy and each bone building exercise class is about $26. I had one such assessment this week and they gave me a 'graduation' certificate. So like all things impermanent, one door closes.

Forced to explore the lists of other programs in a print out which KK gave me, I visited WINGs at Bishan. I was ushered into a class that happened to be starting while I was there to made enquiries. Oh my was I impressed. The trainer was very detailed and made an effort to correct the posture of each participant. The class only costs $10 per session! This small experience makes me wonder why I was so reluctant to open another door when one is closing on me.

On the flip side I wonder why no one ever said "when no other doors open, this door does not close". After my retirement from finance, I pursued qualifications in counselling and worked a few years as a part time school counsellor. Now retired I aspire for volunteering opportunities that see me grow in a professional way. At one period of time I signed on with 3 organisations and was quite overwhelmed. I then contemplated dropping the one which offered least professional growth, a children's home. At this home I did not have to submit case notes, was left pretty much to do as I deem right and with no review required with the social workers whose turnover is high. I had thought of quitting this place but could not somehow got to do so because the bonding with the children there has been so strong. Fast forward, circumstances in the other 2 organisations have changed such that I have to quit one whilst my engagement with the last has dwindled substantially. In other words my aspiration to grow professionally has been minimal.

However the engagement which I now find much satisfaction is with the children's home, the door which I couldn't close. My sandplay therapy has gradually morphed into a mix of general play, mentoring, mothering and grand-mothering. I don't pride myself that the children fought over their turn but I take comfort in knowing that they feel worthy of being loved.

The door that does not close remains open in ways unknown.

A disappointment to women

Read the review of the new broadway musical Pygmalion, a new version from its first, produced way back in 1914. Most people know Pygmalion as My Fair Lady, the film adaptation starring Audrey Hepburn. The writer of the review quipped that the lady sitting next to her at the musical was puzzled about the ending which deviated from the film and previous broadways. In this new version Eliza Dolittle walked away from the eccentric professor Harry Higgins. The reviewer then explained that in the original script playwright Bernard Shaw had a similar storyline but expecting that the audience wanted romance and a happy ending, all the producers, directors and actors changed the script much to Shaw's dismay. Shaw later made known his disapproval. He had intended to bring out the prevalence of class consciousness where people are judged by the accent and manner of speech and dressing. Instead of marrying up to raise her social standing, Shaw intended that Eliza retained her pride, turning away from the social snide.

Now a century later things have come a full circle and Shaw would have been pleased . Ironically however it happens in an environment of increasing inequality around the world.

Shamefully I must admit I would be disappointed with a walk away ending. Although the eccentric professor treated ladies condescendingly, his underlying kindness and love would suffice. That in itself marks the difference between women of my generation and that of the next. We have been brought up to hold the interest of the men in the family before ours. We observe this in our mothers who only expected to be loved and well provided for in return. Of course with higher education our attitude has changed to the need to be independent financially and otherwise. The respect for a masculine hierarchical structure however is deeply ingrained especially in an oriental culture. We were trained in patriarchy. 

Perhaps the cushy feeling of being protected (never mind the subordination) makes me still desire for Eliza Dolittle to marry the fuzzy Henry Higgins instead of her braving the streets of London for a living. It is hard to  change brainwashed ideas of 'our place' in the world, a disappointment to women you may say.

Understanding voidness in Taroko

Just came back from a one week trip to Taiwan. The package tour included a one night stay at the 5 star hotel in Taroko National Park in Hualien. The park offers breathtaking view of gorges, cliffs and gushing rivers deep below. The Silk Place Taroko Hotel is the only 5 star hotel in the park.

The front facade of the hotel looks like any ordinary mountain hotel . The interior is well furnished and the decor blends with its natural surroundings. However what is most breath taking is its roof top infinity pool and Jacuzzi. The infinity pool overlooks a deep narrow valley with a stream running at the bottom. Besides the pool is a big open deck with lounge chairs and sofas.

It was getting dark when we braved the cold water in the pool at 4 pm before dipping in the jacuzzi. Some hotel staff were already preparing to light up torches and a small bonfire. A show was scheduled at 8.30 pm.

I was expecting a tribal show but it turned out to be a band singing mandarin pops and some of their own composition. Instead of lazing myself on a deck chair or sofa while listening to the performance I walked along the railing overlooking the gorge which was visible by the hotel lights. Away from the stage I could hear the gushing of the river in the valley below. As I looked at the scenery below I began to wonder whether the wilderness minded the intrusion by the hotel. If the hotel is not there the whole place will be in pitch darkness and the mountain, the rocks, the stream and all the living things will dwell in the natural darkness. Do they feel being invaded?

However recalling a passage from The Dharma of Mind Transmission: When the sun shines over the four directions, the world becomes light, but true voidness is never light. When the sun sets, the world becomes dark, but voidness is never dark..... the nature of voidness is clear and undisturbed.

I know the feeling is only in the mind.