Random Acts of Community
September 2007

On the Road to Find Out
by Christine Wilson

"Well I left my happy home to see what I could find out
I left my folk and friends with the aim to clear my mind out
Well I hit the rowdy road and many kinds I met there
Many stories told me of the way to get there."
--The artist formerly known as Cat Stevens

No doubt that as you read this, there is an old calligrapher at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, painting with water on the hot cement. As he draws the calligraphic poem, the words fade into the sky, in a perfect testimony to impermanence. In July, I took his photograph and now I can't stop looking at it, trying to absorb the lesson. Here are my thoughts on the lesson: There's a grandpa I heard about, who eats the same cereal in the same bowl with the same spoon, while sitting in the same chair at the same table he has presided over for years and years and years. Even now, when he could do anything he wants and there is no one to preside over, he repeats his ritual each morning.

As I packed for my trip to China and Mongolia or, I should say, as I panicked about packing for my trip to China and Mongolia ("What if I forget something I really need? What if I don't have enough money? What if I miss my husband too much? Will anything in China fit my 5'11' self? Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.), I drew the conclusion that it was just too disturbing. I said out loud, multiple times, that if China were across the street I wouldn't go. I had to remind myself that I was doing this on purpose, that I had already paid for it, and that it was not death row ‚ it was an amazing outing to another part of the world. I knew I needed to shake things up, precisely because I do love my comfortable life.

So, I pay homage to that grandpa, knowing we are all like that to varying degrees. I determined that at age 90 I do not want to think that even a switch of spoons would make the world feel wrong. Most things we think have to be a certain way, don't. And, that's impermanence. So I packed, I went, I did fine, and I have memories to last a lifetime. A college counselor from D.C., who was also on my American Counseling Association tour, said "I think we will all be back at our homes after the trip saying: 'What was that all about?'" Wow, was he right!

So on and on I go, the seconds tick the time out.
There's so much left to know, and I'm on the road to find out.
Well in the end I'll know, but on the way I wonder
through descending snow, and through the frost and thunder.
Well, I listen to the wind come howl, telling me I have to hurry.
I listen to the robin's song saying not to worry.

So, I meant for this article to be a love fest about my recent trip to Mongolia and China, but it's kind of a love fest for Cat Stevens as well. More thoughts on the trip next month, unless someone gives me a local act of kindness to write about. Just remember: "Life is like a maze of doors and they all open from the side you're on." Switch cereals or bowls or spoons and see what happens. Enjoy the ride.

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.

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