COtB

CREATE OPPORTUNITIES to BLOOM [COtB] (name and idea created by WCN. All rights reserved (c) 2008)

We are already doing this in Soka Gakkai. SWS (Soka Women Study) is one. I have been getting a few of our fabulous members, one man and several females to contribute something that they are passionate about or which have something to do with their career. For instance, we have an MD (men division) who heads a famous cosmetic line to speak about women's beauty from both a professional perspective and as a man. Then this coming Friday, I created the opportunity with the help and consent of Mun Yee, for a WD (women division) from Shah Alam who has been volunteering in an NGO that operates a help-line for the depressed to share her knowledge and experience on depression. This lady has been "dying" for an opportunity to get out there and do something for our members. There is a young lady who for some reason no longer wish to continue with kotekitai (all girls' band) or any of the dance activities that SGM offers. Sooner or later her link with Soka Gakkai will fizzle out. I know she likes to read, so I asked her would she write from her perspective as a youth for Cosmic and she said yes!

I am constantly amazed and inspired by the talents and capabilities of our women members. I noticed I have this desire to create opportunities for our members to express their talents and manifest their passion for all to share within the frame work of our Soka Gakkai activities. And I realised that is what I have been doing for the past one year with any members I meet be it YWD, WD, MD or YMD (young men division). Many like the WD in the forum on depression has have a yearning to share and to shine.

Earlier today (23/9/08) for example, I offer an opportunity to another WD from Klang who has been in the human resource field for many years and she has a dream to coach and to guide on attitudes, job skills and the betterment of the employment processes. She is exemplary of many of our WD members who had to juggle career with children minding and family as well as self improvement (she just obtained her MBA). Yet she had felt bogged down by what she termed as "things of little value". I threw her a challenge. I will create an opportunity for her to lead a discussion or give a talk on what she wishes to share from her field, which is her passion. She has to pledge she will commit to preparing herself and I in return will work within the framework of Soka Gakkai to create an opportunity for her sharing of something that is close to her heart.

As I mentioned from the beginning, we are already doing this in Soka Gakkai especially in the SWS activities. What I am creating is a wish list of any member to share their passion by emailing me what they would like to contribute in terms of their talent or experience. I in turn will keep this list and the individuals in mind and create opportunities within any of our discussion meetings or YWD monthly meetings or even more appropriate continuing with our SWS forum include a space or provide the stage for this invidiuals to do something which they love and they volunteered. It could be providing the 5 mins entertainment slot during one of our discussion meeting like the 4 young girls who loved to dance did for the talk on Beauty.

So, there you go. This is my passion aside from writing and dancing. I learn from my own experience, when I get to contribute in SGM framework by doing something I loved, I would naturally have that passion to do more & more. My ties with Soka Gakkai grow stronger each time. As all members who 'get their hands dirty' preparing for meetings or events in SGM know, those who get themselves personally involved than just merely be a bystander or watching from the sidelines, get the most satisfaction and a sense of achievements from the many episodes of human revolution required in the process of realizing the goal at hand.

That is why I want to create this project, Creating Opportunities to Bloom starting with our YWD and WD.

So, any comments and further ideas?