Week 30. This is the walk from July 18, exactly two weeks ago. I wore my Walk In Her Shoes T-shirt, which always takes me right into the centre of it all, making me feel raw and vulnerable. I listened to Break the Chain before I headed out and danced my heart out. I grabbed a latte at the Starbucks at 525 University and then headed to Nathan Philips Square, confused about everything and the direction my life is heading in. I was debating whether to take my next creative writing class now or just cancel it in order to save some money. I called the Continuing Ed office and the sound of a comforting voice on the other end made me cry. It’s a good thing I stayed there because I was suddenly transported into another world, surrounded by the sounds and movements of traditional Chinese dancers. I was mesmerized by the beauty of it all.
Here is one of the performances which was oddly danced to “Buttons” by the Pussycat Dolls.
It was interesting that I came across the Chinese Cultural Festival, because in Veiled Threat I’m at the part where Sally talks about misogyny throughout the centuries, including the ancient practice of foot-binding in China. It always takes a small group of dedicated people to change barbaric practices. In China, a small group of women called The Healthy Foot Society was formed at the end of the nineteenth century and dedicated themselves to eradicating this practice throughout the country. The key to their success was making public declarations that included all women.
I will never bind my daughter’s feet and I will never allow my son to marry a woman whose feet are bound.
In less than a decade of making these declarations, the practice was stopped. Makes me wonder what kind of declarations we can make for ourselves? Personally, as long as there is violence against women, I will never stop doing Walk In Her Shoes. Ok that is a big commitment, so I’m going to need your help! That reminds me, I’ve set the annual group walk for Sunday Aug 21, so I will be walking either in Toronto or in Ottawa. So excited!!
After Nathan Philips, I went to the Ronald McDonald House where I’m helping out with the summer camp activities. We built boats out of aluminum and tested them out in tubs full of water. It was amazing how some of the kids’ boats could float even with 80 marbles!
Then I continued to walk along Yonge and made it to Balzac’s where I wrote the blog post for the previous week’s walk. I swear I’m going to get better at organizing these. :-) A lot has been going on lately, and meanwhile time goes on and life doesn’t stop. So I’d better keep going despite it all.
While at Balzac’s I saw this flyer for Peace Fest happening in Toronto on August 12. I thought it was for world peace, but as I looked closely it was about shedding light on the atrocities of WWII in Asia. I guess it was an Asian-themed day today!
On my way home I caught a glimpse of the moon and it was beautiful. There is nothing that compares to seeing the moon and recognizing your place in the world, and being simply humbled by the sight. Never gets old.
She's Come Undone 