Wednesday 29 March 2017

Let us get together.

Rocks 

I was thinking about the telephone kiosk, in our little village, and the fact that it is under consideration as one of the kiosks that are to be put out of use. This is understandable considering how little they will ever be used, with almost everybody having a cell phone. 

I wondered how it could be put to an alternative use.  I came up with one or two. 

Maybe a little art gallery to show off some of the artwork produced by the local school children? Or now that we no longer have a library in the village maybe it could become a little shelved area for the local sharing of books, for all ages.

While I was thinking along these lines I remembered the eastern tale of the book inkwell and feather. 

Once upon a time, in a small city, there was an empty storybook. 

The book looked great, with an impressive cover, but all its pages were blank. Children and grown-ups would pick up the book with anticipation, but finding no stories inside, they would cast the book aside. 

Not far from there, a lovely inkwell had been full of ink for years. His owner had forgotten about it, and left it away in some corner. The inkwell and the storybook cursed their bad luck, as they spent their days doing nothing.

Fortune had it that one time when the book was thrown away he ended up next to the inkwell. 

For days and days the two of them swapped stories about their bad luck, and they could have carried on for years, if an elegant swan feather had not floated down and landed next to them. 

Having fallen from his swan, the feather felt lonely and abandoned for the first time in his life. He cried and cried, and the book and the inkwell joined in, letting out all their sadness at the years of neglect.

However, unlike his companions, the feather soon tired of crying, and he resolved to improve the situation. Drying his tears, and leaving his complaints behind, he clearly saw how the three of them, working together, could achieve a lot more than just suffering.

He convinced his friends to write a story. The storybook opened up his best pages, the inkwell didn't spill even a drop, and the feather contributed great ingenuity and beautiful writing. 

Together they managed to write a lovely story about three friends who helped each other to improve their lives.

Then one day a young teacher passed by, head down and looking sad, wondering how he could keep his pupils´ attention. 

He found the storybook, the inkwell and the feather. The teacher read the book, and found the story charming. He picked up the three artists, and continued on his way to school. When lessons began he told the story to his pupils, and they were all attentive and captivated.

Every night from then on, feather, inkwell, and storybook got together and wrote a new story for the young teacher

They felt so happy and proud at having managed to improve their fate, thanks to their hard work and collaboration.

It is amazing what an old telephone kiosk might become if there was some collaboration. I also wonder just what could be achieved in life if we could all rewind the art of collaboration. 

Have a wonderful day, why not share it with a friend and collaborate on something. 


 

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