‘The soul of a nation is in its people and the spirit of Canada is variegated and sublimely diverse. What makes us strong is our diversity, our differences, but what pulls us together, ties us irrevocably into a common destiny, whole and complete and shining, are the straining of our very human hearts — the secret wish for a common practical magic.
It exists. It loves. It sails across the sky once a month as fat and round and free as a dream. You need to step out on the land to see it properly. You need to walk away from all that binds you to a city, a desk, a job, and stand where the wind can get at you. And when that moon comes up and begins to sail across the sky there will come a point, if you watch it close enough, that the earth will start to move, to race that moon, and you can feel it spin in the heavens.
It doesn’t matter who you stand with or where they’re from. It happens for both of you. Universal magic inhabiting you, filling you, making you more, joining you, erasing differences.’
***
(Excerpt – The Boy and the Turtle – MEC June 2023)
…
“Help me!” said the boy.
“Why, can’t you swim?” said the turtle.
“No, it’s too deep,” sputtered the boy, coughing and going under the water again.
“Ah, you are only a minnow and prefer the shallows,” said the turtle as he blinked slowly at the boy.
“I’m not a minnow, I’m a boy!” said the boy, furiously kicking his feet and thrashing his arms to get another sip of air.
“Hmm,” said the turtle. “I don’t usually see boys. I don’t think I can help you,” he continued, slowly, “but I can give you some advice. If you like.”
“What is it?” asked the boy. “Hurry!”
“Well,” said the turtle, “when I am in the water, I relax. That way, my breath will last a very long time. When I relax and hold my breath, I don’t sink down very much but I can stay under the water. Then, when I do need a breath, I lift my head up very slowly, and take a breath. Then, I relax back into the water again. Like this.”
The turtle showed the boy.
The boy tried to relax. He stretched out in the water like the turtle, on his belly. He slowly lifted his head to get some air, and got a much bigger breath this time, with no splashes of water in it.
…
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