Wild Geese

An opportunity to hear about a socially engaged spirituality from two respected Pureland Buddhist teachers with the Amida Trust

Thursday 8th November, 6.30 – 9.00pm
at
The Quaker Meeting House,
10 St James Street, Sheffield, S1 2EW

Spirituality + Arts + Social Action + Buddhist Practice + Chaplaincy + Buddhist Psychology + Healing + Writing + Peacework + Interfaith + Writing + Aid + Research + Volunteering + Groupwork

This is a free event, all welcome!
Hosted by Amida Sheffield: Tel 0114 272 4290

Well who would have thought it, i’ve got a job. I’ve been off sick for 23 months and today i get the news that i’m going to be a housing officer with Sheffield Homes. Even more of a shock is the fact that this is the first job i’ve applied for since feeling ready to return to work. I’d had fears that my sickness record would get in the way. I don’t know the start date yet, or where in the city i’ll be based, but i have the warm glow of joy running through me. And to think i nearly didn’t go for the literacy and numeracy test that was the stage before the interview as i was so certain i’d fail the math section…

I’ve deactivated my acocunt on Facebook. I posted on my fun wall there about the company’s refusal to remove pro-anorexia sites, and part of the text was removed, and not by me. If people were using the site for pro-suicide or pro-paeodophilia then i wonder if that would be okay too? For some information as to why i think promoting anorexia is a bad idea click here.

Friday 19th October 2007

This time last year i was days away from major abdominal surgery and terrified. This year i’m days away from a job interview…not terrified, but certainly nervous. I’ve been off sick now for almost 2 years and feeling desperate to back in to gainful employment. Oddly it’s not the financial aspect that is making me want to work (although it is of course a factor), but the social aspect of work, and how it affects your self-esteem. I think i’ve done well with using my time off sick fairly skillfully, i’ve certainly not spent it watching daytime TV. I’ve been doing an OU course, i’ve done some work on a website, and i’ve provided input into helping two friends market and publicise their new books. That is on top of all the hospital appointments and the two operations.

I don’t know how my body will cope with a return to work. Although the operations have sorted two big problems, other health problems remain. However at 36 i don’t feel ready to give up work for good, so i’m going to my interview next week and hoping. Firstly that i get the job and secondly that i can stick at it. It feels good that life is opening up, but equally scary. The fear of failure looms large, and as a perfectionist i’m not good at dealing with failure. In another years time if i’m in work and moaning about it, please feel free to call me on it.

From the Sheffield Star, writen by Amy Burns:

The woman, a representative from the Karen Community Association, addressed the full council after handing them a petition signed by 95 people.

The petition was signed in support of the people of Burma who have been subjected to violence following weeks of peaceful protest against military rule.

Sheffield is one of two ‘host countries’ who welcomed Burmese refugees under the United Nations Gateway programme and as a result is home to one of the largest groups of Burmese exiles in the UK.

The spokesman for the Karen Community Association - Karen is an ethnic group - said the petition had been put together to highlight the problems in Burma and asked the council to show their support by recognising the atrocities.

“I came here as a refugee just over a year ago with my family. Over 120 of us Karen live in Sheffield,” she said.

“I am grateful for your hospitality and will always remember how the good people of Sheffield took us in.

“But we Karen people of Sheffield feel we must do something for our friends who are still suffering all those miles away and we are asking you to help us.

“Monks are not violent people and they do not take to the streets without good cause.

“You brought hope to us when you welcomed us in but now we must bring hope to those who are still in Burma where hope is fast running out - they need to know not just that the World is watching and listening but that it is on their side.”

Her speech was greeted by a standing ovation from councillors and members of the public gallery.

Coun Jan Wilson described the speech as “the most moving we have had in this chamber for some time - if not ever”.

She then went on to outline a motion on behalf of the council which condemns the violence in Burma, highlights the courage and integrity of the Burmese people and voices anger at the military regime’s lack of response to calls for the violence to stop.

Her motion also confirmed Sheffield’s link with Burma and reaffirmed the city’s pride in welcoming the refugees through the Gateway programme.

A copy of the motion, which was seconded by Lib Dem leader Paul Scriven, will be sent to the secretary of state for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and all Sheffield MPs asking for their support in putting pressure on Burma’s rulers to restore democracy.

Every member in the chamber - from all the political parties - voted in favour of carrying the motion.

Coun Scriven said: “This issues transcends party politics and I am absolutely delighted to be able to second it - it brings us all together.”

Here are the Nags Head Quiz Night winners - Meat and Three Veg(etarians), Ray, Sue, Jo, and Chik (the meat eater amongst us veggies).

