I have always believed the saying, “When the student is ready the teacher will appear.” At times  I have found my teacher in other people. Often, I find my teacher in writings. A couple of years ago I found my teacher in the form of my seven-year-old granddaughter, Erin. She was visiting us and we were walking from the garage to the house. We have a statue of the Buddha sitting on a wall along the walkway. The statue had a mala draped loosely around his neck. The string holding the beads had weathered and broken apart over the years. Some of the beads were still attached to the string. Some had fallen and were resting around the statue and some had disappeared.

We stopped to look at it and I made a statement to the effect that I would have to get rid of the broken mala and put a new one on the statue. It was at this point she took me to school. My lesson for the moment was on the “3 R’s”: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. She proceeded to explain the concept to me as well as the importance of the concept.

Statue with the broken mala

She then offered a number of options for using the remaining beads as opposed to throwing them away. Most of her ideas involved projects inline with her arts and crafts nature. I was fascinated and openly admit that as a result of her teaching, I have become more cognizant of my behaviors related to disposable items. I did an immediate evaluation of my recycling habits and found them to be sorely lacking. I constantly work on improving in this area. To the best of my ability, on a daily basis, I work to leave less of a footprint on the earth as I pass through this life.

The mala was eventually replaced on the statue and I believe I saved the beads to use for other things. I know that the males I wear and use eventually break and I find and save as many of the beads as I can. These are restrung and reused.

I have thought a lot about my lesson that day and have added a few more “R’s.” I now include, restore, repurpose, rehabilitate, replenish, rethink, refinish, and refurbish.

Living in the mountains I see many places and items that have been created from repurposed materials. Many items have a rustic old-time look that I love. I enjoy using my hands and making things. I have had the opportunity to do a number of projects since coming here and hope to do many more.

Another thing I learned that day was how important it is to listen to people, including children. As a parent with grown children, I remember that it was easy to be in the role of being a parent and seeing them as children saying kids stuff. It was easy to forget they were people with ideas and their unique understanding of the world. Their voice counts.

I wonder how many lessons I have failed to learn.

Voice moves with the wind
speaks clear through all earthly forms
listen with the heart