The defining moment in my life that shifted the way I was thinking...and brought me to ubuntu.
Great question. Tough to answer.
In the sense of living and breathing and working and playing.
Everyone has that one moment where their life shifted. Here's mine:
When I was 22 years old, my boss sent me to Ottawa for the Canadian Marketing Conference. It opened my eyes to an awesome and creative industry that I was a part of, a breathtaking city (it was the Tulip Festival...is there a more gorgeous time to be in Ottawa?) and gave me a sense of success and liberation. I was so young to be attending, tulips were blooming, and I felt like I had really accomplished some of my career goals. In short, I can remember sitting on a balcony in my great hotel room eating sushi and thinking I "had arrived." Little did I know, the next day my life would change.
On the last day of the conference, our keynote speaker was John Wood, Founder of Room to Read and Author of "Leaving Microsoft to Change the World." In hearing his story, I went from laughing to crying to opening my heart to a world of people that I hadn't thought much about before. I went from a local citizen to a global citizen. I decided there and then to take accountability for my amazing place in this life.
John spoke of coming from a middle class family to finding himself as the head of China operations at Microsoft, one of the most dominant figures in the business world. He worked overtime, all the time, and finally decided to take a vacation. On a three week backpacking trip through Nepal, he came across a school that was in bad condition and contained absolutely no children’s books. The few books that backpackers had left behind were locked away and no one could touch them because they were so rare. At that moment, John realized that a part of why he succeeded at Microsoft, was because in his childhood he became an avid reader, so much so that it opened his mind, imagination and eventually huge doors of opportunity that would have never been possible without books and the knowledge he gained from them. This resonated with me to my core. I, too, feel that books had an extraordinary impact on me growing up. They created a world where nothing was impossible and opened many doors to a great education and career.
John decided to start a book drive, which became so big it resulted in the not-for-profit organization Room to Read. If you haven't heard of Room to Read, they've built and supported thousands of schools, libraries and scholarships all across the developing world.So, when I had him sign my book “Leaving Microsoft to Change the World,” I told him I was interested in helping in anyway I could and he signed it “See you in Winnipeg.” Believing that this was a sign from the Universe, I set home on a mission.
After successfully getting my company on board for a fundraising golf tournament and an unsuccessful attempt at the actual event, I decided I needed to first to travel. I didn't understand so much about what I was trying to raise money for. I needed to see issues first hand, and to understand what other cultures were really like or what they needed. From there, I decided upon South Africa.
I don't know what it is about Africa that has always had me so enthralled. I love all cultures and humanity. I love and appreciate beauty in the everyday. I truly don't think anything beats a Saskatchewan sunset that lingers for hours. But for some reason, Africa: the land, the struggles, the people, the culture, the extraordinary climate and landscape, the diversity, and the stories, absolutely captivate me. I have engrossed myself in stories of African leaders (like Mandela, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and Steve Biko), African hardships (Rwanda's genocide) and have seen and experienced a little bit of the land for myself in 2009.
In 2008, I created a blog about my own hope for Africa. Stories that inspired me, about my trip there, or about organizations that were working there. Since then I've traveled around Europe, Asia & Central America and realized that the love that first started out with Africa grew into a love for all humanity - and for like issues and causes that perhaps started there - but that now exist all around the world. Indigenous cultures and people the world over share the same universal truths as Africans (and Canadians): sadness, love, struggles, anger, humility, passion, vibrancy, charisma and hope. Most of all, they each have a driving passion for their own cultures. This must be protected. And the "help" that we do there, must come from the people themselves. We, as Westerners, don't know the answers. But we can ask the right questions and assist with resources and the rights to be able to lift themselves up out of poverty and injustice.
