Reflections on "Wellness"

This posting actually has its roots back in June 2010 when I was attending an Art of Hosting workshop in Edmonton (see www.artofhosting.com).  Focused as it was on the art of hosting powerful and transformative conversations and interactions between people, this was, hands-down, one of the best and most soul-nourishing skills training workshops I have ever attended.

Near the end of the workshop, after being given some solo time to walk and be in nature, I found myself sitting quietly in the big gathering room, waiting for all of the other students to return, and contemplating the meaning of "well" and "wellness".  

All of a sudden it struck me like a lightning bolt: to be "well" is like being a well, as in a real well from which we draw sweet and life-giving water from the earth below our feet.  A well is protected inside of the earth, just as our own wellness emanates from deep in our core.  When we are really "well", we are calm, tranquil, know the tremendous depth of who we are and that the earth will always be able replenish the waters in our well as long as we don't draw them out too quickly or in too much volume.

I have been doing some meditations where I visualize a beautiful well with pure golden water deep inside of me, and then imagine myself deep inside of that well.  The feeling of peace and a very centred kind of fluidity that comes with that meditation is a welcome salve to what seems at times to be an over-heated outer world that is constantly racing and grasping at top speed for one thing or another.

Be sure to try it out for yourself!

A Recent Epiphany About Our Relationships with "Communities"

Since moving to the relative intimacy of a small mountain town (after a lifetime of dwelling with the sense of anonymity that can accompany life in a larger city), I was deeply moved to get involved in my community to help make it the best it can be.  This translated into all kinds of activities and initiatives ranging from putting on special film nights, Earth Day celebrations, offering courses at the local College campus, organizing Green Drinks, joining the local Chamber of Commerce, volunteering time with local festivals and committees, becoming a regular contributor to our local magazine, and much more.

Doing all of this was an amazing way to hone a deeply felt sense of place, my love for this community and its heritage, establish good friendships, and glean something about the many social networks that permeate and animate this town.

Now, five years later, with the benefit of some hindsight and hopefully a little bit more wisdom, life circumstances have me stepping back and taking a bit of a breather from all this frenetic activity.  If the truth be told, "trying to make things better", depending on the attitude with which one is approaching it, can be an exhausting undertaking that sometimes feels a lot like pushing rope (or herding cats!).

Perhaps the biggest epiphany I've had is that a healthy relationship with one's community operates on essentially the same principles as one's relationship with a partner or lover: you just gotta lov'em for who they are, warts and all - because we all know the perils of trying to "fix" or "change" someone...'cos nine times out of ten that's going to backfire in some way.  And so it is with community, where trying to "fix" or "change" things can so often feel like one step forward, two steps back.

So where does that leave me?  The answer is a much more positive place...which is to stay in touch with why I fell in love with this town in the first place (warts and all) and focus my energy instead on the things I really love doing/being/giving.  I reckon that it's a lot like what Mahatma Ghandhi was getting at when he said "be the change you wish to see":  in being the absolute best I can be, I become part of the solution.

On Social Capital and Healthy Communities - Part 2

Part 2 ended up becoming an article in the winter 2010 issue of GO Kimberley.  If you are interested in reading it, let me know and I will post it here.

Heading Home after Nashville

It's always exciting to see what people in other pockets of the world are up to, and the last 10 days of the road have not failed to deliver.  The highlight was being in Nashville for more training with Al Gore and The Climate Project, this time focused on new material from Our Choice, Gore’s recently published book on climate solutions.

Over 650 people from 26 countries and all walks of life participated in the training, all sharing a sense of real urgency around awareness and action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Some of the big messages:
Humans clearly have the technology and know-how to stop catastrophic climate change, but we all (individually and collectively) need to act much more swiftly and aggressively to ensure a mostly healthy planet for our children and the generations to come.  Our window to turn things around is a decade at the very outside - with the next 4 to 5 years being CRITICAL.

China is rapidly becoming a world leader in renewable energy, energy efficiency, and low emission vehicles, and many of the top solar and wind companies in the world are Chinese.  In contrast, the US ands Canada lags significantly behind Europe and China when it comes to systematic uptake and adoption of energy efficiency and renewable energy.

Whether through "act" or "omission", this choice to "lag" definitely will cost Canada and US both economically and in being part of the solution.  As humans we are in this climate mess together, regardless of where we live...and if we can’t start steering the boat in a different direction, we’re all going over the waterfall together, so let's put our paddles in the water and commit to a new course!