Pedestrians are anything but pedestrian

This morning I responded to Bruce Elkin's Happy Earth Week greeting on Facebook. As Bruce is wont to do, he challenged folk to view environmentalism from a creative rather than problem solving point of view.

That got me thinking about the boldest eco-friendly move I had made in quite a while, which was to sell my vehicle back in February. Taking up Bruce's challenge to look at it as a creative act, I reflected on the surprisingly pleasant side benefits I have experienced.

I love walking, and I get to exercise without going to a gym. When I walk, I feel much more engaged with my neighbourhood than used to be the case when I drove. I interact with people, and I notice small details.

Because of the way in which Bruce frames things, I felt motivated to describe my new lifestyle in creative rather than problem solving terms. So that got me thinking. Would I describe this as a car-free lifestyle? Perhaps a pedestrian lifestyle?

Pedestrian lifestyle! That stopped me dead in my tracks. Pedestrian, when it's used as an adjective, usually means ordinary, nondescript, dull.

That makes it sound as if the act of walking is boring, while other ways of getting around, by implication, are more exciting.

Ummm ....... Hello ....... Walking improves my health, it strengthens the social fabric of my neighbourhood, it's economical, and it reduces my carbon footprint.

But it's far from pedestrian because, more than anything else, I find it fun.

Fakes Anonymous

Be Yourself, Everyone Else is Already Taken.

It's a no-brainer, isn't it? I mean it's one of those statements that's so obvious that you might be tempted to say, "Duh!" Yet, when I saw the title of the Mike Robbins book on Bruce Elkin's blog, it struck me as profound.

Although I have taken enormous strides towards being authentic, once in a while I still am tempted to focus on the ways in which other people may be judging me rather than concentrating on what I want.

I bet you there are enough of us that we could hold meetings. Hello. My name is Judy .......

Voluntary Complexity

Yup, I did it. Although I nominally believe in voluntary simplicity, I'd gotten caught up in complexity again. I'd become over-committed. My involvements all were worthwhile, mind you. It's just that there were too many of them.

At three o'clock this morning, I woke up feeling anxious about my To Do list, which I knew had spun out of control. I resolved then and there to cancel something I'd planned this coming weekend. It had promised to be so much fun. But the enjoyment dissipates pretty quickly when I feel overwhelmed. So I felt relieved as soon as I'd made the decision to drop an arrangement that felt unsustainable to me.

In considering what happened in the wee hours of this morning, I recall an occasion on which I had struck up a conversation with a Jewish family in my neighbourhood, back when I lived in Calgary.

It was pretty obvious that they were Jewish. There was a Conservative synagogue not far from my home, and it was fairly common to see people walking towards it in business attire on a Saturday morning, when most other people were in jeans and runners. Another give-away was that the father of the family was wearing a yarmulke (skullcap).

As we found ourselves walking in the same direction, we first commented on what lovely weather we were having. But, after a couple of minutes of superficial chit chat, I asked them about the rule that forbade them from driving on the Sabbath. They explained that there was a prohibition against initiating anything on the Sabbath. At least that's my recollection of what they said.

They went on to share with me some of the implications, over and above the fact that they didn't drive on the Sabbath. They said they also unplugged their phones and computers. The parents said that, with two teenagers in the house, it was bliss to have the phone unplugged for twenty four hours out of every week.

I have just stopped to consider how close my lifestyle is to the Conservative Jewish one. I don't have a car so, when I'm home on my Sabbath, which is Sunday, I don't drive. So far so good.

But I go away on weekends quite often. When that happens, I invariably catch buses or trains or carpool.

Even if I'm home without a car, I use my computer a lot. That's it. My computer. It's my biggest tie to complexity.

I wondered if I could be "Jewish" (in the sense being discussed here) for one day a week. No way. Not with the kinds of commitments I've made.

But how about being "Jewish" for one day a month? Yes, I believe that's feasible. Actually, I think it would be rather fun. I'm going to give it a try this coming Sunday.

Glue or Shrapnel

I like this entry -- entitled In Community, Are We 'Glue' or 'Shrapnel'? -- which was posted on the blog of The Cohousing Association of the United States.

Tofino, there I was

My first visit to Tofino on the west coast of Vancouver Island was awesome. I went with a friend who knew the area. That helped me to make good use of time.

The bus ride there and back in itself was lovely. The bus travelled through glacier-covered mountains, lakes and forests, including Cathederal Grove. At the high altitudes there still was snow on the forest floor.

Another first for me was staying in a hostel. I was spoiled by the award-winning Whalers on the Point Guesthouse. It has a view worthy of a multi-million dollar hotel. It's very clean and comfortable, and I enjoyed chatting with fellow guests from Canada, Australia and Germany.

Still another first was kayaking. Although I was a bit clumsy while I learned the technique, I enjoyed it. Led by a guide, we kayaked to Meares Island, and hiked in the old growth rainforest there. I loved the huge trees, the ferns, and the moss.

