Ginnie Maurer
Have we met? Probably not. But that doesn’t mean we haven’t had an effect on each other. We can’t know everyone on this earth, but we do know that many people can touch our lives, sometimes seen, most often unseen. Many years ago, I obtained a directory of no-kill shelters prepared by an organization whose name I no longer remember. A number of years later, while reading a newsletter from a local no-kill shelter, I saw the name of the person who prepared the directory listed as a new staff member. I met with her and began volunteering at the shelter, where I met a dedicated animal rights person who introduced me to a shaman who worked with me to help heal a couple of my companion animals. Shortly after our meeting, I was telling the shaman my woes of not knowing what I wanted to do when I grew up (by the way, I’m well past the grown-up stage, while still maintaining my inner child who frequently escapes and becomes an outer child!). While surfing the Internet, the shaman came across the website of the Institute for Humane Education and sent the address to me, suggesting I might be interested in what they offered. I was. So, from a directory bought probably ten years prior to my enrolling in the Institute for Humane Education’s Humane Education Certificate Program, a number of people had to connect with each other to create the moments that led me to this moment.
What’s so glorious about the connections above is not just the people I mentioned, but all the people not mentioned—the people who published the directory and those who created the conference where I believe I bought it and the people who built the no-kill shelter where the author of the directory worked. Then of course, there are those who created the Internet, for without that my shaman friend would not have had anything to surf. Naturally, there’s the whole IHE staff and faculty. If they didn’t exist, IHE wouldn’t. And on and on and on.
So into this interconnected world I fell. And fell hard. I knew immediately this was where I belonged. At times the work was hard, tough, sad, raw. At other times jubilation, restoration (e.g., Bob Pyle’s “I’ve Been Restored”). Confronting my own imperfections wasn’t easy, but this program let me look at them and sort through them with love, care, understanding, and friendship. I came into the program with no greater goal than to improve myself. I figured that was a pretty tall order to start out with. I was a dry Sahara Desert sponge ready to drink from the oasis of humane education. And drink I did.
I will always be an educator. But I doubt highly I’ll be in the classroom much any more. I have taught adults for over 30 years as a training and education consultant. Although I had a very satisfying career, I now find myself wanting a new one. This time the title is “writer.” I have a lot to say. IHE has given me the information; all I had to do was add my voice. Fortunately, I have an outlet (for at least this year) as one of eight people selected through a contest as community columnists for a local newspaper. I have had two columns printed, with eleven more to come (one is linked to this column). I’m able to write on a variety of subjects because of this program.
The world of humane education and the course of studies through the Institute might leave one feeling overwhelmed with all that is out there that needs “fixing” (including all those unaltered companion animals, I might add!). Humor keeps me sane when faced with what appears to be an insane world. IHE has given me the focus for both my humor and my message. Plus meeting the IHE staff, faculty, students and reading what they’re doing overwhelms me. There is much goodness in the world. It’s just not revealed on the 11 o’clock news. We all have to find our pockets of goodness and delight in them. Of course, if we’re having trouble finding some, we can always make a few pockets of our own.
March 16, 2010 - 2:00 pm | Location: University of Maine - Orono (100 Neville Hall)
Please join us for an inspiring talk with Zoe Weil at the University of Maine in Orono. Co-sponsored by the Peace Studies and Sociology departments. Learn about the ways in which your everyday choices, your work, your activism, and your volunteerism can do the most ...
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