Read Online One Can Make a Difference by Ingrid Newkirk - Free Book Online
Authors: Ingrid Newkirk
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benefit to worrying.â He smiles and laughs because he knows he is doing all he can and that fretting serves no purpose! His contribution to this book is perhaps the most succinct and important message of all.
C ompassion is one of the principal things that makes our lives meaningful. It is the source of all lasting happiness and joy. And it is the foundation of a good heart, the desire to help others. Through kindness, through affection, through honesty, through truth and justice toward everyone else, we also ensure our own benefit.
The necessity of love and compassion is the real basis of my religion, my simple faith. To put them into practice within a secular framework we donât need a temple, church, or other building, nor any complicated philosophy. Our own hearts and minds are where we work, while the only doctrine we need is compassion. So long as we put this into practice in our daily lives, so long as we have compassion for others and conduct ourselves with restraint out of a sense of responsibility, there is no doubt we will be happy.
PIERRE DULAINE
Helping Children Find Their Feet
If you have seen the documentary film Mad Hot Ballroom , or the feature film Take the Lead , starring Antonio Banderas as Pierre Dulaine, you have some idea of the impact this gifted dancer has had on children in the New York City Public Schools system. From shy bookworms to cocky delinquents, when children discover that they can move to music and start enjoying the experience, a transformation is often in the works despite their fierce initial resistance.
Pierre, who until recently had been on the faculty of the Julliard School at Lincoln Center and the School of American Ballet, knows this because he experienced this same thrill himself, transforming from an awkward teen into a world champion ballroom dancer. Now he passes on this profound joy to children who might otherwise have only hung out in the streets or gone home to sit in front of the TV, who might never have discovered that their feet have wings, that they can win at something, or that winning isnât all that counts on the dance floor. His program reaches and teaches approximately 21,000 high school children every year. I love Pierreâs story because his enthusiasm to teach is what makes the world go round, and not only under that magical ballroom dancing globe.
I was born in the Middle East, in Palestine. After that, I lived in Jordan, and then Lebanon, then off my family went to Birmingham, England. I was a very shy child, very timid, and to make matters worse, other children were quite mean to me. They picked on me because I spoke with an accent, which they mimicked. But it was in England, when I was fourteen years old, that a school friend and I started taking lessons at the local dance studio. I was no good at dancing whatsoever, but something stirred inside of me and I loved it. So I persevered.
One day, I went to my very first professional dance competition, and I was awestruck by how wonderfully these professional couples danced. I clearly remember saying to myself that I would become a world champion dancer one day. And eventually, at the ballroom in Blackpool, England, I did. In fact, I won four times, starting in 1977 and including the âDuel of the Giantsâ at the Royal Albert Hall in London. My mother told me that I couldnât become what I wanted to be, a full-time dance teacher, because it would be too unreliable. She was nervous because we had been made refugees twice in the Middle East, so I canât blame her for worrying that this wasnât a ârealâ job.To please her, I tried working in an office, in accounting of all things, and I hated it. I became a hairdresser for a short time, but my sights were set on dancing. So, in London, at the ripe old age of twenty, I managed to get myself a full-time position as a dance instructor in a studio. It was difficult at times to make ends meet, very difficult, but I made
C ompassion is one of the principal things that makes our lives meaningful. It is the source of all lasting happiness and joy. And it is the foundation of a good heart, the desire to help others. Through kindness, through affection, through honesty, through truth and justice toward everyone else, we also ensure our own benefit.
The necessity of love and compassion is the real basis of my religion, my simple faith. To put them into practice within a secular framework we donât need a temple, church, or other building, nor any complicated philosophy. Our own hearts and minds are where we work, while the only doctrine we need is compassion. So long as we put this into practice in our daily lives, so long as we have compassion for others and conduct ourselves with restraint out of a sense of responsibility, there is no doubt we will be happy.
PIERRE DULAINE
Helping Children Find Their Feet
If you have seen the documentary film Mad Hot Ballroom , or the feature film Take the Lead , starring Antonio Banderas as Pierre Dulaine, you have some idea of the impact this gifted dancer has had on children in the New York City Public Schools system. From shy bookworms to cocky delinquents, when children discover that they can move to music and start enjoying the experience, a transformation is often in the works despite their fierce initial resistance.
Pierre, who until recently had been on the faculty of the Julliard School at Lincoln Center and the School of American Ballet, knows this because he experienced this same thrill himself, transforming from an awkward teen into a world champion ballroom dancer. Now he passes on this profound joy to children who might otherwise have only hung out in the streets or gone home to sit in front of the TV, who might never have discovered that their feet have wings, that they can win at something, or that winning isnât all that counts on the dance floor. His program reaches and teaches approximately 21,000 high school children every year. I love Pierreâs story because his enthusiasm to teach is what makes the world go round, and not only under that magical ballroom dancing globe.
I was born in the Middle East, in Palestine. After that, I lived in Jordan, and then Lebanon, then off my family went to Birmingham, England. I was a very shy child, very timid, and to make matters worse, other children were quite mean to me. They picked on me because I spoke with an accent, which they mimicked. But it was in England, when I was fourteen years old, that a school friend and I started taking lessons at the local dance studio. I was no good at dancing whatsoever, but something stirred inside of me and I loved it. So I persevered.
One day, I went to my very first professional dance competition, and I was awestruck by how wonderfully these professional couples danced. I clearly remember saying to myself that I would become a world champion dancer one day. And eventually, at the ballroom in Blackpool, England, I did. In fact, I won four times, starting in 1977 and including the âDuel of the Giantsâ at the Royal Albert Hall in London. My mother told me that I couldnât become what I wanted to be, a full-time dance teacher, because it would be too unreliable. She was nervous because we had been made refugees twice in the Middle East, so I canât blame her for worrying that this wasnât a ârealâ job.To please her, I tried working in an office, in accounting of all things, and I hated it. I became a hairdresser for a short time, but my sights were set on dancing. So, in London, at the ripe old age of twenty, I managed to get myself a full-time position as a dance instructor in a studio. It was difficult at times to make ends meet, very difficult, but I made
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