Random Acts of Community
July 2007

Ripples Far and Wide
by Christine Wilson

One must care about a world one will not see. -- Bertrand Russell

Well, I guess it's true that the only thing permanent is change. The brain researchers say that our mind is wired to interpret change as a life threat. Add that to the attachments we make with people, and losing someone or something we care about can knock you for a loop. I have an attachment to a seashell I picked up on a Mexican beach in 1974 and would have to work pretty hard to let go if something happened to it. When we get a television series from Netflix I am totally attached to the characters by the end of the last disc, and I actually miss them. Okay, I'm not particularly proud of how unevolved I am in that regard; I'm just being honest here. So people and pets -- wow. That's a level of attachment we spend our entire lives struggling with. It drives people to no end of heartache and even misbehavior.

So, when we lost Bev Stoker-Drake recently, the ripples were felt far and wide. For some she was a dear friend and family member. To others, she was yet another person living near the Columbia River who has been lost to cancer. And of course, some know her as a woman who followed her dream and created the All Aboard Academy to provide early intervention for kids with various difficulties. I'll never forget getting to watch her manage a speech therapy song for a writhing mass of small fry at the academy. They were crawling all over their grown-ups, and she persevered with the song, gathering them in with finesse and patience and never seeming to take it personally that they may not have been totally focused on her song. She worked long enough to see much of the fruit of her labor, but as is typical of people who work in her field, much of the effect is still out there flowing along, currently unseen.

One big way to care about the world we won't see is to help the next generation care about the living, breathing outside world around us. If you type "Wildlife Observation Hike" into an Internet search engine, you'll find a two-page worksheet developed by the National Wildlife Federation. It's a fun little activity for inspiring curiosity and skills of examination. Those activities can create awareness of the goings on around us that we don't see even now, and that can move us forward into a caring attitude about the future, a world we can only imagine. Creating a future based on imagination takes faith and persistence, and if you knew Bev even the little amount I did, you'll know that faith and persistence pays off.

For info: www.greenhour.org/images/activities/PDF/wildlife_hike_checklist.pdf.

Christine Wilson is a psychotherapist with a private practice in Colville. She can be reached by email at cwilson@ultraplix.com. She invites readers to contribute their own stories of kindness for inclusion in upcoming issues.

Care to comment? Please direct your comments to editor@ncmonthly.com.

The North Columbia Monthly provides news, views, humor and a calendar of events for an area that stretches from Nelson in British Columbia south to Spokane in Washington State and covers all points in between. A free (and free-thinking, progressive) magazine, The Monthly is available at several hundred spots throughout the region and now is also available on-line at www.ncmonthly.com. Published once a month since 1994, The Monthly is an independent magazine that often challenges contemporary wisdom by encouraging critical thinking about issues and attitudes in the region and beyond.

Featuring our one-of-a-kind "What's Happening" department, The Monthly provides the region's only all-inclusive, free listing of community events and is the first place many people check to find out about area arts, crafts, music, fairs, services and events of all kinds. Our free listing policy for the "What's Happening" department promotes diversity, cultural interaction, and the exchange of ideas and free expression. Also featured in the magazine are people, food, health, humor, and feature articles that keep readers coming back for more each month.

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