August is coming to a close and September will soon be here. For most of us, September is like the start of a new year. Even though we are no longer in school, we still feel that anticipation of starting fresh. I often want to go to the stationary store and get a new pen or coloured pencils and a notebook. Not this year though. For some unknown reason, my September excitement is a bit lacklustre. I am glad the hot weather is coming to an end and look forward to the fall colours. Still, something is just not right. I can’t put my finger on it.

I have tried the old standbys like looking at my wardrobe. Maybe I will get something new to spruce it up. Or perhaps I will add something new to my home. I have even considered repotting my plants that look overgrown in their smallish pots. Still my get up and go has got up and went.

There is nothing I need or really want right now. Everything works well in my life and I have a circle of friends who I love and adore. My health is good, all things considered ,and so I wonder where I am I heading?

I don’t usually watch television, in fact I don’t even own one. I just stream what I want to watch at the time on my laptop computer. This week though I found myself watching the speeches at the Democratic Convention in the US on YouTube. Michelle Obama and Kamala Harris really took a hold of me. It was not just what they had to say but how they presented it. Their hearts were blazing and their words were so steady and emphatic. I wanted to speak like them. I wanted to stand before a crowd of people. I wanted to say what my heart and soul is so longing to share. The problem is I have no idea what that is. Or maybe I do.

I am a seventy year old woman who has seen a lot in life. I have raised two beautiful children and have five gorgeous grandchildren. My children’s partners are as much family to me as if I gave birth to them myself. I am blessed with a lovely sister who is two years younger than me and her husband and three sons. My family is small and full of love. There is so much I appreciate and am grateful for. My challenge now is looking outside myself and my own individual life. I need to see beyond what is right in front of me.

I have been on the receiving end of so much generosity over the past several years. I have done my best to contribute to the circle of life around me. Still I feel I need and want to do more with the energy I have. The big question is where do I start? I used to think my writing was a way for me to touch the world. Is that enough though? Is there more I am being called to bestow upon the world? Have I already experienced and been offered everything I need? These are all good questions.

I am not interested in seeking out my “purpose” or wondering about the “gifts” I have to offer. It is more than that. I am looking for a way into that arena. Crowds are forming there. The hope for a better world is being generated. I want to be a part of that. It is happening, not just in the USA, all around the world. Women, men and children and being called up to counter act the cruelty and divisiveness in the world. We are a Global community that is struggling to find the heart and soul of each others kindness and resilience. We are standing up for justice and shining a light on the inequalities that are so apparent. We are looking for leaders who can show us the way. We are also looking into our own hearts and wondering where we are being called to serve.

I have physical limitations that make it difficult for me to reach out beyond my own community. Yet, I am feeling called to be part of something bigger. It is more powerful than any of us has seen or experienced in our lifetime. It goes beyond feminism, civil rights, reconciliation, land treaties, and environmental concerns. It is a global movement. It is so powerful and invasive that the people in power now are flexing their muscles trying to stop it. Wars are erupting to push down the ground swell. Crowds are gathering to express their displeasure with what has been a put down for so many generations. Our education system, health care system, and political foundations are being rocked to the core. This happens to make room for something new and very different.

I feel this in my bones and quite frankly I am not sure where to go with it. I pray every day and night for some sort of guidance. Perhaps in my asking I will find the answers one step at a time. I feel the embrace of a new world order emerging ever so slowly and deliberately.

In 1972 I was a student at George Brown College in Toronto. I was elected to be the chair of the Human Relations Club by a group of my peers. Eighty percent of the student body on campus that year were foreign students or were there for Manpower retraining. I came from a white Anglo Saxon, protestant, privileged background. I was very much in the minority which was a different and humbling experience for me. One of my professors, John McRae, suggested that our group adopt a multi-culture theme for the year. He believed it was necessary as there was so much divisiveness among the student body. It was a mini world. Pakistani students were fighting with Indian Students. Black Students were forming their own Black Student Union. Chinese Students were segregating themselves. And on and on. I was young. I was naive. I believed that we could all come together in peace and harmony. This would happen if we would just learn to understand and respect each other.

So I met with each of the student groups. I somehow convinced them that we would sponsor one group a month to present their culture to the student body. Each student group was allotted a month. They educated the rest of the population about their country of origin and culture. They each accepted the proposal and each month we learned about each other. There were fashion shows, history lessons, food presentations and readings. At the end of the year, we had a multi-cultural festival. It was so well attended. The festival ended with a big dance. Everyone gathered together in peace and harmony. It was my dream come true.

I remember entering the room of the Black Student Union meeting. I was there to do my presentation. I was the only white person in the room. It was terrifying for me as I was not sure how I would be received. This group was very militant at the time. It was a good to experience what the black people had been living with for generations and still are. I understood at some level what they were fighting for. Thankfully I was received with open hearts and minds. The student body did a great job presenting their various cultures. Some were from Jamaica and other Caribbean Islands, others were from Nigeria and different African countries. The Latin American countries were also represented in their own way as were the Asian countries.

All this to say that nearly fifty-two years later I feel the resurgence of that multi-cultural enthusiasm. I feel the excitement of those early September days in a new way now. I was too young to understand it at the time. Though I did appreciate it. Now things have changed a lot in the world since then. I have grown up and seen some horrific examples of prejudice and cruelty. That year at George Brown College, we all came together to learn about one another. We eventually gained so much love and respect for one another. It gave me hope for a better world and future. It still does. That night at the dance I was blessed to see young women and men of all races dancing together. There was no thought of the colour of each other’s skin. We did not care about our cultural origins. We were all just students learning to get along with one another. It was one of the greatest years of my life. Thank you, John McRae, for giving me the opportunity to lead with my heart. I was surrounded by so many interesting people. I learned so much from you and from them.