Choosing Delight in LW

MEMBER COLUMN

Marla Hamblin

Mutual 15 director

I was grateful to attend the Leisure World Community Orchestra’s winter concert directed by the virtuoso, Dr. Samuel Kim, on Dec. 2 in Clubhouse 4.

It was a brilliant performance and perfect way to begin this holiday season. I was reminded of a time in my life when I made the rounds of TV shows, magazines and speaking engagements.

On one Mother’s Day, I was invited to be the guest speaker by Dr. Robert Schuller at the Crystal Cathedral. The visit included a personal meeting with him in his towering office for tea and conversation. I was more anxious about what I would talk with him about in privacy than I was for my speech, which I was well prepared to deliver.

But I needn’t have worried because immediately I was comfortably seated. When he asked me a specific question, he asked for my thoughts on how the Jewish survivors of the WWII concentration camps went on to lead lives of positivity and elevated achievements despite the grotesque horrors they endured. How could they have witnessed all that and emerged as productive leaders and contributors to society and the arts? It was easily an hour-long discussion.

I was confident in my understanding of the recognizable yet curious phenomenon he referred to: In exchange for the gift of life, survival, we repay in gratitude for the beauty, education, opportunity life offers, to see plants growing, experience the elegance of music and all the arts, the replenishment of gardening and nature. These give inspiration that overflows to others.

All the joys of life inform our ability to emerge as the best we can be, so much so that the result of this overflowing gratitude benefits others.

So, at the concert Dec. 2 and regarding Leisure World in general, rather than belaboring and emphasizing the harms, there is so much here from which to derive delight and encouragement.

Finally, in the words of Theodore Roosevelt, “Let those in the arena: working, trying, willing—the volunteers—silence the critics who complain from the sidelines.” If you avoid the concerts and all the other amenities here, you not only lose the artistic pleasure provided but also the opportunity to appreciate those providing it. I encourage everyone to participate and even consider running for the boards or volunteering to assist us in making Leisure World the best of all places to live our lives.