This Mother’s Day, I have decided to talk about one Global Subject that we all can feel, hear, smell, taste and touch, in one way or another; even if we are not living in the eye of this storm, yet? Yes, I say yet, sheepishly, when I tell you that my topic this issue is about “Poverty”.
Even in this great Land of Opportunity, Canada, we can all see the effects of economic crisis, growing “poverty” caused by recession or depression in society as a whole.
I would like to open for you today with the definition of the word “poverty“. When I think of it in the form of definition, I am guided to a dictionary; yet, when I think of it in the form of a term, my mind immediately leans toward focusing on the “term” and not “definition“.
That takes me into the great mind of one of our world’s economists, if not the greatest ever, Mr. Adam Smith. [1723-1790] . According to Smith, every society on earth must hold an “absolute minimum standard of living” which consists of basic survival “necessities” of life [clothes, food and shelter]. Smith, within his philosophy, also added that each Soul on earth is entitled to “additional” necessity-ie. in his day that was:
“a white linen shirt and a pair of leather shoes“.
In his time, these were all referred to as “necessaries“.
* An Inquiry into the Nature and Cause of the Wealth of Nations. , is his work for all you Ladies that like to read. Many experts, even today, still use the thoughts of Adam Smith as a gauge to determine all facets of the acceptable minimums of life, in society.
In essence, the philosophy contained is that each and every human being is “entitled” to live life with dignity and self respect, regardless of circumstance.
In Canada, for example, “poverty” is that huge white elephant, in the middle of everyone’s living room, that not one person wants to talk about.
In this Canadian environment, one might hear the words: “What is she getting at?” “Who is she talking about?” “We are the best country in the world! How could she say this?” “Who are these people?” Is this even true?” “How is this possible, in a country like Canada?” ….and on… and on……and I reply “Yes, I am talking about “poverty” and yes, today I am focused on Canada!”
In the last 20 years “poverty” has become one of the great Debates in our land. For example, in 1989 our House of Commons unanimously passed an all-party resolution which resolved to eliminate child poverty in Canada by the year 2000.
*Child Poverty and Campaign 2000.
Today, much to my dismay, our numbers of have increased dramatically, not decreased and certainly have not been eliminated.
* Foods banks have more than doubled since 1989, growing 187%.
* The average low income family is short $9,000.00 -$11,000.00 per year income to reach the poverty line.
* One in 8 children in Canada are living in “poverty” here today. Teachers are seeing more and more of
children having no winters clothes, no lunches, no field trip money; and even signs of malnutrition.
* During the latter half of the 1990’s, the population increased by 6.1%, whereas the sector of people
reported to be “poor” grew by 28.6%.
*70% of reported poverty, in Canada, exists in the major cities like Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver.
Who is Debating this topic, you ask?
Well, my Ladies, we have two primary groups that are split on this issue.
The first group, a collaboration of government and private agencies, etc. is commonly referred to as the “anti-poverty coalition“, with a mandate to alleviate poverty. This group has been safely described to be leaning left of center, supporting more social programs in a highly regulated market economy, finding funding through increased taxation.
*Urban Poverty in Canada: A Statistical Profile.
The second group is tagged the “pro-business coalition“, another group of government and private agencies and departments, leaning to the right of center, with a mandate that supports a much less regulated market economy, decreased social programs and decreased taxes.
*Measuring Poverty in Canada.
Sadly, I must share that Canada has absolutely no official definition of poverty, and despite having one of the highest standards of living, among all developed nations, being voted by the United Nations as the “best” country in the world in which to live, we still suffer the rampages of poverty, especially during times of “recession“.
Well, well, well….let’s not all go and jump, yet; as there are structural reason for this social condition. This worsening of global poverty levels and severe changes in the economy have happened 2 times in the last 300 years.
The first time was in the early 1700’s, during the building of the Western World, as it is called today. That time is still referred to as the “Industrial Revolution”, changing life from an agrarian-based society to one of industry. This created a plethora of jobs and business opportunity.
The second time happened in the 1980’s with the beginning of the “Information Revolution“, as it is nicknamed. This time the swing of change fell in the opposite direction, causing a slow landslide of lost jobs and failing businesses.
For example, what used to take 10 “unionized“, well paid assembly-line workers can now be done by 1 “less skilled worker”, with the assistance of a computer.
Can you see where most of the dignified jobs went? Yes, we invented technology that erased our indispensability. Perhaps, the inventions that have bettered our world have left some of us out in the cold.
The Question Now is:
“How do we Rise Above this Challenge?”
It’s time to pull together and not pull apart, a time to open our minds-not close them, a time of charity-not hate and most of all a time to prioritize the “issues” in our lives and start to see the essence of life rather than the physicality of life.
