by John Kaag & Susan Froderberg Pedestrian: a word fitted to the most drab, tedious and monotonous moments of life. We don’t want to live pedestrian lives. Yet maybe we should. Many of history’s great thinkers have been pedestrians. Henry David Thoreau and William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Walt Whitman, Friedrich Nietzsche and Virginia… Continue reading For the full life experience, put down all devices and walk
Tag: lifestyle
When I was a boy
by Diana Ellis When I was growing up, the utterance from my father of the phrase “when I was a boy…” usually at the dinner table, inevitably resulted in a combination of interest and eyeball-rolling, depending on how many times we had heard the story before. Now in my mid 70’s, this is one story… Continue reading When I was a boy
We Are the Weather: Saving the Planet Begins at Breakfast
We Are the Weather: Saving the Planet Begins at Breakfast by Jonathan Safran Foer Hamish Hamilton | 2019 | 272 pages This is one of those books which deals with a divisive subject (climate change) and then creates yet more discord amongst readers because of the author’s style and message. Jonathan Safran Foer delves into… Continue reading We Are the Weather: Saving the Planet Begins at Breakfast
Going green is all about what you gain, not what you give up
by Kate Laffan According to The New Republic magazine in June this year: ‘You will have to make sacrifices to save the planet’, while the US newspaper Metro asks: ‘What would you give up to end climate change?’ These headlines, read from my desk in London where I carry out research in environmental psychology, present… Continue reading Going green is all about what you gain, not what you give up
21 Lessons for the 21st Century
21 Lessons for the 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harari. Penguin Random House. 372pp Oxford-educated lecturer in history at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Yuval Noah Harari established his credentials with two bestsellers. Sapiens was a reflection of mankind’s progress through history, from the discovery of fire to the creation of cyborgs. Homo Deus detailed… Continue reading 21 Lessons for the 21st Century
GLOBAL CRISIS – THE VIEW FROM NARAMATA
by Stan Hirst The following is a lightly edited reprint of a post which first appeared on this site in July 2012 (pre-Harvey, pre-Irma, pre-California fires, pre-Trump, pre-COP 21, pre-COP 24). In the Blogmaster’s humble opinion it deserves a rerun. ******************************************************** Naramata Centre: A green, leafy place on the eastern shore of Okanagan Lake, British… Continue reading GLOBAL CRISIS – THE VIEW FROM NARAMATA
Serene Solitude Supports
by Jill Schroder Serene solitude supports… sublime silky silence sustains… I love the soft sibilance of these sounds, which still satisfy me as I bask in the afterglow of my annual camping trip with women friends. This year we were way away from it all, and it was nourishing, rejuvenating, restorative, heart and eye-opening. I… Continue reading Serene Solitude Supports
A conversation with a guy in a pick-up truck
by Stan Hirst Langdale, B.C. on a Sunday afternoon in early spring. Background of sunny weather and balmy breezes. Add in a few thousand Sunshine Coast vacationers and day-trippers heading home. Result = a humungous line-up for the Horseshoe Bay ferry. Which is how I found myself in a tightly packed line of parked vehicles… Continue reading A conversation with a guy in a pick-up truck
Country of Survival
by Lillian Ireland and Rob Dramer This country’s beautiful and fragile human tapestry is interwoven with strands of every ethnicity imaginable. What a privilege to live in a country where, for the most part, our relationships exist within frameworks of respect, dignity and congeniality! Canada is known globally for this. Yet watching our country slowly… Continue reading Country of Survival
Perils of Apparel
Proceedings of a Suzuki Elder salon, April 5, 2018, Vancouver, B.C. Researched and written by Erlene Woollard, Patricia Plackett, Julie Zhu, Erzsi Institorisz, Allison Penko, Jennifer Sharp, and David Plackett Edited by Stan Hirst THE ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL IMPACTS OF WHAT WE WEAR The apparel industry is the second most polluting industry on Earth today, exceeded in impact only by the… Continue reading Perils of Apparel