So? I just give a shit. And I want to apply my professional skills to help humanity in any small way that I can. That means bringing my marketing, business and entrepreneurial skills to the table, but as I also realized recently, it's bringing my connection skills, can-do attitude, and high hopes wherever I go. From here on out? Whether it's in Canada, Africa or El Salvador, I'm going to live my life and point my goals towards making a small, sustainable difference for one, two, or 300 communities. You can read about my current causes here.
It all came home to me when I saw this quote at the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg:
"Humanity was born in Africa. Therefore, all people, ultimately, are African."
Of course my love started in Africa. Now it's expanding. I'm passionate about women and our ability to affect families, youth and communities. I feel in my heart both pride (for those who stood up) and sadness about apartheid / civil rights and the struggles of those global leaders before us (the Martin Luther King Jr.'s and Mandela's of our time). I get passionate about microfinancing programs, which is truly a game changer in the world of international development. And I absolutely fill up when thinking of organizations like Habitat for Humanity or Room to Read - conquering the change-making table with roofs over heads and literacy and education.
My blog, now hopefulhumanity.ca, is here to be my outlet for all of those great people / organizations / causes out there, while profiling some adventures while I'm at it.
Let me leave this post here. My favourite word in the world to date: Ubuntu.
Ubuntu is an ancient African word meaning 'humanity to others'.
In 1999, Archbishop Desmond Tutu stated:
"A person with Ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, for he or she has a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed.” ...
Nelson Mandela explained Ubuntu as follows;
"A traveler through a country would stop at a village and he didn't have to ask for food or for water. Once he stops, the people give him food, entertain him. That is one aspect of Ubuntu, but it will have various aspects. Ubuntu does not mean that people should not address themselves. The question therefore is: Are you going to address yourself in order to enable the community around you to be able to improve?"
In my mind?
Ubuntu is an African concept basically standing for kindness towards other human beings, for caring, sharing and being in harmony with all of creation. It promotes cooperation between individuals, cultures and nations, an ideal founded on the concept of unity, collective work and responsibility, and empowerment through discipline and common purpose. For an individual, it means something like, "I am who I am because of who we all are."
Last year, just a week before Nelson Mandela died, I got ubuntu tattooed on the inside of my arm. Now it can live physically close to my heart.
When I was 22 years old, my boss sent me to Ottawa for the Canadian Marketing Conference. It opened my eyes to an awesome and creative industry that I was a part of, a breathtaking city (it was the Tulip Festival...is there a more gorgeous time to be in Ottawa?) and gave me a sense of success and liberation. I was so young to be attending, tulips were blooming, and I felt like I had really accomplished some of my career goals. In short, I can remember sitting on a balcony in my great hotel room eating sushi and thinking I "had arrived." Little did I know, the next day my life would change.
On the last day of the conference, our keynote speaker was John Wood, Founder of Room to Read and Author of "Leaving Microsoft to Change the World." In hearing his story, I went from laughing to crying to opening my heart to a world of people that I hadn't thought much about before. I went from a local citizen to a global citizen. I decided there and then to take accountability for my amazing place in this life.
John spoke of coming from a middle class family to finding himself as the head of China operations at Microsoft, one of the most dominant figures in the business world. He worked overtime, all the time, and finally decided to take a vacation. On a three week backpacking trip through Nepal, he came across a school that was in bad condition and contained absolutely no children’s books. The few books that backpackers had left behind were locked away and no one could touch them because they were so rare. At that moment, John realized that a part of why he succeeded at Microsoft, was because in his childhood he became an avid reader, so much so that it opened his mind, imagination and eventually huge doors of opportunity that would have never been possible without books and the knowledge he gained from them. This resonated with me to my core. I, too, feel that books had an extraordinary impact on me growing up. They created a world where nothing was impossible and opened many doors to a great education and career.
John decided to start a book drive, which became so big it resulted in the not-for-profit organization Room to Read. If you haven't heard of Room to Read, they've built and supported thousands of schools, libraries and scholarships all across the developing world.So, when I had him sign my book “Leaving Microsoft to Change the World,” I told him I was interested in helping in anyway I could and he signed it “See you in Winnipeg.” Believing that this was a sign from the Universe, I set home on a mission.
