{"id":666,"date":"2021-12-01T08:40:22","date_gmt":"2021-12-01T07:40:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/roladesocietalblog.com\/?p=666"},"modified":"2021-12-01T08:40:22","modified_gmt":"2021-12-01T07:40:22","slug":"coincidence-globality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/roladesocietalblog.com\/?p=666","title":{"rendered":"Coincidence? Globality!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
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What happened last October 30\noverawed me. Was it a desirable coincidence? Was it pure luck? Was it the work\nof what my Polish student calls an “angel” (a word she uses when a\nfortunate situation passes my way)? Whereas, my French friend said: “C’est\nmagique”. I have no way to test these suppositions, so I have decided to\nshare this story with you; you might have ideas about it too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was scheduled to be interviewed by\nthe co-founder of the podcast “Qui a peur du feminisme” (Who is\nscared of feminism) at 7 pm. At 6:25, I got a text from a former student’s\ndaughter saying they had left something outside our apartment door. When I\nopened the door, they had gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I put the paper bag under my desk and\nresumed practising my pronunciation of French words that I was likely to use\nduring the interview. (Though I live in France, I hardly use this tricky\nlanguage). The interview was on Zoom; at 6:50, I started to have a mixed\nfeeling of anxiousness and boredom. So, I opened the bag and was surprisingly\nglad to see a beautifully wrapped t-shirt with the phrase “Excuse my\nFrench”. I put this t-shirt on right away, just on time for the\ninterview.  How appropriate for the\noccasion!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My former student\u2019s family saw this\nt-shirt while shopping in Metz and thought of me. They decided to go out of\ntheir way to drop it in my place. Only my husband knew that I would be\ninterviewed that evening, and he didn’t tell them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coincidences are ubiquitous; I am sure\nyou’ve experienced these too. What do you consider a coincidence and not? A\ncoincidence can be described as a remarkable concurrence of events without a\nvisible causal connection.  Can you explain coincidences?  I\ncan’t, so there’s nothing more I can say here. Instead, I’m going to translate the\nfirst and last questions of that interview. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rolade, hello and welcome. Could you explain to our listeners why you\ndefine yourself as a citizen of the world?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Earth is my home; it is the same Earth where everyone lives. This\nEarth is our world \u2013 the world of all peoples and countries. The COVID-19\npandemic has demonstrated the interconnectedness of nations. It’s like being in\na boat: if one part sinks, the other part will also sink sooner or later. We\nhave the right to be in this boat (our world), but we also have the responsibility\nto keep it floating. What can sink this boat are: environmental degradation,\nwar and conflicts, poverty, illiteracy, injustices, crimes, and other societal\nills. As a world citizen, I think globally but act locally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(If I were to answer this question now, I would include positive\nidentification and belongingness).<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

One last question. In this podcast, we like to highlight women. Can you\nbriefly tell us a woman who is a role model for you?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first one that comes to mind is my former work supervisor, who\nbecame a friend. Barbara Young was an Australian who dedicated her life to helping\nnon-governmental organisations, especially those caring for children (such as\nSave the Children Fund), refugees and women.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My model is not a woman but women. I wish I could put all their\nexceptional traits together. All women who think globally but act locally, like\nyou, Marie Pierre. You and your friend started this podcast to advance women’s\ncauses, and that’s admirable.  (Of course, there are women on the international stage\nwho actively combat poverty, inequality, illnesses, environmental concerns,\netc. They are many and commendable)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My late mother’s my model for her kindness and forgiveness of those who\nhad hurt her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year’s Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Maria Ressa from the\nPhilippines, caught my attention. A courageous, intelligent and humble woman,\nlike her, is my model.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I admire generous female bosses and managers and those who help their\nfellow women progress in their careers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In closing, I would like to say that I believe there is something precious\nin every woman, in each of us, in all your listeners. We have to dig the\nwonders in each of us. With these wonderful attributes, we can be better global\ncitizens.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What happened last October 30 overawed me. Was it a desirable coincidence? Was it pure luck? Was it the work of what my Polish student calls an “angel” (a word she uses when a fortunate situation passes my way)? Whereas, my French friend said: “C’est magique”. I have no way to test these suppositions, so … Continue reading Coincidence? Globality!<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-666","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-social-political-cultural-economic-issues"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/roladesocietalblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/666","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/roladesocietalblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/roladesocietalblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/roladesocietalblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/roladesocietalblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=666"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/roladesocietalblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/666\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":667,"href":"https:\/\/roladesocietalblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/666\/revisions\/667"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/roladesocietalblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/roladesocietalblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/roladesocietalblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}