Wild Women – Page 5 – Karen's New York Love Affair

My first art exhibit!

I am very excited to announce that my photo series Shadow Play has been accepted for exhibit at the Havana Art Gallery!

Please join me for the opening reception on August 9, from 4 to 7 PM. If you can’t make it to the reception, the exhibit will run from August 6 to 19, so you can check it out another day.

What is the difference between the substance and its shape? Is it an absence of light, a reflection of light? The shadow seems to reveal new potentials for the object. New possibilities, alternate realities. A hint of magic, hidden within the ordinary.

The Heart Sutra in Buddhism includes the statement “Form is emptiness, emptiness is form.” A shadow is empty, yet it has form. Perhaps a single shadow is a doorway into understanding deep universal truths.

The creation of this series was a playful act, form arising spontaneously from emptiness, yet never really existing. From light and shadow waves to eye, electrons, neural circuits, to pixels and bytes to dots of ink on paper, the final result is a tiny form, reflecting the inconsequential temporariness and changing insubstantiality of a shadow on a living-room wall.

Another Super Shoreline Cleanup!

*East Van Pickers with 19 bags of trash*

Yesterday I met with a group of friends to participate in the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup. Our group of 6 people picked up trash for 2 hours and these are the amazing results:

570 food wrappers
1,074 takeout containers, cups, lids, bottles, cans, and utensils
432 plastic bags and pieces of packaging
1,120 pieces of tiny trash (1 inch or smaller)
19 bags of trash (91 Kg or 200 lbs)
Additional furniture, construction waste, and large items totalled another 113 Kg or 250 lbs
Total items picked up: 3,592 pieces of trash
Stefan holds an erotic video and an expired visa card
Total trail length cleaned up: 2.2 KM

The most interesting items we found were a VHS cassette entitled The Ancient Secrets of the Erotic Arts, an expired Visa card, a bullet, and a car cigarette lighter.

We concentrated on the area of the Trans Canada trail from Bridgeway at Skeena to the Second Narrows Bridge, as this industrial area seems to attract a lot of litter and dumping. We also did the gravel lot immediately to the west of the junction of Bridgeway and Skeena, and a light pick-up on the trail all the way to Willingdon. Check out the before and after photos. My East Van Pickers gang members found the concrete, visible results very satisfying. Not bad for a couple hours on a Saturday morning! Thanks, gang!

Loading the pickup — *Cary helps the guy from City of Vancouver load the pickup*

Part of Something Bigger

We had a lot of support from the Keep Vancouver Spectacular program, which provided pickers, safety vests, gloves, garbage bags, and buckets. They picked up the full garbage bags immediately after the event. I’d like to thank Riley and the other folks at the City of Vancouver who helped support our event.

I’d also like to thank Katie Rodgers, who hosted the cleanup event at this location in September 2013. The way you laid the groundwork, you made it very easy to follow in your footsteps. Thanks, Katie!

And thanks also to the folks and organizations at the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup. Local sponsors are the Vancouver Aquarium and the Vancouver branch of the World Wildlife Fund. Nationally, the program is sponsored by Loblaw Companies Limited. And this group is part of a larger effort, the Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup. Data that we collected at our event goes all the way up the chain to provide information for global initiatives to reduce garbage at the source.

Under bridge - before — *Under the bridge – before cleanup*

Under bridge - after — *Under the bridge – after cleanup. What a difference!*

Shoreline Cleanup Fast Facts

The Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup is one of the largest volunteer efforts in the world.

Over 50,000 Canadians participate each year
We clean over 3,000 KM of shorelines (equal to the distance from Vancouver to Thunder Bay, ON)
Over 110,000 food wrappers and containers are removed every year—the amount one person would produce by having takeout 3 times a day for 100 years. Wow. That’s a lot of people littering.

Illegal dump - after — *Illegal dump – after cleanup. Nice work!*

Illegal dumping - before — *Illegal dumping – before cleanup*

What’s with the Dog Poo?

One of the most bizarre items we picked up was dozens of little bags of dog poo, neatly tied in a knot. We puzzled over how a person could take the time to pick up after their dog, doing the right thing, and then toss the bag into the woods, doing the wrong thing. What is the psychology of this? My friends came up with the theory of situational morality. Dog owners pick up the feces either because someone is watching, or because they actually feel bad about leaving poo on the trail. But then when no one is looking, they throw it in the woods, rather than walk another 100 metres to the garbage bin, or carry it home to throw away there. Grow up, people! We don’t need our tiny remaining amount of green space filled with little bags of dog poo.

