by Gareth Hughes
Amidst the tragedy of the last few weeks I have been blessed by the miracle of new life.
Two weeks ago, my wife Meghan gave birth at home to a gorgeous baby girl, Zoe Elizabeth. She’s my second (and last!) child and I’m stoked that she’s happy and healthy, as is mum.
Like the Chinese adage ‘may you live in interesting times,’ she sure has been born in an interesting age. In 2010 we live beset by great challenges and opportunities – interestingly both words are represented by the same character in Chinese writing. Alternatively described by Homer Simpson who coined the term ‘crisatunity.’
Down one path looms catastrophic climate change, massive species extinction, and increasing inequality and social suffering. Down the other path: a clean-tech transformation, a modern green energy revolution and a fair economy that works for everyone. For our kids’ sake let’s turn the crisis into an opportunity. The choice is ours, if we want a clean, green and fair Aotearoa.
For my partner and me, bringing a baby into the world was a conscious decision which was reached after a fair amount of thought and consideration (romantic, I know). The gift of bringing life into the world also brings responsibilities – the first is nurturing and guiding a new human being into a responsible and engaged adult. But the second is contributing to a better world for them to grow up in. In deciding to add to our family, we chose to be optimists about the future – and are now both even more motivated to contribute to building a better future for our children.
I hope you all forgive me however, as I take one more week off work to spend devoted to my new daughter, and her awesome brother, and her wonderful Mum.
Published in Health & Wellbeing | Society & Culture by Gareth Hughes on Fri, December 3rd, 2010
Tags: climate change, Family
More posts by Gareth Hughes | more about Gareth Hughes
on the trolls and those who are unable to keep on topic
There is no such Chinese adage, and the Chinese word for ‘crisis’ does not mean ‘opportunity’. Congratulations on the bebe, but please try not to spread misinformation :p
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I was pretty sure I read the two characters for the words danger and opportunity are combined to make the character for crisis… But who am I to question The Simpsons…
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Kadin, I’m with you on the opportunity half of the comment – Kennedy wasn’t exactly all that good with foreign languages; we cannot forget the time that he referred to himself as a jelly doughnut in German.
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You are both very correct! Well, these are the hazards of people of my generation getting our pop culture education from The Simpsons!!
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Geez –
Pedants with an attitude? Wiki itself does not discount the existence of the first so thoroughly if one reads the entire citation… only that there is no record of the original Chinese
“No known user of the English phrase has supplied the purported Chinese language original”
but it goes on to say that Coudert records it as having come through Sir Austen Chamberlain, brother of Neville Chamberlain, who recorded it in a letter…apparently saying “Many years ago, I learned from one of our diplomats in China that one of the principal Chinese curses heaped upon an enemy is, ‘May you live in an interesting age.’”.
That someone said if first is clearly true. That that person was Chinese seems likely to me, unless Chamberlain was lying for some reason unknown to any of us. The absence of any other record is no reason to lumber Gareth with an error which is probably not…. except for someone’s desire to give a hard time to a guy who has got to be short of sleep in the first place.
…and finally, it is IMO appropriate as a “curse”. Far more thoughtful than the “fleas of a thousand camels” efforts.
BJ
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Congratulations Gareth and family. Here’s wishing you all some sleep in the near future.
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@ Meghan 7:47 PM
Congratulations to you and Gareth, Meghan.
I’ve always preferred South Park. Much closer to reality!
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Congratulations! Your article is inspiring! Wish you all the best with your family.
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Actually Gareth didn’t say that “crisis” and “opportunity” were represented by the same character. He said that “challenge” and “opportunity” were represented by the same character.
Congratulations Gareth.
Trevor.
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