Title: Connector

Gender: Male

Age: 62

Sun Sign: Leo

Chinese Sign: Fire Dog

Location: Vancouver, BC

My Passion:
My passion is singing. I can remember the first time I sang in a choir and found tears streaming down my face because it was such a moving experience - the harmony and the words just lined up to be extremely moving. It was almost impossible to sing because I was so moved. To sing produces great joy in me and in those we sing for. I can't think of too many other things I would rather do.
Guitar
Last year I started taking swing guitar lessons - it is so much fun. I've played the guitar for many years but it seems like forever since I've learned something new. It is challenging because swing guitar is more complex than traditional folk music. And if you ever want to listen to a fabulous musician, Jack Williams is awesome. He is singer and songwriter who writes about his life experience - he's kind of a modern-day travelling minstrel.
Last year I was looking for a new guitar and after much trial and error found a Yamaha. Compared to my old guitar (40 years old) it has a much narrower neck and I'm loving it for being able to play swing chords more easily.

Quotes
I have several but one which is attributed to Mark Twain goes, ”I've had a lot of worries in my life, most of which have never happened.” It puts new meaning to the Mad Magazine notion, “What Me Worry?”

Making a Difference
Ever since attending an “Eco-spirituality” workshop put on by Maureen Wild in October, 2003 I have been interested in raising awareness about planetary degradation and learning how I can make a difference in helping people walk with a lighter footprint on this living organism some call Mother Earth. The first astronauts saw Earth from a completely different perspective, likening the  atmosphere around this living organism to a thin fabric protecting us like a veil.

There are two books that I consider “must reads” if we want to learn what is wanted and needed in this millenium. Both authors would say that we need a new story. The first book is ”Evening Thoughts” by Thomas Berry. The second is “Darwin, Divinity & the Dance of the Cosmos” by Bruce Sanguin.

What can we do to make a difference? There are two organizations that come to mind. The David Suzuki Foundation has an action program called ”The Nature Challenge”. David Suzuki has long been a friend of the environment, encouraging people to walk with a lighter step on the planet. His web site has concrete actions about making a difference, including how we choose our food, transportation and the energy we use every day at home and at work.

The other web site is ”Stop Global Warming”. The Stop Global Warming calculator shows you how much carbon dioxide you can prevent from being released into the atmosphere and how much money you can save by making some small changes in your daily life.

To see what your ecological footprint is go to ”www.myfootprint.org”. You'll be amazed!

In the past year I have been involved with “Be the Change Earth Alliance” which is an offshoot of the Pachamama Alliance based out of San Francisco. Both of these entities have as their purpose to promote an environmentally sustainable, socially just and spiritually fulfilling human presence on the planet in our life time. Maureen Jack Lacroix has been the driving force behind this exciting endeavour which is currently focusing on climate change. Maureen has been trained by Joanna Macey and Matthew Fox and has been working with Bruce Sanguin to raise awareness about global warming. She is very good at collaborating with other groups like the Northwest Earth Institute to develop a course curriculum that helps educate people about things like Living More Simply, Reducing your CO2 and several other topics that can be studied in the “action circles” that spring out of the Be the Change Symposiums that are offered on a regular basis. The main goal of the circles is to create an ongoing committment to making change become a reality once people have been inspired and motivated at the symposium.
Our church (Canadian Memorial United Church in Vancouver) sponsored the first symposium back in March. We were excited to have 190 people in attendance and more excited that 16 action circles were formed from that event. In addition, there were 26 people who took the Facilitator's Training offered by the Pachamama Alliance. This initiative is just one of the many that Paul Hawken refers to in his book “Blessed Unrest” and is supporting what should become a grass roots movement.

Member Since: Wednesday, October 11 2006

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