Seeds for Thought: an Ecopsychology Blog

Cultural richness in linguistic diversity

Several months ago, a Montrealer called David Millar contacted me through this blog and invited me to comment on various documents and ideas -- some written by him, others from other sources.  I didn't have much time to offer him as I was working but I was fascinated with what he was doing and I did try to be helpful once or twice.

Now that I am heavily and deeply wintering (15 cm of snow yesterday, April 2, 2008, to add to the mountains of snow in Rivière-au-Tonnerre, 51 degrees latitude, with more snow forecast for the weekend) and that I am expecting to be in this state until July, I have more time to check out interesting "stuff" and I want to introduce you to David Millar's blog.  What made it interesting when I first read it was the depth of its content; what makes it utterly fascinating now is the fact that it features entries in English, French and Spanish!

Waiting out the Storm

There wasn't much fanfare when spring arrived earlier this week:  one snow storm follows on the barely cleared storm of the previous week, and it's been like that since November 5.  Now that it is the Saturday before Easter, it feels less like spring and new beginnings than ever.

International Women's Day (2)

According to a new report released this week by the Canadian Labour Congress, women are, on average, still being paid about 70% of what men are being paid in the workforce.  Back in the early 1970s it was about the same thing.

With this enduring economic situation (rent and groceries aren't 30% cheaper for women), isn't it marvelous that women have the consciousness, the concern and the desire to do something with respect to the environment?????

International Women's Day

March 8 is International Women's Day, an event which has been celebrated throughout the world for years; in some places, since the early 1900s, although I don't remember hearing about it until the late 1970s.  I see on some web sites that we also have International Women's Week... I guess maybe a day isn't enough.... activities need to be noticed, reported on, responded to... imitated, emulated...

In Canada, this year's theme is "Strong Women, Strong World", according to the web site of the Office of the Status of Women Canada (a federal-government organization which the current Conservative government would just love to put the axe to).  I quote:  ".. empowered women can, and do, play a fundamental role in current and future efforts to preserve and protect the world's natural environment".

Across the world there are dozens, hm, hundreds of organizations and initiatives which bring together the themes of women's issues and the environment, only only on March 8 but all year long.

Giving thanks

It should be easy for the privileged to feel thankful, to express thanks...  I consider myself to be among the privileged:  safe and comfortable surroundings, sufficient money (perhaps even more money than brains), validating work, appreciation by family and friends, stimulating colleagues, opportunities for expressing myself...

Remembering...

... that we are now up to 73 deaths of Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan.  Plus, one soldier, in convalescence from having a foot blasted off by a land-mine, has just committed suicide to the great consternation of his family and friends who were sure he was doing fine.

Conviviality III

Tonight, I am the one with the questions. 

1.  Is it convivial of us to stalk whales on the St. Lawrence River at the estuary of the Saguenay River, this tourism being a major source of employment and income for a very small local population?  And, where the poor stalked animals are vulnerable to injury caused by the propellers of watercraft?  Who advised us that we were entitled to do this, that somehow we have a right to disturb these animals in their habitat?  I'd love to see all the tourists pressure the Québec and Canadian governments to do something about the pollution of the Saguenay River which is causing the belugas to fail in reproducing successfully and increasing their numbers to hopeful levels.

Conviviality II

I started on an uncharted journey a week or so ago when I wrote my first piece on Conviviality.  In the days that followed, it was necessary for me to back up a bit to see if I was using the right word.  Not crazy about the definitions I found, so the problem is with me, I guess.  Jolliness is not what comes to my mind, nor did it come to the mind of the man who presented his thought to me on the waterfront in Sept-Iles.  There's nothing superficial about conviviality as I see it; in fact, I see it as something quite sacred, something inclusive, something that creates space and energy for real communication.  If there's another word that would better describe this, I'd love to know it.  For the time being, I'm going to stick to conviviality.

Conviviality I

For a couple of months now I've had the idea of "conviviality" in my mind, triggered by my living circumstances while working away from home.  And the idea did not come from me.

Inspiration from the voice and passion of youth

I had the honour, this winter, of returning to the work force after three years in retirement.  The job I took was as an instructor in a very small junior college in a town not far from my home.  In my political ideologies class, I mentioned the word "environmentalism" one day and was greeted with a groan which almost intimidated me.

After I handed out assignment topics, one student came to see me to ask if she could do her project on another topic, the one I had given her not being terribly inspiring.  And what was her new topic?  Al Gore, she said, and the film "An Inconvenient Truth".  I was certain that this student, Méllissa Desrosiers, had been the one to groan and I was surprised... pleasantly surprised.

Her passionate short essay moved me and I would like to share it here.  I've made a small adjustment as the purpose of the assignment was to plot an event or individual against a pre-set political spectrum of ideologies.  The essence of her text remains, however, and this young woman who wants to become a journalist has this first opportunity to be published: