More than ever, vision is needed if we want to change the course of things. We need vision, but also dedication. We need to be whole-hearted visionaries with warriors’ dedication. We need each other to stay on path, to bring into fruition our bold visions.
Greetings to all in these sobering times of conflict and chaos. Decades ago in my youth group days, I was in a group that met with a First Nations Chief to talk about racism. He asked each of us to tell him if we were racist and we all answered with a phrase like “I’m... Read more
During COVID, when gatherings must include fewer than 50 people, government-funding for theatre groups that cater to small audiences in outdoor venues would be a job-creator. Comic play “The Fridge Festival” (see photo) was done outdoors in Fairfield.
Hourly paid workers — who generally have low pay, few benefits and not much job security — are now almost two-thirds of the workforce. But while low-wage employment is down 30 per cent compared to a year ago, she adds, it is only down 1.3 per cent among high wage earners.
As much as we all have an obligation (I believe) to be responsible environmentally, there is no need to make music the whipping boy for environmental degradation and economic exploitation.
Congratulations to the City of Victoria for endorsing the May 2020 Common Vision, Common Action Regional Policy Statement for implementing a regional agenda for social and ecological justice. (see: http://commonaction.mystrikingly.com/ ) The Creatively United for the... Read more
Are you living in Central Saanich? Check out the brand new Central Saanich Community Gardens Society. They are look forward to cultivating delightful yet purposeful community garden(s) in Central Saanich. They are currently looking for board members and land! Click... Read more
Feeling cooped up with the lockdown? Imagine living in a 200-ft-tall redwood tree for more than two years. Twenty years ago, Julia Butterfly Hill did just that, to draw attention to the continued clearcutting of California’s remaining redwood forests.
Jim Bronson and Sandi Goldie are offering their first online 5 session class “Getting Into Action” with solutions, based on the book Drawdown, The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed for Reversing Global Warming by Paul Hawken.
A group of young artists in Cedar have started a digital public art project called the Cedar Sound Project. They are calling for submissions from community members of “field recordings”: sound snippets which document a moment in your daily life during... Read more
Courtesy of the Times Colonist In a December 2019 interview, Will Steffen, a leading Earth systems scientist and member of the Stockholm Resilience Centre, said: “We need to reach a social tipping point, before we reach a planetary one.” By “a planetary tipping... Read more
Orca Awareness Month 2020 (June) will be a spontaneous upsurge of creativity spreading the “help whales” message in a time of physical-distancing. We can’t have talks & meetings so will do public art displays. 73 remaining SRKWs have never needed us more.
Ann Mortifee is an inspirational leader in both the environment and the arts. She is Canada’s National Performing Treasure, a recipient of the Order of Canada, beloved by thousands for her penetrating wisdom and humanity….
The Township of Esquimalt is doing Earth Day a little differently this year. Typically the day is marked with a celebration at Highrock Park with a focus on children’s educational activities around sustainability and the natural environment. The traditional format was... Read more
The Township is looking for enthusiastic individuals interested in serving the community as a member of the Advisory Planning Commission, Design Review Committee, Environmental Advisory Committee, or Parks & Recreation Advisory Committee are encouraged to apply.... Read more
The City of Victoria’s Business Hub staff have compiled a comprehensive list of resources for businesses at victoria.ca/bizresources. Donate to Boxes of Hope. Every $10 donated provides a warm, healthy meal to someone in need and supports the local restaurant... Read more
Take a breather and connect with nature! Check out the Sierra Club’s Google Classroom (code XULWFC2) and website for tons of fun nature-based activities for the whole family! These new resources are not only helpful for parents, but for caregivers and educators... Read more
Here is a poem I wrote some time ago which I hope will inspire you during these times: You can talk about yesterday or talk about tomorrow You can talk about the falling dollar, talk about your sorrow You can talk about chemicals and how they’re poisoning the earth... Read more
In this article I share some tools and strategies to support you to embrace change during times of chaos and uncertainty that are underpinned by the belief that “embracing change is a creative process that opens us up to new possibilities”.
This concern with the need to protect and restore the economy plays into a narrative about resilience, usually framed as the ability of people and communities to recover, to bounce back to where they were before the event ever happened.
In these times of social distancing, the Bateman Foundation is working hard to adapt and continue our mission of connecting people to nature using art and offers an ever-expanding digital resource at https://batemanfoundation.org/online/ that includes virtual tours of... Read more
The Government of BC has confirmed a list of essential services, and some non profits are included in this list. “Essential services are those daily services essential to preserving life, health, public safety and basic societal functioning. They are the... Read more
We are reaching out in hopes that you can help us. We are trying to identify community partners to help us coordinate meal distribution sites to feed our community members most in need. The Downtown Victoria Business Association (DVBA) is working with the Coalition to... Read more
This poem is titled Lockdown, written by Brother Richard Hendrick from Ireland. Yes there is fear. Yes there is isolation. Yes there is panic buying. Yes there is sickness.Yes there is even death. But, They say that in Wuhan after so many years of noise You can hear... Read more
This is a video I created out of a PowerPoint presentation created by a social change movement that I’m part of. I invite you to take the time to watch it. I hope it sheds light on my state of agitation, and why you too might be frustrated with the widespread inertia... Read more
The coronavirus continues to spread across the globe, and while many despair and are living in fear, we attempt to ease their burden by bringing a little hope and peace in providing free produce and groceries.