Ray and I arrived at the beautiful village of Castleton on Saturday afternoon and were joined by Jo and Chik on Sunday. After a dampish Monday out at Bugsworth Basin and Lyme Hall we decided to enter the local quiz. It was a close competion and we were tied with one of the local teams…6 tie-breakers later we finally won. I’ve never entered a pub quiz before, and i think my competitive nature shouldn’t be encouraged by entering another one - but it was fun.

Here is the beautiful cottage we stayed in.

Of course all great holidays must have cats…and we had about four felines who kept us entertained…

We did get up to some lovely walks in the Peak District and despite getting much colder it stayed dry for the rest of the week. Although the cold snap proved me with the perfect excuse to buy a new winter hat. Ray spotted one in the shop but i think he regrets showing it to me…

It was a wonderful week with our Cornish friends, providing lots of memories to treasure. Ray has an amazing selection of photos from the week on flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/amidaray/

http://www.burmacampaign.org.uk/index.php

Ray and i have just returned from a wonderful holiday with friends, and during our time away have caught the news footage on TV of the awful events in Burma. A longer post is needed about this, but this link will have to do for now.

A holiday blog will appear soon too…

It wasn’t the best start to the day. I’d managed to sleep through the night for the first time in ages but woke with really bad neck pain. I went to move my neck to try and ease it and realised i couldn’t move my neck…and that horrid numbness in my left arm wasn’t shifting.  I clock watched until 9am when i could phone Sue my wonderful osteopath. While i clock watched i  prayed she would have an appointment free for me. The idea of going more than 4 hours in this state didn’t appeal. I’m good at pain, but not that good.

Then the day turned…a Parcel Force van pulled up…and i hoped it might be a parcel from the Open University, a parcel containing the first books for my politics course. Excitement flooded through the pain barrier as i saw the delivery man walk up the path to our door carrying a large parcel with the OU insignia. Woohoo! the start of another years study. I realise i need to get out more, lol.

The excitement got me through to the magic 9am, and Sue had one appointment free. It was a painful session, but Sue is fantastic at what she does, and she knows my neck very well. I’ve always had problems with it, but it’s been much worse since getting knocked off my bike 6 years which resulted in a slipped disc (among other things). I’m under orders to rest until i see Sue next week. I took the bus back into town and despite the news that my disc is in a bad way again and my other shoulder is having a hissy fit, i still felt excitement.

And the day held a few more lovely surprises. I bumped into Ray coming out of Waterstones…carrying a CD he’d just bought me  - the new Kate Rusby album, Awkward Annie. I’m a huge fan of this Barnsley singer songwriter who has the voice of an angel; so now i’m excited to get home to the textbooks (remind me of this next summer when i’m revising the for exams), and to listen to Kate. However, i wanted one last try at getting an event with Dharmavidya and Prasada at Waterstones to promote their new books, Who Loves Dies Well and Other Buddhism. I finally have success of a kind. Waterstones have a busy schedule leading up to Christmas but would be keen to do an event in January!

I’m home now, tired and in a lot of pain, but the joys of the day are sweet and coat the physical discomforts.

I’ve spent the last week recovering from the first insect bite in my life - and i’m hoping it’s another 36 years before i get bitten again. I didn’t see the culprit, although i’ve had very un-Buddhist thoughts about it. I didn’t even feel the bite, just a tingly feeling in the tip of my elbow, like sunburn…this progressed to very painful tingling, and swelling…and on to seven shades of downright  agony and no sleep. Thankfully my wonderful GP sorted me out and after a few rough days i was feeling up to visiting a friend in Hope yesterday .

I joined GoldToken almost 3 years ago and have been playing backgammon with Anne (or tigerlily, as she is known as on GT), pretty much since the time i joined. We moan about our bodies to with other, talk about Sheffield (Anne used to live here before the MS took hold), politics, and anything else that might come up. She can always make me laugh. Earlier this year she announced that she had booked to come up to the Peak District for a holiday. I was excited about the chance to meet up, but rather fearful of her chances of a dry holiday when she told me she had booked it for June. June is normally a wet month, or at least unpredictable. However, there had been an error by the company she had booked her specially adapted camper van through and Anne had to postpone her holiday until September. As it happens June was a record breaker for rain, and the week she would have been coming up was the the week of the Sheffield flood (2007). I’m so glad the company messed up!

So, finally September rolled round and Anne, her boyfriend and carers arrived in Hope on Thursday… i pottered off to see them yesterday (sadly Ray has been busy all weekend on an ACT training course). It was a wonderful day. Not only did i get to meet Anne, but about 20 of Anne’s friends from her days in Sheffield. They had all come out to the campsite to catch up with her, and it was declared an “Anne Fest”. It was really moving to see how friendships can endure distance and illness. I’ve made friends with a number of people at GoldToken and i hope Anne is the first of many that i get to know in real life and not just cyber life.