*Celebrating A Legacy of Creativity and Dreams at the Christmas Season*慶賀創意與夢想傳承的聖誕季節~12-18-2011
The true meaning of Christmas is LIFE-GIVING.
To celebrate Christmas, we need to BE FULLY ALIVE ourselves,
and to GIVE LIFE to someone else.
I love Christmas. I was one of those blessed children that believe in Christmas magic: Santa Claus will bring you a gift if you are a good kid! Christmas brought me the warmest memories of my childhood: twinkling lights and tree decoration, aroma of the coffee, rich black forest chocolate cake, music from the LP records, colorful socks hanging by the bed, beautifully wrapped gifts, all prepared by Mother’s talented and loving hands … In those days when Taiwan was still a developing country, Christmas was still a Western idea and not commercialized locally, and daddy had to work two jobs to keep us fed and warm, Mom’s insisting on celebrating Christmas was rather untraditional and romantic. She would never have guessed that her passion for Christmas did more than filling me with a sense of sweet home, it actually built in me a deep faith that Life is Beautiful and Magical: something fantastic and beyond imagination is waiting for me. Thank you Mom, for giving me the most wonderful gift in life: the ability to Dream and the hunger to Create!
我喜愛聖誕節。我屬於世上一群特受恩寵的小孩子之一，就是相信聖誕節的奇妙：若你是個乖小孩，聖誕老人會送你一個禮物！聖誕節曾帶給我童年最溫馨的回憶：閃爍的彩燈，聖誕樹的裝飾，咖啡的馨香，濃郁的黑森林巧克力蛋糕，唱片機傳送出的音樂，床頭懸掛的彩色襪子，包紮精美的聖誕禮物，全都是母親才華洋溢又充滿愛心的雙手所預備的。在那個台灣仍是開發中國家、聖誕節仍是個洋玩意兒也完全未商業化、父親要兼兩個工作才能供我們吃飽穿暖的年代裡，母親慶賀聖誕節的堅持有著點反傳統的浪漫。但她恐怕從來沒有想到，她對聖誕節的熱情，不只是帶給我一份家的甜美溫暖，也在我心中築下一個深深的信心，就是人生是美麗而充滿超自然力量的：奇妙而遠超乎想像的美好的人生正等著我。謝謝妳，母親，賜給我一份人生最棒的禮物：夢想的能力與創造的渴望！
Painting joyfully on a big canvas! 在巨幅的胚布上快樂地作畫！
This Christmas I am blessed to pass this heritage of “To Dream and to Create” to 180 kids from age 10 to college level through the wonderful collaboration between Wonder Mill, Hsin-Chu Champions Assoc. and Hsin-Chu Light of the City Association. Through the whole December we meet on Saturday afternoons regularly, and we paint, we tell stories, we create drama and videos, we think of new invention ideas, and we create a facebook group to broadcast to the world what we have discovered and learned! And on Christmas Eve, we will parade along the old city moat shaded by lovely willows, walked on the beautiful cobblestone pathway and around the Eastern Gate of Hsin-chu, wearing the Christmas Mascots we designed and DIYed ourselves! So if you want to taste a different kind of Christmas, please come to the plaza by the Hsin-Chu train station and watch our skits and sing Christmas songs with us!
這個聖誕季節，我有另一份恩寵，就是可以把這份「夢想與創造」的傳承分享給一百八十位從十歲到大學階段的孩子們。奇蹟磨坊在新竹得勝者與新竹城市之光關懷協會的安排下，有機會和這群孩子共度十二月每個週六的下午。我們一起畫畫，一起說故事，一起製作短劇和短片，發想新產品概念，也在臉書開創了「創意.D.大力玩」官方社團，向世界報導我們在這裡學了什麼和發現了什麼！聖誕夜下午我們將穿戴自己設計製作的聖誕公仔道具，踩著石版路，環繞新竹護城河與迎曦門踩街遊行。如果你有空，歡迎來到站前廣場欣賞我們的短劇，和我們一起唱聖誕歌。
Time for the Drama Game! 玩戲劇遊戲囉！
At this Creativity and Dream Workshop, I had the chance to hear the kids talk about their dreams in life: to be a photographer, an actor, a nurse, a special education teacher, a fashion designer, a painter, the list goes on … I have to say, there is nothing more exciting to see the kids being excited about their dreams, other than to empower them to believe in how marvelous and special they truly are and there is nothing, absolutely nothing, that can stop them from pursuing and realizing their visions in life!