Why Do People Litter?

This is the bigger question. Not why do people throw away the little bags of dog poo, but why do people litter at all? I confess, I used to throw away cigarette butts. I am probably responsible for thousands of butts on roadsides around the province. I had a technique for flicking the butts, and I thought I was pretty cool doing it. It seemed like an invisible item, that tiny cigarette butt. I had no awareness of how it makes the landscape ugly for people who come along after me.

So I imagine that littering is like this. People are not aware of the impact it has. There is a momentary relief of being free of a burden. Just tossing it away. Feels good, right? I noticed that around the park benches, there was a lot of trash just a little bit into the brambles, as though people didn’t want to see their litter, and thought if it was a few feet off the path, it wouldn’t bother anyone. So this indicates some awareness, some concern for appearances, and perhaps a lack of awareness of the bigger picture, that those bushes a few feet away are worth caring about too.

Increasing Awareness

Trans Canada Trail - after — *Trans Canada Trail – after cleanup. Lovely!*

So to help increase that awareness, here are some factoids about the impact trash has on wildlife:

Trash can travel great distances: a plastic bag can blow away and wind up in a waterway, entangling wildlife. This can cause long-term injuries and even kill the bird or animal.
Trash can persist in the environment for many years. A plastic bottle can take up to 450 years to break down. But it just breaks down into smaller pieces, which wildlife eventually eat. The law of the conservation of matter: nothing ever disappears.
Eating littler can lead to choking, poisoning, and even malnutrition among wildlife.

To find out more about the impact of shoreline litter, see the GCSC Learn More page.

Parking lot - after — *Parking lot – after cleanup. Awesome!*

Change Starts with Action

Number one thing you can do to reduce waste in the landfill, litter on the trails, and unnecessary strain on our planet’s limited resources:

DRINK WATER FROM THE TAP

That’s right. Pretty simple. Something you used to do as a kid, right? Bottled water is a Coca-Cola and Nestle marketing scam. Don’t fall for it.

Vancouver’s water is the best in the world. It collects naturally from rainfall gathering in the mountains and streaming to the Seymour Reservoir. The City of Vancouver lightly treats it with chlorine to remove harmful organisms. If you don’t like the chlorine, use a water filter.

Other things you can do:

Put your garbage in the trash can.
Buy less stuff.
Organize a garbage-less lunch day at the office one day a week.
Recycle, compost, and reuse as much as possible.
Donate items to charity or sell them on craigslist.
And for items that you really can’t get rid of any other way, take them to the dump and pay the fees. Don’t leave them in the bushes so that other people have to come along and clean up after you.

Thanks again to my awesome friends for coming to help clean up my favourite running trail. Hundreds of people use this trail every day for commuting by bike, running and jogging, and recreational enjoyment. Lots of people thanked us as we were working, and it was a great feeling to know that we were making this trail a more beautiful place for everyone to enjoy.

Water runoff channel - after — *Water runoff channel – after*

Water runoff channel - before — *Water runoff channel – before*

Stuff we picked up 1 — *Stuff we picked up. Coach, mattress, plywood board.*

Stuff we picked up 2 — *Stuff we picked up. Cushions, a decomposing particle-board bed frame.*

Stuff we picked up 3 — *Stuff we picked up. A table, lawn mower, and carpet.*

Choices Responds

I’d like to follow up on my last entry about expressing my concerns about the Choices takeover of Drive Organics. I gave a copy of my letter to the staff and to one of the current managers of DO, Riley, who was also the manager under the old ownership. I spoke to him for a while. He thanked me for writing the letter and said it meant a lot to the staff. I also received a phone call from the Choices Community Relations spokesperson and nutritionist, Nicole.

Both of these folks were open to hearing my concerns and did their best to address them. Nicole spoke to me for about 45 minutes, going through the concerns in my letter one by one. She told me about the Choices commitment to local buyers. They de-list imported produce when local produce is available, but if organic is not available in BC, they will carry local BC non-organic, and also an organic imported option. That sounds fair to me. Currently, the DO location is still 100% organic produce, but that might be changing.

