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“I am a Canadian, free to speak without fear, free to worship in my own way, free to stand for what I think right, free to oppose what I believe wrong, or free to choose those who shall govern my country. This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and all mankind.” ~~ John G. Diefenbaker

ADAM OLSEN -- The peg was where you hung your troubles before entering the house. It was an invitation to leave issues and challenges outside and enter the home ‘in a good way’


I was at an event recently where a local W̱SÁNEĆ elder was providing a blessing to open the proceedings. He spoke about a peg that is outside of the door of a Coast Salish longhouse.

As he told the story, and it's not the first time I had heard this teaching, the peg was where you hung your troubles before entering the house. It was an invitation to leave issues and challenges outside and enter the home "in a good way." As you go, you can either pick your issues up again and take them with you or you can leave them there.

This reminds me of my training at Butchart Gardens. The door frame to the dining room kitchen is another place to leave your difficulties. The premise is that everyone on staff brings with them a private life and there are always ups and downs. However, while we are at work, we are to set them aside and focus on the work.

This idea was a particularly helpful tool during my election, because there is always a diverse array of challenges flying around every campaign.

In the back of the campaign headquarters is a small office with a door that has a hypothetical nail driven on the inside. That office is where the discussions about all the struggles of campaigning are aired out between the candidate and the leaders of the campaign. Outside of that little back office was a team of volunteers building positive momentum toward election day.

They need not worry about the conflict, so we hung up our struggles on the door of that office before we went back out into the world.

Showing up in a good way
Whether it be as a waiter in The Dining Room Restaurant at Butchart Gardens, a political candidate in the heat of a campaign or an elected MLA, it's important that I am showing up "in a good way" so this ancient nail is a useful technique.

Each and every constituent deserves a fresh start, a positive and compassionate advocate. There are always many issues. It's my burden as an MLA to work toward solutions for them all.

In that respect, it's good to have a place, to hang up the hang ups.
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