The Water Challenge

Challenge 1: I want to share with others what I have learned



I realise that I don't always make a conscious effort to teach others what I have learned. So I taught a group of friends how to make origami cranes over supper. What I loved is that as more people came to join, the people I taught first started passing the skill onto the others. Thus the skill to carve a simple piece of paper into a beautiful bird soon spread rapidly.

With origami, wherever you are - be it waiting for a bus or sitting on a train, you can teach a stranger sitting next to you how to do it. It's a great way to start talking to somebody, especially if you don't speak the same language. When making origami birds as part of a group it becomes a meditation, with everyone concentrating on making something, but all together. There are limitless things you can do with a piece of paper and a group of people!

Challenge 2: I try to communicate even when I don’t speak other languages

Language is a way of speaking. Language is also what is not spoken, and multiple ways of expressing ones self. I wanted to explore the ways of communicating beyond merely speaking. Something I have found is that some things transcend language barriers: for example music, touch and food. But another recent discovery that is a universal way of communicating is bubbles.
Bubbles are magic. I went to the park over the weekend and made giant bubbles. All who passed stopped and either watched them, played with them, or asked to have a go, leaving happier than they had been before. There is something about it that brings you back to being a kid again.


Challenge 3: I am ready for action



This weekend I made the commitment to travel to Brazil this autumn via sail boat - I booked my place on the boat. I have wanted to do this for years, to return to Brazil via 'slow travel', saving carbon emissions which is better for the environment, and today, having found the boat and crew, I put my name down to join the voyage. This feels like a big step in making my dream become a reality and taking action to achieve this.