They are also committed to sustainability, and do their best with composting, recycling, and so on. In fact, Nicole wrote a book for Choices called Becoming a Sustainabilist! They carry Oceanwise seafood and support labelling to identify GMO products. They are not 100% GMO free. But they support programs like “Plea for the Bee.” I was really happy about this. You may recall I wrote about bees a while ago on this blog, and have been involved in activism to help save the bees.

Choices also supports cultural diversity, and inclusivity of people with disabilities and mental challenges. Nicole said they give appropriate work to people with these types of challenges, when possible. Choices also give $150,000 to $200,000 per year to community and charitable organizations such as Farm Folk/City Folk, a school nutrition program, Food Bank donations, and so on.

In regards to my concerns about long-time DO employees being forced to leave, Nicole said that Choices did not make anyone leave. She said piercing is an issue with WorkSafeBC for some roles, and that Choices needs to follow the rules for food safety. However, everyone is grandfathered in at the DO location to keep whatever piercings they currently have. So that sounds fair and reasonable to me. They gave severance to people who wanted to leave, and honoured all years of service at the DO location.

Choices is family-owned and started in Kits 25 years ago, in 1990. They have been pioneers in helping local producers, as well as bringing in US products that weren’t previously available here. The previous DO owners actually picked up the store as part of a bigger purchase and weren’t interested in developing it. The new owners want to carry the best selection of organic, natural, and specialty foods in the neighbourhood, while keeping the special vibe that we all love about DO.

One thing Nicole told me was that they wouldn’t expand the meat section, in recognition of the high proportion of vegetarian and vegan customers who frequent the store. She said the meat would be in a back corner. However, one of the first changes I noticed was that there is now a big meat section straight ahead from the front door, where the San Pellegrino water used to be. However, she said they will continue to carry only specialty meats that are from animals raised in pastures, with no antibiotics or hormones. Someone else will have to check whether that is true, and I will continue to avoid that part of the store.

So all in all, well done, Choices! I was very impressed, and felt a lot better about continuing to shop at DO after this conversation.

VIFF Picks 2014

It’s the most romantic time of the year in Vancouver. Glorious fall, which brings us the most vibrant display of colour on Victoria Drive, and the Vancouver International Film Festival!

Here are my picks for this year. France, China, Spain, the UK, Canada, and the US are represented. I’ve mostly gone for light entertainment, romance, and inspiration, with some exposure to other cultures as well. As lovely as Vancouver is, it will be wonderful to experience the romance of faraway places for a while.

Miss and the Doctors, France – Romance, Women Directors, 102 min

Sunday, Sept. 28, 5:45 PM, Tinseltown

Two very different pediatrician brothers (Cédric Kahn, Laurent Stocker) fall for the same barmaid (the luminous Louise Bourgoin) in Axelle Ropert’s (The Wolberg Family) intelligent romance. “Reminiscent of… [the] cleverly scripted adult dramas of François Truffaut’s late period. It’s at once astutely observed and deeply, though subtly, passionate… The direction and performances are spot-on throughout.”—Hollywood Reporter

My review in brief: A charming film. All three main characters are wonderful. The men are heart-breaking. The woman is beautiful. It’s in French. It made me cry. What more could you ask for?

Dirty Singles, Canada – Comedy, 99 min

Tuesday, Sept. 30, 7 PM, Rio (on Broadway near Commercial)

Jack (Paul Campbell) and Meagan (Alex Paxton-Beesley) have got it all. They’ve just bought a house, they’re thinking about a family and they have a close-knit circle of zany friends that love them. A few hookups, breakups and breakdowns later, the circle unravels and then regroups in this sharp-edged and libidinous comedy from writer-director Alex Pugsley.

My review in brief: Ho hum. Not nearly as sexy as it was cracked up to be. Though I found Melissa Hood to be luminously, classily gorgeous and inspiring in her role as Caprice. A bit of sharp dialogue, but neither I nor my friend found ourselves caring about these characters. The emotion didn’t touch us. There was nothing fresh about the situations or insights. Nice to see real Canadian snow falling in some of the outdoor scenes, though! All filmed in a 3-block radius in Toronto.

Martin’s Pink Pickle (How could you resist that title?), Canada – Drama, Romance, 79 min

Wed., Oct. 1, 1:30 PM, Tinseltown

A boy follows his girlfriend to Hope, an ironically named town where his dreams die a slow death. However, his settled lifestyle is disrupted by a trip back to the city for a medical appointment, where he and a friend become stranded for 24 hours. René Brar tells the story of two troubled kids who never really grew up while examining the complex nature of relationships.

