SCPL Online NonFiction Book Club discussion

Towards the end of her athletic career and afterwards, Clara says that what she wants most “is to serve. To improve myself so I can share those improvements with others” (p. 207).

Clara has given back in several ways – in volunteering around the world with Right to Play, an organization that uses sport to help youth in disadvantaged countries, becoming the face of the Bell Let’s Talk campaign, donating to the Take a Hike program that provides adventure-based learning for at-risk youth, and teaching Inuit children to play hockey with Joé Juneau.

Why do you think Clara chose to serve and give back? Does she get any benefit from doing so?

I think the idea “to serve” is quite powerful. Serving others can manifest in many different ways. How/Who do you serve in your life?

~Nicole

I think everyones reason who serve and give back to the world is for different reasons.
Clara's reasons certainly seem to be to help others and also a way to overcome her own demons - to make a better world for herself and others.
Some people serve to make themselves an image. Some do so to gain a goal or experience.
There is no doubt that serving does help the person who is helping.
It can also discourage the helper.
Helping becomes a mindset. A positive mindset comes when you are doing it for the right reasons.
I have been raised to help others and not just myself. Sometimes it is in the community, sometimes in my circle of family and friends. Helping for the right reasons can bring healing for oneself and to make the world a better more positive place.

Thanks again, Jo!

I agree that helping others can have different motivations - to make yourself look good, to genuinely have concern for others, to make yourself feel better, etc.

I think Clara's desire to help allows her to see the benefit of her good work in very concrete ways. It also allows her to improve her own self-worth in knowing that she is making a difference.

At the end of the book Clara says through serving others she is going "to improve myself so I can share those improvements with others" (p. 207). Through this logic, working on her own issues will not only benefit herself but others as well.

I think the idea of serving others is very powerful. Like you said, it is a mindset. Beyond donating time and money to specific charities and causes, being a support to family and friends is a way of serving.

~Nicole