BLOG post – Whistler Writers Festival
Sept 7, 2014
By Susan Oakey-Baker

“There is no preferred point of view in the universe.” Albert Einstein

Last year, I introduced grade four students to understanding cultural perspectives. I arranged them in small groups at different tables and gave each group a bag. I told them that each bag contained the same thing. Without looking, they had to feel inside and decide what was there. First in their small group, and then as one large group, they had to come to a consensus about what was in the bag.

There was much discussion and even arguing because, in fact, what they had in their bags were parts of a whole. One bag contained dirt, one contained the leaves of a flower, one contained a stem and one contained petals. I reminded them they must come to a consensus. So they started to ask each other questions and they listened until one student said, “It’s a flower.”

I brought out an intact, potted daffodil and placed it beside the pieces of a daffodil and I asked them why we had done the exercise. A student said, “Because it taught us that if we listen to each other’s ideas and work together that we will have a better understanding of the world.”

I finished by reading them the story of the blind mice and the elephant, based on the original Indian fable. Five blind mice hear that there is an elephant in the village, and not knowing what an elephant is, they investigate. One mouse feels the trunk and says an elephant is like a snake. One feels a leg and argues that an elephant is like a tree. One feels the ear and argues that an elephant is like a fan. One feels the tusk and argues that an elephant is like a spear. One feels the tail and argues that an elephant is like a rope. They cannot agree. A wise man passing by tells them that they are all correct.

I grew up believing I should get things right the first time with no help; that I should know everything. Learning to be self-reliant is an important step in our education but so is working together. Truth can be expressed in different ways When I look back at the milestones in my life – marriage, loss, having and raising a child, writing a book – I have accomplished none of them alone.

The magic of life is in the sharing.

Susan Oakey-Baker is a writer, teacher, artist and guide living in Whistler. Her new book, Finding Jim, published by Rocky Mountain Books, was launched at the 2013 Whistler Writers Festival. Visit Susan at susanoakeybaker.com.