– And presumably filmed in Hope and Vancouver!

My review in brief: I enjoyed this one a lot, in part because of the familiar locations. Downtown Hope! Commercial Drive (in one very brief flash). The pier and tunnel at New Brighton. So that part was fun. The two main characters were very likeable, and the story revealed depth to Martin as it unfolded. Very moving use of archival photos, as well. In some random glitch of the universe, there were problems with the sound. After about 10 minutes of not being able to hear the main sound track, though the background sound was loud and clear, VIFF staff apologized and said the film would be re-run from the beginning. Since this was a film festival, we were all wondering if the sound was supposed to be like that. Was this a way to evoke Martin’s inner world—a sense of being cut off and distant from his life? This glitch might have done more to establish his character than the film would normally convey!

The Iron Ministry, China – Experimental & Avant Garde, 82 min

Thursday, Oct. 2, 9:15 PM, Cinemateque

Award-winning documentary filmmaker J.P. Sniadecki travelled throughout China by train for three years, capturing—with dazzling range and astonishing intimacy—the public and private spaces, faces and thoughts of Chinese people on the move. The film’s visceral forward-charging play of light and sound is pure cinema; what its Chinese passengers have to say to us is nothing short of revelatory.

My review in brief: A curious mixture of bleakness and hope for the future. Hearing the passengers’ views of the political situation in China was heartening. The overall feeling of the endless train noise, shaky camera view, and vibration was uneasy and vaguely disturbing. Some humorous moments and a feeling of shared humanity creating the most lasting impression of the film.

The Two Faces of January, UK, France – Crime, Thrills, Mystery, 96 min

Saturday, Oct 4, 9:30 PM, Vancouver Playhouse

Bizarre circumstances make reluctant bedfellows out of American con artist Chester (Viggo Mortensen) and Athens hustler Rydal (Oscar Isaac) in Hossein Amini’s absorbing 60s-set adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s novel. As they evade the authorities, Chester’s wife (Kirsten Dunst) finds herself torn between these seductive charlatans. “An elegantly pleasurable period thriller, a film of tidy precision and class.”—Telegraph

My review in brief: Entertaining and gripping. Beautiful faces, plot twists, and the drama of being on the run made this a fun movie to watch on a Saturday night. Some beautiful Greek scenery too. And a psychological element that added some depth and interest to the male characters. Kirsten Dunst’s character was more a plot element than a character in her own right.

Advanced Style, USA – Fine Arts, Style, Women Directors

Sunday, Oct. 5, 7 PM, Vancouver Playhouse

Prompted by Ari Seth Cohen’s wildly popular blog (itself indebted to Bill Cunningham’s guerrilla fashion photography), Lina Plioplyte’s inspiring documentary profiles seven New York women—aged “between 50 and death”—whose eccentric approaches to style and glamour reflect their inextinguishable vitality. “They reject the youth-culture diktat that age makes you invisible, and offer us all an example of self-acceptance.”—Globe & Mail

– This looks very inspiring! For us women of a certain age!

My review in brief: Advanced Style was fantastic, and the women attending at the Vancouver Playhouse put considerable effort into getting into the mood of the film with an amazing display of beautiful dresses and footwear! I wore my beautiful green suede boots with 5-inch wedgie heels. It was an uplifting, touching movie, very inspiring, and the director did a Q&A at the end. She started filming these women when she was about 25. She’s now 32. She spoke of starting to get wrinkles (give me a break!), and being inspired by the possibility of aging with verve. Definitely, it was very inspiring to see these women living life with beauty and style, not fading into the background. I was also interested in the New York setting, as I will be visiting there for the first time during the last week of October. They mentioned a few places in the film that I hope to check out while I am there: Patina Vintage Store in Soho (oops, seems to be closed now), Off Broadway Boutique (one of the women in the film, Lynn Dell, owns this store), and Katz’s Deli (where Meg Ryan had a very enjoyable salad!).

Advanced Style started as a blog by Ari Seth Cohen, because he appreciated the style and wisdom of older women, and loved roaming the streets of New York to take pictures of sassy divas. He is now taking pictures of stylish older gents as well.