We, as Women, can hopefully, universally, pull together, work within our respective communities and create positive change.
On that note…a story to share of 1 Woman.
Let’s take a peek into the window of a classic Canadian Woman’s home today… a story of the effects of this Recession our globe is living through, in Canada, regardless of its Cause! This is a picture one will see through more windows today than one would ever dream possible; as this story can happen in the best of neighbourhoods, and people have no idea that their neighbour is suffering.
….read on.
IF THESE WALLS COULD TALK
“A lonely tear rolls down the cheek of her gentle, tired face and drips onto the household bills she is ruffling through, before Sara even realizes she is crying. The sound of the drip was so loud, in Sara’s mind, she jumped nervously knocking over her coffee cup and staining her prided kitchen table, all at once!
Her mind races. Her heart pounds so hard there is a throb that runs up through to her armpit. She drops her pen and allows her head to fall helplessly into the palms of her hands, embracing an all out sob. She cries for what seems to be an eternity…..
“What am I going to do this time?” she asks herself, in her mind. “I am broke again, still behind on all my bills, the fridge is empty and it’s Baby Carly’s Birthday in 2 days!” she exclaims to herself in silence. “What will I tell poor Susie?” she thinks of her daughter, who she had promised to take care of this day, only two weeks earlier. “I have always taken care of everything, oh God!” she prays, all the while sobbing through her own thoughts.
“Dear Lord, why have things gone so far off the beat? Why is my new business taking so long to grow? Why did I take custody of this extra Angel? Am I capable of doing all of this? Is this a sign? Is there a lesson for me to learn here? Look at me!” Sara is now racing in her own mind, while talking to her God. Meanwhile, the coffee is dripping, one droplet at a time onto the kitchen floor, and Sara is so afraid, she doesn’t even notice. “I work and work and work and never get ahead!” she continues racing to herself. “But this time, I really messed up, paying too much on this and too much on that, damn!” she rationalizes the moment.
“Pray!” her own grandmother’s voice breathes into her mind.
Sara calms herself. “Well, the money is on it’s way, it was supposed to be here last Friday. It’s just late..not like I am sitting eating bonbons all day!” she props her self up with a touch of indignancy. “Why is the money late?” she now screams aloud, scaring her own self, which actually brought a little smile to her face, for her own voice makes her see just how ridiculous her thoughts are becoming. “Pull yourself together, girl!” Sara now orders herself, aloud. She clears the papers from the table, gets a cloth and begins to clean the coffee mess she had made, during her lost moments of panic. “That’s it!” she stands “You are just going to have to go to Susie, Carly’s Mother and her own daughter, and tell her the truth; that you cannot provide for this party, this year and that there seems to be no solution at this moment in time that is in your control!”
You see, this like many other stories, this is one a women caught up in life. Sara is a loving mother of three girl’s of her own. The eldest of her own daughter’s was found to be pregnant at 14, opening a pandora’s box that has devastated the family, in some ways, for the last five years; yet, blessed it in many ways, some I’m sure, of which are probably yet to be seen. Without all the details, Grandma Sara, ended up with the custody of this little angel, Carly, inadvertently and most unconsciously, not completely of her own choice. One month from that event, Susie, the daughter was in a car accident, that disabled her from working, as well. So, the end result, with no blame, is that Sara now houses four girls on her own, with very small , random amounts of support from her own “ex”, a new business to tend as jobs are scarce; a classic modern tale.
During times of recession, many, many families; especially the single parented ones, endure some of the most painful challenges of the heart…..the lack of providing the “dreams” we all want to make come true for our children and loved ones.
This story is one of many, and as trite as a simple little “birthday party/gifts” may seem in the bigger picture of life, to this one women, this one day, this little problem is earth shattering, to her.
Each person’s Suffering is as Deep as the next, and all relevant in the realm of “Feelings”.
Sara breathes deeply, grabs a tissue, wipes her eyes and holding onto the kitchen counter, decides “I need some air to think….” and puts on her coat, then leaves the house for a walk. “….”A walk with God”,” Nana would have called this!” she continues to herself the minute the crisp air hits her face.
As she takes in the deepest breath she ever remembers, a memory hits her, deep inside her heart. Her mind instantly takes her back to the wonderful, long walks to church, down the neverending tree-lined avenues of her hometown, she had taken with her own grandmother; the ones where she would have to wear those lacey white gloves. “Nana”, as she always remembered her Grandmother as, “always made me where those white gloves to church.” she smiled, thinking to herself and embracing the warmth of this memory.