After successfully getting my company on board for a fundraising golf tournament and an unsuccessful attempt at the actual event, I decided I needed to first to travel. I didn't understand so much about what I was trying to raise money for. I needed to see issues first hand, and to understand what other cultures were really like or what they needed. From there, I decided upon South Africa.
I don't know what it is about Africa that has always had me so enthralled. I love all cultures and humanity. I love and appreciate beauty in the everyday. I truly don't think anything beats a Saskatchewan sunset that lingers for hours. But for some reason, Africa: the land, the struggles, the people, the culture, the extraordinary climate and landscape, the diversity, and the stories, absolutely captivate me. I have engrossed myself in stories of African leaders (like Mandela, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and Steve Biko), African hardships (Rwanda's genocide) and have seen and experienced a little bit of the land for myself in 2009.
In 2008, I created a blog about my own hope for Africa. Stories that inspired me, about my trip there, or about organizations that were working there. Since then I've traveled around Europe, Asia & Central America and realized that the love that first started out with Africa grew into a love for all humanity - and for like issues and causes that perhaps started there - but that now exist all around the world. Indigenous cultures and people the world over share the same universal truths as Africans (and Canadians): sadness, love, struggles, anger, humility, passion, vibrancy, charisma and hope. Most of all, they each have a driving passion for their own cultures. This must be protected. And the "help" that we do there, must come from the people themselves. We, as Westerners, don't know the answers. But we can ask the right questions and assist with resources and the rights to be able to lift themselves up out of poverty and injustice.
So? I just give a shit. And I want to apply my professional skills to help humanity in any small way that I can. That means bringing my marketing, business and entrepreneurial skills to the table, but as I also realized recently, it's bringing my connection skills, can-do attitude, and high hopes wherever I go. From here on out? Whether it's in Canada, Africa or El Salvador, I'm going to live my life and point my goals towards making a small, sustainable difference for one, two, or 300 communities. You can read about my current causes here.
It all came home to me when I saw this quote at the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg:
"Humanity was born in Africa. Therefore, all people, ultimately, are African."
Of course my love started in Africa. Now it's expanding. I'm passionate about women and our ability to affect families, youth and communities. I feel in my heart both pride (for those who stood up) and sadness about apartheid / civil rights and the struggles of those global leaders before us (the Martin Luther King Jr.'s and Mandela's of our time). I get passionate about microfinancing programs, which is truly a game changer in the world of international development. And I absolutely fill up when thinking of organizations like Habitat for Humanity or Room to Read - conquering the change-making table with roofs over heads and literacy and education.
My blog, now hopefulhumanity.ca, is here to be my outlet for all of those great people / organizations / causes out there, while profiling some adventures while I'm at it.
Let me leave this post here. My favourite word in the world to date: Ubuntu.
Ubuntu is an ancient African word meaning 'humanity to others'.
In 1999, Archbishop Desmond Tutu stated:
"A person with Ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, for he or she has a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed.” ...
Nelson Mandela explained Ubuntu as follows;
"A traveler through a country would stop at a village and he didn't have to ask for food or for water. Once he stops, the people give him food, entertain him. That is one aspect of Ubuntu, but it will have various aspects. Ubuntu does not mean that people should not address themselves. The question therefore is: Are you going to address yourself in order to enable the community around you to be able to improve?"
In my mind?
Ubuntu is an African concept basically standing for kindness towards other human beings, for caring, sharing and being in harmony with all of creation. It promotes cooperation between individuals, cultures and nations, an ideal founded on the concept of unity, collective work and responsibility, and empowerment through discipline and common purpose. For an individual, it means something like, "I am who I am because of who we all are."
Last year, just a week before Nelson Mandela died, I got ubuntu tattooed on the inside of my arm. Now it can live physically close to my heart.
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