Making the most of life

by Ayana Baisden

This article has been a bit of an (eye opener) awakening for me. I hope that it will work in a similar way for many of my fellow nature builders, parents, teachers and students past and present. Life is short, for some…some of us will be here for a while. Nobody can tell it isn’t up to us, as we say. So here are some tips and tricks I have learned along the way. Nothing too tedious, nothing too fancy.

The following pointers are things I have picked up from my beloved father, cheerleader, mentor and so many other things that I cannot mention in fear
of being too long-winded.

1) DO WHAT YOU LOVE!
In all things, love what you do. The first secret to life is to do what intrigues you. Cricket, Tennis, Table Tennis/Lawn Tennis, Piano, Netball, Sing, Dance, Swim. Do some form of self-defense: Karate, Tae-Kwando (you choose) etc.

Older folks never brag or “blow their own trumpets” as we locally say. I never knew what my dad did growing up. In fact, I only knew that he worked at DEVCO and that I had to climb too many steps up to his office. The height of the steps up that building made me experience Vertigo.

It was only after I got to secondary school that I found out that he was in Cadets from 1961-1976. Later on, I found out that he was not simply good friends with “Uncle Doc” (Do I.A Kirby). He had actually been on ‘digs’ all over 32 islands looking for the petroglyphs on the chain of islands St. Vincent and the Grenadines. This culminated in the publishing of a book by Dr. I.A Earle Kirby “Pre-Columbian Monuments in Stone” Published by St. Vincent Archaeological and Historical Society (1969).

In Secondary School I did Art, my love for Art was honed by Mrs. Margaret Henry-Charles, who not only taught me but also took me on my first ceramics workshop with Country Devonish. It was love at first sight! Thanks to that workshop I can build almost anything in clay and have worked at GHS, SVGS, TSSS, SVGCC and also had the pleasure of doing workshops for students at the primary, secondary and tertiary levels.

Years after, I was able to “maco” my father’s life by reading everything he brought home and asking where he got those books.

He was a member of the National Trust from 1969-2020. It belongs to the Garifuna/Carinas of St. Vincent and the Grenadines and is as such to be held as a sacred space for them. This was my lesson on how to stick to your guns. (There is nothing wrong with saying ‘no’).

When I read Shonda Rhyme’s book about saying “yes!” to every opportunity that came her way, I laughed. I had been having a life of saying ‘ yes’. I had the opposite problem. I was a ‘yes’ person. After that I attempted saying ‘no’. This change helped me to be more discerning and to create balance in my life.

Dad had been trying to teach me this, but I had a stubborn streak. I continuously gave my time, money and love to undeserving people. These days I say “…give me a moment, let me think about it.”

I am getting too old to be mashing people’s “corn” on their toes and worse yet their egos.

Life must be balanced; it is like the story of “The cat in the hat.” You go on and juggle everything for fun! Just remember, you don’t have anything to pick up the pieces.