在這次創意夢想營中，我有機會聽孩子們分享他們的人生夢想：成為一名攝影師，當演員，當護士，做特教老師，做服裝設計師，當畫家，等等… 我要說，沒有比看見孩子對自己人生感到興奮而令人更興奮的事了，也許同樣興奮的是：能夠加給孩子力量，使他們真正相信自己是多麼奇妙而特別，而且沒有任何、絕對沒有任何事物能夠攔阻他們去追求並實現人生夢想！
The kids, especially the kids in the education system in Taiwan, need someone to tell them: they go to school not just to get good grades or a diploma; the purpose for their receiving education is so they can be equipped to fulfill their destinies in life! And they don’t need to wait till they grow up to see their dreams come true. They can start now with their small dreams or big dreams … They can even change the world NOW as a kid!! Just like Zack Hunter, the 12 year old who started “Loose Change to Loosen Chains” movement to end slavery. He was shy and introverted when first started, but three years later he has spoken to millions, became an author of three books and is mobilizing a whole new generation to dedicate themselves to solving the problems of our world!
孩子，特別是在台灣教育體制下成長的的孩子，需要有人點醒他們：上學不是為了得到高分或獲得一張文憑，受教育的目的是為了要得到訓練，使自己日後能完成人生的使命！而且他們不需要等到長大才能實現夢想，他們現在就可以著手進行他們的大夢小夢 … 他們甚至此刻就可以改變世界！就像韓哲克，十二歲的時候開始推動「零錢，零捆鎖」的運動來對抗人口販賣與現代的奴隸問題。原本害羞內向的他，三年後已向上成千上萬人演講過，著有三本書，並且正號召全球新一代的青年人獻身於解決世界的問題！
I love Christmas and I love the fact my name is Noel. It has given me many many opportunities throughout the years to ponder upon the meaning of Christmas. I have finally come to understand that Christmas really means LIFE-GIVING. To celebrate Christmas, means to BE FULLY ALIVE yourself, and to be able to GIVE LIFE to someone else. I have also come to understand that the core of BEING ALIVE is to be able to dream, no matter how young or old you are, then… the best gift we can give a person is no other than to empower him or her to dream, and to dream big. Wonder Mill has been truly blessed to be able to use the Creativity and Dream workshops to give away such gifts: to call forth the deep passion, stir up unique gifting, and pass on the faith, perseverance and joy needed to live out what our Creator has designed us to be!!! Therefore please allow me to celebrate the dreams and creativity that are already blossoming in you in this life-giving Christmas season. Release it and let it outflow like a mighty river! May your dreams dance with more vibrant colors and your creativity soar to a new height in the great year of 2012!
我愛聖誕節，也愛我的名字NOEL（法文的聖誕節）。這名字使我多年來常常有機會思考聖誕節的意義。我終於明白，聖誕節真正的意義就是「把生命給出去」。慶賀聖誕節，也就是要讓自己完全活過來，然後能夠把自己的生命分給人。我也開始明白，「完全活著」的核心就是「具有夢想的能力」，不管我們的年紀大小。因此，我們可以送給一個人最佳的禮物，就是給他力量，讓他可以去夢想，而且是做偉大的夢想！奇蹟磨坊的確享有獨特的恩寵，就是可以透過各樣創意夢想營來分賜這樣生命的禮物：喚醒人們深沈的熱情，啟動獨特的恩賜，並傳遞那份信心、堅忍和喜樂，使我們可以活出創造主計畫我們成為的生命！因此我要在這賜與生命的聖誕節慶賀在您生命中已經茁長開花的夢想與創意。釋放它如巨流奔騰湧流吧！祝福您在2012年夢想以更為繽紛絢爛的色彩舞蹈，創意飛躍向更高的視界！
Merry Christmas from Wonder Mill!
奇蹟磨坊祝福您聖誕快樂！
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Noel Yang, aka Jubilee Girl
導演，編劇，插畫作家，講員，牧師。台大外文系畢業，美國南加州大學電影製作藝術碩士。旅居洛杉磯多年從事紀錄片，劇情短片，廣告片，兒童電視劇等製作。紀錄片《天使之國》獲金穗獎；劇情短片《未曾期待的愛》獲參金馬獎觀摩展；著有中英對照勵志繪本《打開奇蹟的一扇窗》。
目前成立奇蹟磨坊，創作餵飽心靈的視覺故事，培養新一代復興創藝工作者，並推動創新思維，藝術與遊戲治療。
Noel is a director, writer, illustrator, speaker, and pastor. For years she lived in Los Angeles making dramatic shorts, TV commercials and children’s television. Her documentary Land of Angels received Taiwan’s Golden Grain Award, and her dramatic short Unexpected Love was invited to the Golden Horse Film Festival. She is the author of an illustrated inspirational The Wonder Journal. She has a B.A. in Foreign Languages and Literature from the National Taiwan University, and an M.F.A. in Cinema-TV Production from the University of Southern California.
Recently she founded the Wonder Mill to create visual stories that feed the soul, to raise up a new generation of revival artists, and to promote creative-solutioning and healing through arts and play.
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http://www.wondermillmedia.com/
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購買《打開奇蹟的ㄧ扇窗》/ Purchase The Wonder Journal
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