A Celebration of Dissidence

M. Qui veut dissider avec moi?
P. Moi!
M. Tu veux dissider?
P. Oui!
M. Ok, tu dissides.
P. Je décide quoi?
M. Pas « décide » : « disside »
P. Je disside quoi ?
M. C’est à toi de decider ce que tu dissides
P. …Je veux plus…
M. Décider ou dissider ?
P. Les deux.
M. Alors tu dissides un peu.
P. Non ! Je veux pas dissider.
M. Trop tard : en ne voulant pas décider, tu décides de dissider la décission.
P. Noooooooon !
M. Pas facile de dissider

​M. Who wants to dissent with me ?
P. Me !
M. Do you want to dissent ?
P. Yes !
M. Ok, dissent.
P. Decide what ?
M. Not « decide » - « dissent »
P. Dissent what ?
M. You have to decide what you dissent from.
P. … I don’t want to…
M. Decide or dissent ?
P. Both.
M. So you dissent a little.
P. No ! I don’t want to dissent.
M. Too late- by not wanting to decide, you decide to dissent from the decision
P. Nooooooo !
M. It’s not so easy to dissent.

-Excerpt from Une petite fête- Cabaret de la dissidence (The Little Cabaret- A Celebration of Dissidence) at Le Carrousel
 
Hello everyone from Montréal.
 
I’m sharing a snippet of the play currently being staged at my internship. I’ve been observing rehearsals of Une petite fête. I’ve also been writing my master’s thesis on theatre and social change- 13,000 words and counting. 
 
As usual, the world is both beautiful- red maple leaves! a trip to Toronto! - and sad.
 
Though I didn’t know François Fouquerel as well as many at CLV, my thoughts are with his family and the many community members who will miss his mentorship and humor. It’s strange to think he won’t be in Lac du Bois’s kitchen next summer, sharing meals that remind him of his own French childhood, and taking his staff on picnics.  
 
I’m thinking also of other sadness in the world- brutal hurricanes caused by climate change, deadly wars, a genocide funded by our own government.
 
I feel powerless, so privileged, sometimes hopeless.
 
adrienne maree brown, a scholar of social change, writes, “The whole is a mirror of the parts. Existence is fractal- the health of the cell is the health of the species.”

If the whole is a mirror of the parts, tiny changes radiate out into the wider world. Someone like François, who built community throughout his life, makes a small, important change.
 
I’m trying to nurture hope in the small things, like supporting a play that encourages children to speak out and question authority, to dissent. I'm grateful for many opportunities and joys. 
 
Petit à petit,
 
Miel

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Trying a beaver tail for the first time in Toronto

Poutine from La Banquise, a highly recommended spot

My camera roll is full of pictures of Montréal's row houses