One of the common topics of conversation these days deals with how well we are faring with Covid lockdown. All the in-person people that I’ve met seem to be coping fairly well, even the dog walkers passing by or the strangers I meet at the nearby park. Actually, the park offers the healing benefits of communing with nature, not hard to do given the beauty of tall Douglas fir trees, already flowering false Japanese cherry trees, garden plantings, and, best of all, the expansive view of the waters of the Juan de Fuca strait, extending 35 kilometres south to the Olympic mountains of Washington State. I often go there, sit on my favourite bench, count the boats passing by, and meditate on things that concern me as the sands of time trickle down the hourglass of life.
These days one of those concerns deals with how I relate to climate change issues in our western polarized world. I like to think a lot about climate change issues and I like to do things that help heal what ails this planet. Think and do. That’s mostly what I have done throughout my life. That’s good, but it’s not good enough.
Feeling compassion and care for all that is ‘other’ did not weigh heavy in my early bag of life. But as I have gathered in my later years, the Author of Life has sent me many ‘others’ who have helped me to embrace and experience the brilliance of love. One major contributor to that effort is my late wife, Connie. Since she returned to her home in the Spirit world, more than two years now, others have filled the gap like my friend Ben and my dear cat, Ginger, but also, in a very special way, by my Spirit Guide. I could write a book about the wonderful conversations we have had that encourage me to embrace and share the healing Energy of creation.
This last point brings me to my climate change concerns mentioned above. Because of the Covid lockdown, my last in person event with the ECO team I belong to took place in early October of 2020. For two weeks in a row, we rented a table at the Esquimalt Farmers’ Market where we engaged with the public on environmental concerns and asked them to fill out a short survey dealing with four priority climate change solutions that the municipality was considering enacting. One of them dealt with a total waste management program that included building a ‘gasifier’ plant, a relatively new technology in Canada. It took some explaining, but it was worth it, because 95% of responders approved the project. And we got kudos from the Mayor and Council when we reported the results.
Since then, all that I and other colleagues have been able to do is to create new online platforms for promoting our work or to attend Zoom meetings or webinars put on by more than a dozen other environmental groups in the Greater Victoria area. Personally, I’ve learned a lot and I have been greatly encouraged by the rich mix of local leadership support. And now, to top it off, there is a new provincial wide umbrella organization just forming encompassing 253 groups. And all this development in one year’s time. Wow!
I attended the inaugural Zoom meeting of this new BC-CAN (British Columbia Climate Action Network) and could feel the burgeoning energy. I am supportive of that, but, frankly, at 86 years of age, I was overwhelmed, drowning in information overload. To relieve some of the pressure, I requested that one of our core ECO team members volunteer to attend, summarize and report on the Zoom meetings.
As a past teacher of social studies, I have always been interested in current events relating to politics, civics, cosmology, and geology. Frankly, I find much of the daily news touching on these topics totally depressing. When I watch it on TV, I can physically feel my anxiety temperature climbing. My friend Ben feels the same way. So, we’ve decided to make changes. For the last while, I only watch the PBS 6 pm daily news. And for interpretive news I only watch renowned international journalists like Christiane Amanpour on PBS and CNN’s Fareed Zacharia on Sunday mornings. And I have restricted my reading to well researched articles in respected Canadian journals like the CCPA (Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives).
My Spirit Guide encouraged me strongly to make these and other changes in lifestyle like my food choices and food intake in order to bring calm and coherence to my heart brain (cf. Gregg Braden and The HeartMath Institute), a necessary condition to facilitate our communication. He/She (sic) also urged me to connect with all Spirit beings, especially my beloved Connie but also my family and friends on the other side, asking them to shower this planet with much healing Energy so that the universe might be transformed more perfectly in the Divine Image. That made a lot of sense to me, because my many readings in various fields of science have shown me how all creation is intimately interconnected, e.g. how trees communicate with their surroundings, especially below ground through the contact that their roots make.
All this gives me hope and encouragement to soldier on, sowing seeds of happiness wherever I can.