"...and still we rise"

The title for the conference that I attended last week in Toronto came from the title of the poem "Still I Rise" by Maya Angelou. Originally written to portray the message of perseverance shown by African Americans in facing racism, the poem speaks to any person who can dig into their own being to find strength in fighting their own demons.

Still I Rise
by Maya Angelou

You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops,
Weakened by my soulful cries.

Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don't you take it awful hard
'Cause I laugh like I got gold mines
Diggin' in my own back yard.

You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I'll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I've got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history's shame
I rise
Up from a past that's rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.


I found the entire poem so powerful that I wanted to share it, and maybe provide some subtle inspiration as it did for me.
Although the theme of the conference (sponsored by the Elementary Teacher's Federation of Ontario) was "Working Together to Create Healthy Schools and Communities", I'm sure each of the over 400 women who attended would tell you that we came away with so much more than that. Through humour, inspirational and motivational speakers, and elective workshops we learned more than new teaching strategies; we also learned to take a long, hard look at ourselves. Could we laugh at ourselves? Could we look around and not judge the person next to us for not finding the humour in the same jokes that I might? Could we make the necessary shifts in our lives to achieve what we are capable of, and what will make us happy? Could we learn to look after ourselves so that we aren't always at the bottom of our priority list? Could we learn to come together to face the burdens of our profession, but also to unload the weight of our own minds?

There were moments during those two days that I was laughing til my sides hurt...when our first motivational speaker "Linda Edgecombe" shared her story about her lack of knowledge of what "going commando" meant. Apparently she thought that it was the name of the cologne worn by the very attractive man sitting next to her on a four hour flight. He told her he was going commando when she asked him what he had on. Thinking that she might like to buy some of this unheard of cologne for her husband, she leaned over and told him that she just had to get her some of that! Her point...we all have stories that are too real to be made up. To be out their living life means we have new stories to tell. So get out there and start creating new stories.

There were also moments that the tissues were being pulled out of handbags, and tears filled almost every eye...when Sally Armstrong shared her horrific stories about the women of the Congo who had been severely sexually assaulted but still had the courage to band together to create change in their world. Or when the documentary film "The Red Jacket" was shown telling the story of the young man in British Columbia who had been so badly beaten that he was left permanently brain damaged, unable to care for himself and needing 24 hour care, all because he was wearing the colour red in a neighbourhood whose gang colours were blue.

Even more than the camraderie, the sharing of stories and emotions, the luxury of being pampered at The Royal York, and the full schedule of events, this conference once again provided me with another moment in my life to allow my own shift. We all have situations in our lives that seem beyond our control, allowing that feeling of hopelessness to seep back in. But, we also have it in ourselves to create the change, to continue to rise, to live a fulfilled life. If I'm not happy, then it's up to me to start making the changes to be happy. As the title of Linda Edgecombe's book so perfectly stated Shift...or Get Off the Pot.