I have been watching "All Creatures Great and Small" which I haven't seen before. Also, I have enjoyed three multi-episode shows based on Dorothy Sayers' books about Harriet Vane and Lord Peter Wimsey. Sandra and I finished the third one tonight. We have quite a nice little system worked out of sharing my Netflix discs. It gives us an excuse to get together and I am quite enjoying the fact that we are actually enjoying the same things! Our taste in movies and books is quite different, but we seem to have found a common denominator, which I want to fully exploit!
Today I met with several other sisters to plan the October Enrichment Meeting. I am happy with what we decided to do and don't think I said too much, but I did express a couple of strong opinions that I have worried about a bit. Why do I have to be so blunt??? I guess maybe I just view it as a "public service" as long as I don't argue or become contentious. I just put my opinion out there but I don't think I get pushy about it. At least I really try to just let it be something on the table and if it isn't picked up by anyone else, I let it go and move on. I really do think I do it in a constructive way, but it could be a little too blunt for some people. Especially since in Church groups women tend to be pretty passive except for the few aggressive ones (like me? Oh, no, I hope I am just straightforward but cooperative!) Anyway, I know my children have already noted this quality in me and some of them have carried on this fine Heywood tradition themselves.
> in Church groups women tend to be pretty passive
ReplyDeleteNot in any of the many branches, wards, and stakes I've lived in...in Japan or the U.S. Passive is definitely not a word I would think of to describe Mormon women.
Hmmm...A man's point of view. Perhaps I need to rethink my opinion...
ReplyDeleteOr maybe by "passive" you simply mean "not pushy, overbearing, and rude?" (And, of course, "pushy, overbearing, and rude" are not sex-specific.)
ReplyDeleteWhat was the topic/what were your opinions? Your blog is the place where you can talk about your opinions and really get some responses flying!
ReplyDeleteI think she was pushing for a switch to having church meetings via Netflix. That's what I heard, anyway.
ReplyDeleteActually, the Enrichment leader suggested that our quarterly Enrichment meeting in October be some mini-classes on making zucchini jam and various other canning/cooking classes and I said that I thought the content of the quarterly meetings should be something that is interesting and useful to all the sisters since everyone is encouraged to come (unlike the "activities" that are interest-specific). A couple of people said everyone would find those things useful as part of our food storage efforts, and I said, well so far I haven't heard a topic that I would be interested in. Somebody said, well, we'll come up with more ideas (along the same vein) and then another sister arrived at the meeting and when she heard what the suggestions were, said that nobody in the senior citizens community she lives in would be interested--they don't have gardens, don't have zucchinis, and actually don't really have interest in cooking anything. I just smiled and said she was expressing my thoughts exactly! We finally came up with a Back to School theme, and with this other sister's help (and my suport for her comments) people started generating some ideas that with a little focusing turned out to be good. And no, I was not abrasive or divisive or difficult, but I did have to keep pulling the others back to the idea "what do women in our age group do and what are their challenges and how can we offer activities and meetings to support them in these challenges?" The RS Enrichment counselor, who was there, acknowledged that she hasn't ever looked at this, but has thought about it....:) And no, I was not pushy or overbearing or rude and that's not what I would expect from myself or others. I do expect people to do a little thinking about what makes sense and what doesn't and realize that they (or I) do not necessarily represent everybody else in the world.
ReplyDeleteSo, in a nutshell, I guess what you're saying is that the Netflix idea didn't go through?
ReplyDelete