On another day we caught the bus to Ucluelet and did the circular walk, through the magical forest, overlooking the cliffs, to the lighthouse.

We then caught the bus back to Long Beach, where we walked, ran, explored rock pools, and played on a teeter totter [see saw] made of driftwood. I loved the roar of the waves on Long Beach. Fond as I am of Nanaimo, that is one thing we lack. We're protected by several islands just offshore, and we don't get that pounding surf.

Returning to Tofino from Long Beach involved yet another first for me -- hitch hiking. Luckily, a friendly couple who were visiting from San Francisco stopped within minutes and gave us a ride. (They said they'd seen us using the teeter totter they'd made.)

Tofino and Ucluelet are 40 kilometres (25 miles) from each other, and Long Beach is about a third of the way from Tofino to Ucluelet. It would have been a challenge to visit Ucluelet and Long Beach by bus in a single day. Hence the need to augment the bus with hitch hiking.

Had we gone to Tofino a few days later -- from April 9th, 2009 onwards -- it would have been easier. Each day there would have been two southbound buses to Ucluelet and two northbound buses back to Tofino instead of just one bus in each direction.

With that said, I feel we visited Tofino at an ideal time. The town was relatively empty and quiet, compared with the summer months, when the population reportedly swells by 20,000.

Everyone warned me that rain was very common on the west cost of Vancouver Island. They all said that the area's outdoor activities still were wonderful in wet weather, as long as you dressed appropriately.

I packed a Goretex jacket and rain trousers, but didn't use them. As it turned out, we had glorious weather. Local residents were astonished at how warm and sunny it was.

Walking around the quaint little town centre was fun. The art gallery that housed the paintings of Roy Henry Vickers was particularly inspiring. This was recommended by both my real life friend and my cyber friend, Rob. The Common Loaf Bakery was a cute place to stop for hot chocolate.

Stupendous as the west coast of Vancouver Island is, it is not immune to imprudent exploitation. Clearcut logging already has taken place. The only stands of old growth temperate rainforest left are those in Pacific Rim National Park and on Meares Island. (By comparison, the First Nations people of Canada harvested bark and planks in such a way that trees continued to grow.) Local residents are concerned about plans for a copper mine on Catface, a mountain just across the bay from Tofino.

There are complex relationships amongst old growth forests, wild salmon, the ocean, streams, and bears. Human activity, unless it is conducted with care, upsets the natural balance that sustains us. The guide who led us on the expedition to Meares Island gave us a great explanation of this.

I was attracted to Vancouver Island because it felt to me like Paradise. But, even during my mini-vacation, when I would have been more than happy to escape from the real world, I received many reminders that our unparalleled quality of life depended on dedicated stewards.

British Columbia is gearing up for a provincial election on May 12th, 2009. I am more conscious than ever that I want a government that values different kinds of capital -- ecological, social and financial. Our environment is the proverbial goose that lays the golden eggs. God forbid that we should kill it. Then we may as well kiss our financial capital goodbye, and I dare say our social capital as well.

Tofino, here I come

Shortly I'll be leaving for my first visit to Tofino, a small town on the west coast of Vancouver Island. People tell me it's a magical place. Pacific Rim National Park. Old growth temperate rainforests. Clayoquot Sound. Long Beach. At this time of year, wild waves. Whales. Good chance of rain. This is, after all, the Wet Coast. It's all about Goretex. And moss. And ferns. Well, enough of this. I'm off to catch the Tofino Bus.

Creative Tension

Yesterday I did a tour of Pacific Gardens Cohousing Community with a representative of our construction management company. She was upset because there was a problem with the kitchen cabinets. The way in which the subcontractor had installed them failed to meet her company's usual standards.

While she was pointing out problem after problem, one part of my mind was appreciating her commitment to quality and her attention to detail. Another part of my mind was looking out the kitchen window towards the glass-covered pedestrian street that runs down the middle of our building. I was visualizing myself standing in my kitchen, preparing a meal or making a cup of ginger tea.

I imagined times when I would enjoy privacy, and when I would keep my blinds closed. I do like to curl up with a book in one hand and a cup of tea in the other. But I imagined that there would be other times when I would open my blinds, when I would take my cup of tea out into the glass-covered atrium and see who else was out and about, and when I would participate in shared meals in our Common House.

In the last few days I have been bombarded by so called problem after so called problem. Although I don't always do it, this week I have done a good job of returning again and again to the vision of what I love.

It helps that I recently read Bruce Elkin's free ebook, Staying Up in Down Times. I enjoyed the entire book, but especially Chapters 6, 7 and 8, in which Bruce discusses creative tension. I find it takes discipline to be fully aware of where I am now and simultaneously focus on what I want to create. As Bruce indicates, creating is qualitatively different from problem-solving. I find it tempting to default to problem-solving, but this week I have spent the majority of my time in creative mode.

The so called problems with the kitchen cabinets are being addressed.

I am co-creating a phenomenal community.