Caravan of Selves 2: 8-14 years 1952-1959

A lot happens in seven years! As I reflect on this chapter some things stand out: changing from Primary School to Intermediate School to High School. That's a lot of transitions. I was fortunate that I enjoyed school and seemed to always have friends.

Ten years old. Front row 3rd from left.

This photo shows I had two boys and one girl I "didn't like" (crosses drawn on faces)!! I also notice I wasn't wearing glasses yet.

Twelve years old. Middle row third from left.

We had a very nice teacher (whose name I forget) for both Form 1 and 2. I loved Intermediate school except that my parents didn't allow me to learn dancing (!) so I had to sit and watch as the others learned ballroom dancing in readiness for the Form 2 ball.

I was baptised by Dad at the Baptist Tabernacle the day after my 13th birthday. I still have the Daily Light my sister Merry gave me on that occasion.

During these childhood/adolescent years a major highlight was our annual holidays on Ponui Island where Dad was chaplain at the Crusader Camps. Mum and Andrew and I (and sometimes Merry and Peter) camped out in the wool shed. The wool shed was in a paddock that often had a bull in it!! I'm very sad I don't have more photos of Ponui as it was a pivotal place in my life. Ponui is privately owned by the Chamberlain family. There are no roads, no cars, no shops and no "stranger danger" so I was free to wander in solitude without fear and soak up the incredible beauty of bush and beach. It nurtured the inherent contemplative part of me - long before I knew the word!

Getting from the launch to shore. Me in prow hanging on to a friend.

Colleen and me.

Me on left, Andrew the smallest boy. 

I'm pretty sure this was taken at Ponui. Peter, Dad, Merry, Mum, me, Andrew.

The next two photos (from Google) are well remembered aspects of the island.

Free roaming donkeys - a real feature of Ponui!

The peaceful mix of farm and beach

And then to High School - Epsom Girls Grammar School - EGGS for short. At first I rode my bike to school but when we moved to Glen Eden I caught the train every day. We "train girls" were allowed to pack our school bags and put on our hats and gloves just before the bell rang so we could run to the station and catch the train!

I turned 14 in my third form year. Second row from back second in from left.

I was in Form 3AL - L for Latin A for top stream. I don't remember anything much about Latin now!

Caravan of Selves 1: 0-7 years 1945-1952

Baby - born 1945 in England

Grateful for a happy secure childhood in a loving family. Born at the end of the war I escaped the traumas of air-raid drills, gas masks and being being evacuated.

About 5 years old

From 2 years old (after I had whooping cough) I remember constant attacks of bronchitis. Mum taught me to knit. I'm proud of this jumper which I knitted (with some help) - red with white fairisle pattern!

I started school in England but don't really remember anything about it. This photo shows my school blazer - Leighcliff School.

Andrew and Sheila Christmas before leaving England

35 Leighcliff Rd where we lived before coming to NZ. (Photo taken on a trip back to England.)

I remember open fires - roasting chestnuts on the fire at Christmas, -being in bed a lot with bronchitis and Mum or Dad staying with me during the night as I was afraid I couldn't breathe if I went to sleep.

1952 On board the P&O Strathaird to set off for NZ.
L-R Grandad, Grandma, Merrie, Peter, me with ? behind me, Dad with Andrew, Mum

I appreciate now, more than ever, the courage of my Mum bringing four children aged 16, 14, 6 and 2 across the world away from all family, friends and contacts. Dad too, of course, but for him it was an exciting call to a new ministry.

The family photo for welcome to Auckland Baptist Tabernacle
Sheila, Mum (Kate), Meriel, Andrew, Dad (John), Peter.

The years at the Tab were happy for me. We lived in the Manse at 15 Henley Rd, Mt Eden.
This is the only (very poor) photo I have of it.

15 Henley Rd, Mt Eden (Andrew outside)

Still lots of bronchitis and time away from school but I read books constantly and my schooling didn't seem to suffer.

1953 Mt Eden Normal Primary.
I'm second row from back, fifth in from left.

Seven years old and in Mr Martin's class. He was my favourite teacher and is still someone I remember with warmth.

A Caravan of Selves: Introduction

Who would deduce the dragonfly from the lava, 
the iris from the bud,
the lawyer from the infant? 

... We are all shape-shifters and magical re-inventors.

Life is really a plural noun, a caravan of selves.

- Diane Ackerman

I came across this quote recently and it was yet another nudge to do something I've been thinking of doing for quite a while - creating a kind of "photo-biography" of my life to date. 'A caravan of selves' is an interesting image; each evolving and connected stage essential for the whole journey.

In the book From Age-ing to Sage-ing: A Revolutionary Approach to Growing Older. by Rabbi Zalman Schacter-Shaolmi and Ronald S Miller it is suggested that our age and aging process can be divided into seven year segments with each segment being like a month in the year of life.

In The Grace in Living, Kathleen Dowling Singh suggests that our life journey can be seen in “Quarters” with the following themes:
The First Quarter: From Tasting to Hunger
The Second Quarter: From Seeking to the End of Seeking
The Third Quarter: Healing into Maturity
The Fourth Quarter: Ripening

I think these two paradigms interlock quite easily:

January    Birth -7rs        1945-1952
February       8-14           1952-1959
March         15-21           1959-1966

--------------------------
April          22-28             1966-1973
May           29-35             1973-1980
June           36-42             1980-1987
---------------------------
July            43-49             1987-1994
August       50-56             1994-2001
September  57-63            2001-2008
---------------------------
October      64-70             2008-2015
November  71-77             2015-2022
December  78-84             2022-2079

I like the idea of using seven year periods to give a framework for my 'caravan of selves' so here goes! Although I'm doing this primarily for myself, I'm posting it on my Blog to give myself a bit of accountability. Even though I don't allow comments on the Blog itself I know some regular readers will expect the next chapter to show up! So if you are one of those readers who has my email or messenger contact, feel free to give me a nudge if you think I need it! (But be patient too - I'm not pressuring myself to a set schedule. There are a lot of years to cover!)

The Art of Stillness

I've just finished a six week contemplative photography course mentioned in my last post.
In a nice synchronicity I have also just finished reading a small book -

- which includes wonderful photos by an Icelandic/Canadian photographer Eydis S. Luna Einarsdottir. (Glad I don't have to pronounce her name!) In her Artist's statement at the end of the book she writes:
"As soon as I take out my camera I find that stillness within, that deep sense of peace that I crave every day. I get lost in such a beautiful way that it's hard to describe; it's as though I find a piece of me that I had lost without really knowing that I had lost it. As I sit quietly looking through the viewfinder, my senses become heightened. The smell of the earth makes me feel grounded; the sound of the waves crashing or grass rustling in the wind or the bleating of a lone sheep in the distance makes me feel so alive; and the vastness of what I see makes me feel expansive. This is what it is like to be in the Now, which is really just to be still in mind and body. My photographs come from a place of emotion. They are not an attempt to capture the perfect image, but to capture the feeling I experience as I witness the things in front of me."

Pico Iyer has a TED talk and has written books about his travels but in this book he explores the very different benefits of going nowhere! I recommend him as a person worth listening to. This is a deceptively small and simple book and the photos match that. I'm really Blogging about it primarily because of that wonderful quoted piece from the photographer. She certainly expresses what Seeing with the Eyes of the Heart is about.