Week Four

Finally the month of January comes to a close. It is one of the three tough months of the year when it comes to being motivated. I still have February and March to go, but from past records I know that things slowly but surely get to be a little easier.

I am thouroughly dissappointed with my numbers for January. I have ALOT of catching up to do in pushups, situps, squat thrusts and forms. I should have been ahead in numbers for self-propelled travel; I have never done so much outdoor walking in this province at this time of the year. But my numbers on the bike slipped below what I had expected because I inexplicably began having a difficult time getting up at 4:30 am to attend my morning spin classes. I really have to find a solution to this problem quickly as my timetable for the next 5 months does not allow for spin work at any other time of the day. I am happy that my attendance numbers for I Ho Chuan, Black Belt Class, and Open training are on track, but I still find it a mental struggle to convince myself to go, and to stay. February is a shorter month, and that much closer to spring.

Last week, the lead teacher and I began our 'Kindness' curriculum. Our special students struggle with empathy and related skills. Sometimes the teacher and I wonder if we are teaching to the unteachable. But there is one boy, who really doesn't get it who provides me with hope. He TRIES to understand. He WANTS to understand. I think he knows he doesn't get it, and that is why he bombards us with seeminigly preposterous questions, like, 'Mrs. Finnamore, is it a Random Act of Kindness when you save someone from drowning even when you don't like them?' I hope that one day, despite his limitations, we will provide him with an answer that will work for him.

I am reading the most amazing book, by John Francis, Ph.D., called "Planet Walker; 17 years of silence, 22 years of walking". Back in 1971, when John was in his 20's, he joined thousands of people as they responded to an oil spill in San Francisco Bay, by scrubbing the beaches and fighting to save birds and sea creatures dying from petroleum poisoning. The event changed his life and began a deep personal transformation; he chose to stop using motorized vehicles, and he took a vow of silence that would last for 17 years. The book is the story of the next 22 years of his life, as he silently walks 2 continents spreading his message of peace and environmentalism, and, along the way, earning an undergraduate and master's degree in science and environmental studies and a Ph.D. in land resources. Though John currently has taken up a more traditional lifestyle, he is still an activist. He is the founder and director of Planetwalk, a nonprofit environmental education organization and he is developing a environmental studies curriculum based on the walking pilgrimage for K-12 schools and universities.

"Listen actively to learn. Be prepared to hear something new without judgment, and listen to what you have heard before from the place where you are now. Learning may come from a new understanding of what you already seem to know." John Francis

Claire Finnamore
Student Member, Silent River Kung Fu
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