The Mediation ‘Sweet Spot’
A mediation is like a good holiday. Here’s why… —————————————————————- A weekend vacation trip does not give enough time to find the holiday ‘sweet spot’. Bruce Kirkby wrote a great article in last weekend’s Globe & Mail about the holiday ‘sweet spot’. As a veteran outdoors trip guide, he knows all about the magic and [...]
The Many Perspectives on Aging
A lot happens on the edges. As we get close to the far edge of our life, it’s an opportunity to look back, and reflect on what happened, and be true to oneself. Listening and interacting with older people (older than me, anyways)… or my elders, as I prefer to relate to them, can be [...]
Circles: In Life and Death
We gathered in concentric circles, like the rings on a tree that show its age, in a small community hall this week, to sing songs that celebrated our friend, who had just died. With those in the innermost circle leading the songs, we sang together, folk favourites of the deceased. Combined with other remembrances, food, [...]
Face To Face: New movie tackles workplace bullying with community conferencing
It’ s always nice when others take hold of concepts that one holds dear. Following on the restorative justice theme over the last week on this blog (and its not even restorative justice week yet!), a new movie was released in Australia last week, “Face To Face“. It is framed around a centerpiece of restorative [...]
Getting ready for the future: Big Brother or Webmind?
Thinking of the future offers us a choice. Will it be a dystopian one, a la 1984, George Orwell and Big Brother, or will it be one of abundance, and positive potential? It can be a self-fulfilling prophecy. In his World Wide Web (WWW) trilogy (Wake , Watch , Wonder), science fiction author, par excellence, [...]
Tangles: Video book review
Things happen. For writer Sarah Leavitt’s mother, Alzheimer’s disease happened. The disease transformed her mother, and her family, forever. “Tangles: A story about Alzheimer’s, my mother and me” is Sarah’s account of that journey. I loved Tangles. The author writes both prose and comics, and she uses both to advantage in putting forward a compelling [...]
The Storytelling Class: Canadian documentary impresses Movie Monday crowd
Last Monday, I attended Movie Monday here in Victoria, a regular cinematic experience, held every Monday night at the Eric Martin Theatre in Victoria. The film was The Storytelling Class. I was impressed, on all accounts. About Movie Monday Movie Monday Victoria is the inspiration of Bruce Saunders (pictured left). While in the psychiatric ward [...]
Conflict for the holidays
Happy holidays! At these times, the usual daily routines seem to be temporarily suspended, and modified with extra family time, neighbourhood socials, community happenings, and temptations… too numerous. Oh, and yes, conflict too. Yet, I’m not going to go there, at least not in the usual way. I love what different cultures have to offer. [...]
Home is Where The Food Is
“Home is Where The Food Is” is an animated short film made by Jody Kramer for the 100 Mile Diet Society in Vancouver, BC. It follows every ingredient of a delicious and simple meal to its source. It’s a story wonderfully told, and a story of collaboration. This film was shown as part of Food [...]
Magical moments in story telling and collaboration at TED India
I just watched three presentations from TED India, held earlier this month. Presentations from that conference are just now being released to the world. There are more to choose from. All of these videotaped presentations are under 20 minutes in length. They are the highest quality. Each tells a story. Each tells it in a [...]
