This the 1897th day since 1st March 2020
It seems the wind is now blowing in the direction of community-building, in various small pockets of society.
I have been learning a lot, through such communities, over the past few days.
But, as an eccentric-yet-wise elder said, “I learnt a lot. But by the time I learnt a lot, I am dying. So I wrote a book to pass on what I have learnt.”
This is by way of passing it on.
P. S. I am grateful for no Covid lock-down today. shivers at the thought.
music
The young pianists – twenty-somethings, they looked like – were performing on either a Steinway or a Fazioli: grand pianos. Bach, and Liszt, and Mozart seemed to be popular choices. One of the pianists even nourished the audience with her own composition, a piece for a small ensemble: 1 harp, 2 cellos, 2 double basses, 1 percussion (drums), 1 horn, 1 flute, 1 clarinet.
That pianist-composer thanked God for holding her hand while walking through difficult times. She shared that her hands had suffered an injury while preparing for a performance.
The audience numbered about twenty to forty, and ranged in ages from very young, to elderly.
The following Venn diagram highlights some of my experiences.
biodiversity
We were talking about how your surroundings affect the way you behave around other humans. It makes a difference whether you are facing a wall of skyscraper buildings, or a forest of 200-year trees.
A young gentleman, Nasry, said that the most knowledgeable researchers of tropical trees are located far away from said tropical trees. He hopes to visit the U.K. to learn from one such researcher.
social work
A tea-selling shop employs only deaf people. I saw that deaf people can and do throw tantrums while on-the-job. It takes a certain kind of manager to work alongside them.
A student dormitory has become a temporary residence for people who have been sleeping “in the streets”.
A anonymous gentleman donated SGD$200 for the food-and-drinks that accompanied a community-building dinner. The goal? So that the ex-homeless feel less isolated in their new residence.
“Homelessness is not solved by providing housing. There is the next step of integrating the individual into a larger community, according to the individual's specific personality and make-up. There is no one-size-fits all approach.”