“Yes”, she breathed peacefully as she remembered, “Nana moved in to live with Mama and always did her best to help.” She is now blessed with the memory of the fact that her own grandmother never had lots of money, not much to speak of, yet; she inspired so much love and strength into our home, growing up. “I will never forget you, Nana!” Sara cries aloud, just as she notices she had unconsciously reverted back to a skip in her walk, the skip exactly like the one she used to enjoy while walking the avenues with her grandmother at the age of 10. “Oh my God! Nana, you are here! I can feel you, your love!” she breathes the words to herself. A wonderful sense of freedom and peace fell over Sara like a baby’s blanket.
Sara is almost in tears again; but, this time inspiration stops her. “It’s Faith and Love that I am to provide!” she realizes and shines with a reborn sense of renewed sanity, as she makes her way home. “That’s what Nana always taught us…” she remembers and is immediately overwhelmed with a deep feeling of mission to follow in her grandmother’s footsteps, as she turns around and skips home.
Upon arrival at her house, she opens the door and announces to whoever is there, aloud at the top of her lungs “That’s it! I will go to William!” Quieting her voice, reverting back to thoughts, she continues “Yes, he is Susie’s fiance, and I will tell him my own state of affairs, enable him to take the lead and do the duties a “Dad” would do. I will pat him on the back, I will formally invite him to take control, I will pass him the baton, I will…….” as she stops herself, for she laughs “I am obsessing again.”
The awakening that day, for Grandma Sara, was that she too was still learning lessons in life, while pushing 60, that she had been taught so many years ago. These lessons were taught to her by a wonderful woman who had struggled through immigration in 1909, through the Great Depression, and many more sufferings than anything like this little panic she was putting herself through; all caused by her own “misplaced Pride”, as her Nana would have called it.
Sara, at that moment, decides “That’s it! I am going to focus on the Gratitude she was taught as a Small Child.” The second her mind formulated that decision, a renewed peace in her heart arrived instantly. The awareness of gratitude, in her mind, and just the sense of power that the letting go of control for once in her days was a gift that had been given to her so very long ago. She now remembered that life has its pits and valleys and that her autonomy perhaps had stripped her of that reality, in her own mind. “Oh, what Grace has brought me back…..freedom from fear and pressure….” she sighs, realizing that the greatest gifts of all in this life can only be felt in the heart and usually not visible to the eye.
“Nana, when did I forget?” Sara asks aloud as she prepared to sit quietly in her chair, and curl up holding her knees, like a little girl.
Copyright 2009 @ A Celebration of Women
This is just one story, of one woman, in one life of so many women past and present that get so caught up in the day to day chores and responsibilities, thinking they have to do it all, against all odds.
The truth of the matter is that we, today, as women need to go back and work our lives in the directions that our fabulous mothers and grandmothers taught us.
Women are the Glue that Bind,
Nurture and Weather
the Spirit of the Family.
Unfortunately, many women today are doing this alone; with epic numbers of divorce, lost jobs for those in partnerships, corporate lay-offs, etc. These are the many, many symptoms of another deep economic recession facing our nations today, globally leaving the people of our human race feeling alone and afraid. Yet, are we really alone? That is the question we need to hold an answer to, in the deepest core of our beings. It is only by “digging deep” inside that we can find the gifts of Faith can we achieve any inner peace and “rise above” the challenges of everyday life.
Is there a Lightforce greater than ourselves that we have lost sight of by simply trying to take complete control of our own lives, leaving us in a state of flux, living rocking chair Faith or no Faith at all.
It has been said that the Soul Shines in Times of Lack and Hardship, the Mind gets Creative and the Body eventually follows, only if we lighten up and allow the Flow to Happen.
It is in these times of recession, we as women need a voice, a friend, a heart of experience to share real life stories of not only survival, but tails of Faith, Success and Wisdom that enabled women to “Rise Above” the challenges of poverty caused by the Great Depression, recession, wars, illness, hatred, and/or any other forms of a dark force that contributes to the lack in our world today; regardless of its shape or size.
We, as a human race, collectively, need a lesson in the deepening of our Spirit, one in the “pulling together-not apart“, in the daily affairs of our own living.
The greatest lesson in the above story, I believe, was the loss of blindness, hidden in its own form of “pride” and return of vision, in Sara’s life. She, through, the lessons forgotten, was awakened to the fact that adversity creates opportunity, the opportunity to grow into better human beings, the opportunity to teach others to become better human beings.
It is in these hard times that some of the “Greatest Gifts of Life” are found.
If open minded and humble enough to open our hearts and minds, we might just find :
Compassion, Generosity, True friendship, Forgiveness, and Love.
All these beauties are born from the Soul and actually can be found in this journey we all call: “Life on Earth“ if we Believe,“No Matter What“.
