MENTAL HEALTH
THE Maori language is an ancient one, but in 2017 a new word was added as part of a mental health programme.Takiwatanga means autism in Maori. It also means, “in his or her own space and time.”
It’s a beautiful and hopefully helpful concept for a situation so many of our fellow citizens are living with; one that, if we all adopted it, would ease many lives.
What’s to stop us extending the courtesy? After all, our own space and time is all any of us have.
WONDERFUL
LOUIS ARMSTRONG was well-known for his trumpet playing, famous even for his duets with Ella Fitzgerald and for his deep, rasping voice. But he was probably best known for singing “What A Wonderful World”.
As inspirational a song as it is, many people used to take him to task over it. With all the war’s happening, the racism, the poverty and so on, how could he say this world was a wonderful one?
The world wasn’t a bad place, he would reply, but how we treated it might be.
It was the same when it came to our relationships with each other.
We only needed to treat each other – and the world – a little kinder.
And what was the secret to doing that? “Love”. Isn’t that wonderful?
HELPING HANDS
THERE’S an old Scots proverb that many in Scotland are fond of. It goes, “Mony a mickle maks a muckle”.
The spelling varies, but in essence it translates as “lots of little things make a big thing”.
A man might make a decent income by being good at many little jobs; lots of people doing a little bit to help someone adds up to that someone being helped in a big way.
And then there is the Russian version of that old saying which also expresses it subtly: “If everyone gave a thread, the poor man would have a shirt.”
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