Learning to Listen

Many writers have noted the importance of listening. Ernest Hemingway said, “I have learned a great deal from listening carefully. Most people never listen.” Along the same line, Bill Nye said, “Everyone you will ever meet knows something you don’t." Mostly we fail to listen deeply to others because we are eager to make our …

Missing Links

Several people told me that in my last blog I had a missing link: they could see images of the Sylvia Hotel, but not the old photos of Robson Street in 1964. So here it is again: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EfLBbYFzJ8 That got me thinking about “the missing link.” Although the term was originally used to refer to …

Stillness

I’ve been thinking about the story of Sisyphus who was condemned for eternity to repeatedly roll a boulder up a hill only to have it roll back  down again once he got it to the top. Camus saw the myth as a metaphor for an individual's persistent struggle against the essential absurdity of life. I see …

Harmony

My friend Lynne is known for delivering rebukes and commands which usually inspire quick obedience from the rest of us. Not so, however, with the elk who frequently appear in her garden to munch on green shoots and leaves, sometimes even her flowers. The elk simply glance in her direction with a benign blink and …

Close to Home

Despite the worrying and worsening global problems of war, famine,  climate change, poverty, and so forth, sometimes, close to home, it seems like things are moving in the right direction. That’s how it felt a few days ago when I walked into Nanaimo Bakery. I always like it there -- nice spacious environment, good coffee, …

Let’s Talk about Guns

“Use your words,” we used to say to toddlers when they were having tantrums. Nowadays parents are advised to use other strategies, ones that involve much more talk and modelling. Advice changes. Words change. But words are important, perhaps never more so than at this time when they are being used to misrepresent, to mislead, …

A Different Kind of Flag

I’ve had a number of responses to my last blog which was titled “It’s our flag too!” Many people commented that they too were appalled by the desecration of the Canadian flag and the usurping of the word “Freedom” and there were a number of interesting suggestions. One person proposed a T-shirt with a Canadian …

IT’S OUR FLAG TOO!

I frequently hear others expressing the dismay I feel over the way the Canadian flag has been desecrated by the “Freedom” Convoy. Many of us now regard the flag with suspicion when we see it sported on a vehicle or hanging in a window -- and revulsion when we see it draped over various body …

Father Time, Mother Nature

Lately, a lot of us are talking about time. We say it’s hard to keep track of time these days,  What day of the week is it? What month? What season? We say that Covid seems to have messed with time, causing it to move faster at some stretches, slower at others. I’ve read that …

“Freedom”

Last week there were a number of cars and trucks sporting Canadian flags lined up on the road that runs through the lovely park below my patio. A speaker with a loud voice and a megaphone spouted a lot of foolish talk to a small audience. I called out “Go away” and “Go home!” from …