[2023-09-30] Saturday Synopsis #63 and Truth and Reconciliation 2023
Today is National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and Orange Shirt Day. The former honours the children who did not make it home from residential schools, those who survived them, and their families. The latter raises awareness about the impacts of residential schools and promotes the concept that Every Child Matters.
Today, I read a Canadian Encyclopedia article about Influential Indigenous Musicians in Canada. I've been thinking a lot about music lately, both its power to communicate the author's messages and its power to evoke a response in the listener. The Canadian Encyclopedia article identifies 10 influential Indigenous musicians, only some of whom I was familiar with before writing this post. I sampled music from all 10 and I was especially drawn to the songs identified after some of the singers.
- Buffy Sainte-Marie (Cree) – Universal Soldier and Up Where We Belong
- Willie Dunn (Mi'kmaq) – I Pity the Country
- Robbie Robertson (Mohawk) – Somewhere Down The Crazy River
- Tom Jackson (Métis)
- Susan Aglukark (Inuk) – O Siem and Hina Na Ho (Celebration)
- Leela Gilday (Dene)
- Tanya Tagaq (Inuk)
- MJ Dandeneau (Métis, French and Anishinaabe)
- Jeremy Dutcher (Wolastoqiyik, Tobique First Nation)
- JB the First Lady (Jerilynn Snuxyaltwa Webster) (Nuxalk and Onondaga Nations)
Two additional Indigenous artists I've discovered in recent years that I would commend are:
- William Prince (Oji-Cree) – The Spark and Breathless
- Crowned Lands (composed of Cody Bowles [Mik'maq] and Kevin Comeau) – End Of The Road and Context: Fearless Pt. 1
Now on to this week's Saturday Synopsis.
3 (+1) Ideas From Me
Another app that I downloaded recently is called MyTherapy. When I first got home after surgery, I was struggling to organize the timing of my various drugs using Google Calendar. My niece said, "There are apps for this." I'm not sure that I would have thought of that. MyTherapy is very user-friendly. It was a cinch to add all the medications I needed to take and to set reminders for each one. When the time comes to take my meds, the app plays a pleasant chime and will do so every 5 minutes until I confirm that I've taken the medication. If I'm not able to take the medication right away, I can snooze the notice. And I can skip a certain medication, which has been helpful as I've been weaning myself off Advil. MyTherapy also presents my progress in a chart, indicating how many times I've taken the medication in the last 7 days.
Rather than fixate on how the chemo drugs could hurt me, I've decided to focus on how they will help me. I need to remember why I'm undergoing this treatment: to return to health, to fulfill my mission, and to have many more years with loved ones. All of this is making me rethink my perspective on my chemo treatment tomorrow. Rather than see chemo as the black dot [in the middle of the sheet of paper], I should see it as the white space working to shrink the black dot that is cancer. In the same way, surgery—which also had its challenges—helped to reduce my cancer.
Be kind. Speak gently. Rejoice in your blessings and the good fortune of others. Share your abundance. Respect others and expect them to return the courtesy. Believe in your choices and honour those of others. Value yourself and walk away from situations that don't support your self-worth.
Of course, there will always be things about our spouses, family members, friends, business partners, neighbours (etc.) that disappoint us. In my experience, the secrets to successful, long-term relationships include:
- being able to distinguish between the things that really are unacceptable and the things that are merely different from the way we'd like them to be or from the way we, ourselves, would do them;
- having the courage to raise issues that should be addressed with the aim of improving the relationship rather than finding fault;
- maintaining empathy for the other person, recognizing that they face challenges, just as we do;
- focusing on all the good they bring to our life: support, laughter, joy, a shoulder to cry on, a helping hand, validation and love....
With gratitude to all the loving, caring people in my life.
2 (+5) Quotes From Others
I've said to people before that I'm going to do my very best to make it. I'm not going to give up, and that's true. But I might not make it. And if I don't make it, the Marathon of Hope better continue. It's got to go without me. I'll do my best, but it's got to keep going without me if I can't make it."
— Terry Fox
Accepting my limitations has dramatically changed my perspective, helping me to embrace a slower pace. I now endure such hardships as watching the mist rise off the lake each morning, recognizing the call of a Pileated woodpecker, and reaping the rewards of helping neighbours and friends. These are but a few gifts I would have missed had I not changed my pace.
— A wise woman and friend
What we once enjoyed and deeply loved we can never lose, for all that we love deeply becomes us.
— Helen Keller
In the garden of memory, in the palace of dreams...that is where you and I shall meet.
— Lewis Carroll
Be the things you loved most about the people who are gone.
— Author unknown
The reality is, you will grieve forever. You will never "get over" the loss of a loved one; you will learn to live with it. You will heal and you will rebuild yourself around the loss you have suffered. You will be whole, but you will never be the same again. Nor should you be the same, nor should you want to.
— Elizabeth Kübler-Ross
The truth is really hard, but the reconciliation part is even harder because then we actually have to change our behaviour. It’s time for Canadians to stand up as well and to take responsibility for that. This is their challenge as well.
— Niigaanwewidam Sinclair
1 Question For You
The part of Terry that my family and I carry with us every day is that life is short. Do not take it for granted. Terry said that he made a mistake in the 18 years before he was diagnosed with cancer, that he was very self-centred, that cancer awakened him to the concept of giving back and helping others.
— Darrell Fox
What part of someone you have loved and lost do you carry with you every day?
