Trying to talk about my privilege (3/4)

How would I describe myself?

"gentle gracious elder"

To myself...

To all those years of prickliness... 

Deep cuts in my heart caused by

Caustic words spoken unmeaningly

By distant family and quasi-friends...

Or, in tabloid newspapers headlines,

Read by colleagues in our break room,

Such nastiness washing down the

Last of their breakfast sandwiches...

Or, the slaps of profanity of strangers, 

Yelling and minding my business

When it was not theirs to comment upon...

I was often hurt, certainly angry,

Sometimes I still even rant, but

Mostly, because of you, my dear

Family and friends, I survived and 

Still feel endless gratitude for the

Coming of every dawn.

(This post is part of my "Growing Up & Growing Old" project.) 

Trying to talk about my privilege (2/4)

How would I describe myself?

"old foreign woman"

OLD: Old comes with wisdom, of sorts.

For some my being old is irritating

They tend to condescend and become rude

My voice is reedy, transparent, and 

Passes through their minds unnoticed.

FOREIGN: Foreign can pique interest, open

Doors for conversations and confessions

Allowing unusual perspectives to explore

The mundane day-to-day going-on of their lives.

Yet, always, always, there are those moments

Of the acute hurtful realisation that I do not belong.   

WOMAN: So deeply what I am and yet, 

Days go by without my thinking at all about this

This is paradoxical because so much of what

I do, think, how I speak, who I love, finds its

Being through my womanhood. Also, so much

Of social dis-ease, psychological disorder, even

Many personal interactions are burdened by this.

(This post is part of my "Growing Up & Growing Old" project.) 

Trying to talk about my privilege (1/4)

How would I describe myself?

"curious, open-minded geek"

The words I use can be seen through the lens of privilege. Starting with "curious, open-minded geek"; I became so through the privilege of education. I attended good primary and secondary schools. 

I was able to go to a co-op university, where I could earn enough during work terms to pay for tuition, room and board during our study semesters. I did not have to take out student loans. 

Generally, during this time in the 1970s, the tuitions in Canadian universities were not exorbitant. I recently came across a document from that time where it stated the tuition for one semester was around 700 dollars. Still, because of my middle-class upbringing, I could go to university without financial worry.  

My family environment also played a big role. My father and grandfather were very hands-on engineers, and they instilled in me a love of technology. My mother, though a technophobe, was a veracious reader, and she fed my love of books and helped me always to explore other worlds.

Lastly, I have spent all my adult life having access to various technology from the moment they were invented. I could not always afford the technology, but I found ways to use open-source technology and buy more generic devices that were not high-brand.

Is there any way to describe oneself that does not leave some aspect of privilege aside?

(This post is part of my "Growing Up & Growing Old" project.)   

Same place, different worlds (trip to the beach outside of Copenhagen)

Nude bodies sunbathing
Fleece jacket and windbreaker

Are my loyal friends.

(This post is part of my "Growing Up & Growing Old" project.)