Learning from Others - 21/04/06

You may well have read last October on this web site an article I wrote entitled “A Bridge in Life”.  If not, you can still see it (below) or you can even email me for a copy.  In the article I wrote about my being a retired Police Officer and the dangers I faced on a daily basis ~ the journey of my life through and from that phase ~ and my soulful expression these days through my work, interactions with people and my written poetry and prose.

I would like to bring you a little further along that life path and to demonstrate that life is an ‘inclusive aim’ in the act of living itself.

For the last 15 years or so I have been involved in personal development through face-to-face contact with people, their life skills, their being, their oneness and in their communication with others and their ‘world’. Personal development for me has never been a castaway by-word but a way of living and in my realisation of the realities of life. The well worn phrase ‘every day in every way I’m getting better and better’ is a truism once told to me by a very, very wonderful old lady.

When I was a wee one living in the smoky streets of Oldham in Lancashire, I used to visit this old lady. If memory serves me well she was nearing 100 then and was virtually bedbound. I vaguely recall her daughter and son coming in and doing bits and pieces for her but mostly during the day she was left to her own devices and to fend for herself. I used to run errands for her ~ at weekends taking both paraffin cans to the Ironmongers shop down on Huddersfield Road where the old ‘Mr. Arkwright’ type character would hand pump the paraffin. I was small then so the other errands had to wait. Each Saturday morning I would go with these cans and get a gallon of ‘pink’ and a gallon of ‘blue’ paraffin. One was for an internal paraffin heater and the other was for an external one ~ for the toilet at the bottom of the yard ~ it was something about different fumes I think. Anyway, the advert ‘Boom Boom Boom Boom ~ Esso Blue’ still resonates in my mind to this day. When I had done this particular errand I would then go to the corner shop with her cheap stiff plastic bag over my arm and get things like eggs, a small slab of cut white cheese, a quarter of boiled ham ~ wrapped in greaseproof-paper ~ and a Turog or Hovis brown loaf. On my way back I would call at the Veg Mans Stables and pick up some loose carrots and potatoes.

For a small boy, still wearing short pants, this was quite a run-around but the rewards were wonderful. When I had got all the errands done and had made her a nice cup of sweet milky tea, I would sit on her bed leaning on the footboard all propped up on some spare cushions. She would tell me the most wondrous stories ~ of horse drawn carriages clip clopping along the cobbled main streets, the Lamplighters [for the Gas Lamps in the street] and the ‘Knockeruppers’ [these were people who were paid to tap on bedroom windows of the terraced houses to get people up for the early shift in the Cotton Mills]. Oldham back then was a major cotton town and everyone worked in the big Mills that churned out processed cotton 24 hours a day 7 days a week. She would describe all manner of things and paint such vivid pictures creating such wonderful aromas and feelings of cold or warmth. I really looked forward to those Saturday mornings. They [and she] taught me a great deal about life and appreciating both what we have and what we can give.

Looking back now I can see even from my own personal journey how far the world has come. From her perspective the world was changing so much and at such a pace.

Just think of it. She was used to open coal fires, outside toilets, no central heating, gas lighting, eiderdowns and candlewick bedspreads, walking everywhere or occasionally catching old buses or ‘sharabangs’ as we used to call those single-decker coaches. She was used to living in a community where doors ‘were’ frequently left unlocked, where street residents looked out for and after all the kids in that street, where people would naturally and normally stop at a neighbours and say “I’m going to the corner shop, do you want or need anything ?”

That wonderful lady has long gone now ‘God rest her soul’ and I……. well, I have been through school; the Cubs and Boy Scouts; served an apprenticeship as an Electrical Engineer; married once and divorced; married a second time, had a son [who I will be eternally proud of] and eventually divorced again after many years; served my Queen and country as a Police Officer; retired and got involved in helping people to aspire to their dreams or whatever; and have reached a decent enough age [though at a physically and spiritually painful price]. The things I have seen and done could be described by some as unbelievable if I retold them, and to most young ones I would certainly have to temper what I said. I even delivered a baby in the back of a Police Transit Van once ~ honest ~ it was a boy and was given my Christian name.

Many people compliment me on ‘the me’ that I am now and for that I have to thank them here. I am a testament I think, to my awareness and emergence. The constant throughout all my life has been one of soulful, physical awareness and conscience, though recently these things have become stronger.

Now, when I look around and listen to humanity driven news, I despair, I really do. Man seemingly has so much to answer for. One of the sides of the 3 sided coin may offer some reason[s] though each would have to chose whether they were acceptable or not.

Life as we know, is a series of lessons and we progress along life’s path as we learn these lessons. Looking for reason and rationale doesn’t always work because some of the lessons are very hard and often very painful. We are so busy these days rushing headlong down the track of a perceived progress and materialism that we often forget to open our eyes and ears and hearts. That’s what the wonderful old lady taught me I think. She didn’t compare what was to what is ~ she merely illustrated the differences. Recognising the differences and being/becoming ‘aware’ is key to our journey.

Neil Crofts is doing wonderful work making people aware of their Authentic Selves. Recognising and being aware of ourselves opens so many doors for us to walk through and thence to feel the splendid environments that await us. Most often though, we need someone to share with us, in whatever way, to enable us to say ‘Ah yes, I see now’.

This article was written by ;
Michael Boase… a Director of Lambda-Mi Training and Development www.lambda-mi.com