After mandated restaurant closures today (now take out and delivery only) we know there will be more people looking for work. Pharmacies, grocery stores, island health and others are hiring right now. At time of this writing there are 37 jobs listed on the Jobs Board... Read more
This short report describes the special problems that contagious diseases such as COVID-19 present to people experiencing homelessness, and the organizations that serve them. Homeless people tend to be vulnerable to infections due to a combination daily stress, poor... Read more
How can we stay strong during this crisis? With love, careful planning, and care for others – and total lockdown. When we emerge, huge numbers of people will hopefully want a more caring, cooperative approach to life, and a new kind of economy, based less on greed, selfishness and the destruction of Nature, and more on the economics of kindness.
Here’s a fun cartoon colouring map that brings the outside in with a scavenger hunt for locating and learning about the nature found in the heart of downtown Victoria. Created in collaboration with the Robert Bateman Centre, this map features the talents of... Read more
There is current that flows beneath all form. It moves imperceptibly. It is the flow of Spirit, that which creates, sustains, dissolves, learns from and informs all things. It is called by many names: The Divine Matrix, Indra’s net, the Unifying Field, God, the... Read more
This poem is written by Kitty O’Meara. And when the danger passed, and the people joined together again, they grieved their losses, and made new choices, and dreamed new images, and created new ways to live and heal the earth fully, as they had been healed. And... Read more
Forty three years ago now I felt called to take a month off in the summer where I could be alone and write. What happened almost instantly was that I began seeing for the first time visions on paper and as soon as each vision came there was a poem to accompany it. By... Read more
Hi everyone! I am writing you today in the hopes to bring you some comfort during this time of madness. My love of gardening brought me to watching a lot of rural Chinese people (on YouTube). Their vast knowledge of gardening and the wild veggies/fruits/herbs around... Read more
I work from the experience of place in a specific time to paint natural and urban landscapes. From Antarctica to Mexico City, Iceland to the West Coast of North America, I am interested in experiencing places that are in continuous transformation.
With respect to poverty, the commission states: “The evidence is clear: early investments in children’s health, education and development have benefits that compound throughout the child’s lifetime.” But they note that many children live in poverty and there is a gap between what we know children need and what they get.
As more than mere representations of ‘humanity’s future’, children are active participants in everyday constructions of now and future worlds. Created by children, educators and pedagogists at UVic Child Care Services, Sensorial Becomings emerges out of our... Read more
Being a bridge between 2 cultures I feel the most important thing I can do is, bring awareness to our climate crisis not just environmentally but also through indigenous cultures. The world needs to come together in this time of need and the avenue Is art.
Painting is a form of language which helps me to voice my outlook towards certain issues that stir me emotionally. I feel that I have expressed myself to the viewer aptly through my art only when it moves the audience or evokes an emotional response in them.
Thanks to the District of Saanich Mayor and Council for unamimously passing a resolution to the Association of Vancouver Island Coastal Communities to “encourage municipal governments to take steps to engage their citizens in reducing their ecological footprint by... Read more
Dr. David Suzuki (@DavidSuzuki) is Canada’s most iconic environmentalist and even in his eighties, he’s still fighting for our future. Skaana celebrates the end of the decade by recycling our premiere episode where we talked about fake facts, toxic whales and taking... Read more
A love of Garry Oaks and their Ecosystem compelled me to find a simple way to show my appreciation. Maybe through shared laughter it may bring more awareness.
On December 31, 2019, BC Supreme Court Justice Marguerite Church extended Coastal GasLink’s injunction order from an interim injunction to an interlocutory injunction. Members of the Wet’suwet’en nation have been stewarding and protecting their traditional territories... Read more
I recently touched on the interest among local faith communities in the challenge of becoming a One Planet region. But that local interest is part of a wider national and global movement across many faiths that links concern with ecological change — especially but not... Read more
Photo: Petteri Taalas, secretary-general of the World Meteorological Organization, says the world is on track for a temperature increase as much as 3 to 5 C. Photograph By TWITTER Courtesy of the Times Colonist No doubt you have seen — perhaps you even have — a... Read more
Making studying and learning as much fun as possible isn’t an easy task, but it’s absolutely necessary if you want to help your kids. Not everything will go smoothly and there are bound to be obstacles along the way, but you need to be persistent.