Looking for Light: Jane Bown, UK – Fine Arts, Biography

Tuesday, Oct 7, 6:45 PM, SFU Woodwards

“An excellent, intelligent, and unfussily traditional documentary about a gifted artist who photographed many key 20th-century figures, including Mick Jagger, John Betjeman, Queen Elizabeth and Samuel Beckett. Now 89, a frail and lucid Bown reflects on her life… Others pay homage… and speak insightfully about aesthetics, technique, and the context of Bown’s work. Directors Luke Dodd and Michael Whyte’s austere filmmaking eminently suits the material…”—Guardian

– Mick Jagger caught my eye, of course! (I have removed the film promo pic after viewing the credits and seeing that Jane Bown asserts her copyright to all her photos. Though I am sure the film promoters had recevied the rights to use the pic of Mick to promote the movie, I will err on the side of the spirit of Jane’s wish.)

My review in brief: A gentle film, full of longing. I enjoyed this view into the quiet dynamo that is Jane Bown. The stills of her portraits were stunning, conveying the realness and complex humanity of her subjects.

Living Is Easy with Eyes Closed, Spain – Audience Award Winner, 108 min

Wednesday, Oct 8, 6 PM, Center for Performing Arts (777 Homer St.)

Spain, 1966. A hapless English teacher (Javier Cámara) hits the road for the strawberry fields of Almeria, hoping to meet his idol John Lennon. David Trueba’s whimsical dramatic comedy is delightfully unpredictable. “This small gem offers a lovely evocation of Spain as well as a touching tribute to an unforgettable moment in time…”—Hollywood Reporter. Winner, Best Film, Best Screenplay, Best Actor, Goya Awards 2014.

My review in brief: I loved this movie: the characters, the Spanish countryside, the simplicity of another time. The film speaks to the desire many of us have to connect with the people we admire, and to feel we have made an impact. The fact that I could relate to one of the film’s bullies as he tended his meagre tomato crop shows the movie’s capacity for evoking compassion.

Blind Massage, China, France – Disabilities, Literary, Romance, 114 min

Thursday, Oct. 9, 9:00 PM, Vancouver Playhouse

Based on Bi Feiyu’s best-selling novel, Lou Ye’s sensual drama explores a Nanjing massage parlour and the desires of the sightless masseurs and masseuses employed there. As the camera and actors (including the extraordinary Guo Xiaodong and Qin Hao) grow as intimate as lovers and Lou artfully conveys how his characters experience the world, the film becomes “entirely engrossing…”—Variety. Winner, Best Cinematography, Berlin 2014.

– I had heard this was a practice in Japan, during my massage training at Esalen. I didn’t know it was also the practice in China. I wonder what they will see through their fingertips?

My review in brief: A major disappointment. I walked out. The write-up said nothing about the graphically horrible scenes of spurting blood that occurred in the movie. If I had wanted to see this, I could have gone to any slasher movie at the local multiplex. I wish I had walked out at 7 minutes instead of 70. Unfortunately, there was nothing about the skill and art of blind massage, which was what had interested me in the film. This is an ancient tradition, and I thought the film would honour it and provide insight. Sadly, no.

Last Minute Addition – Welcome to New York, US, France – Cinema of Our Time, 125 min

Wednesday, Oct. 1, 3:45 PM, Vancouver Playhouse

This fictionalized account of the meteoric fall of Dominique Strauss-Kahn is luridly rendered and lent enthralling velocity by Abel Ferrara. A sexually explicit sensory assault, it stars a magnetic, magnificently vile Gérard Depardieu as gluttony personified. The former IMF chief may go by “Mr. Devereaux” here but his transgressions and vices are instantly recognizable as those that came to a head—and made scandalous headlines—in 2011. While Devereaux controls the economic fate of nations, his debauched desires go unchecked, allowing Ferrara to craft a portrait of corrupt authority every bit as incendiary as Bad Lieutenant.

“A bluntly powerful provocation that begins as a kind of tabloid melodrama and gradually evolves into a fraught study of addiction, narcissism and the lava flow of capitalist privilege… Ferrara is no stranger to drawing great, uninhibited, end-of-tether performances from his actors… Depardieu is remarkable here on several fronts: He seems more present, more committed to the role than any of the several dozen he has played since Claude Chabrol’s Bellamy in 2009, and he charges brazenly into whatever breach Ferrara demands of him… When Devereaux is forced to strip nude by prison officers and must agonizingly contort his body to complete the task, it’s the actor and not the character who conjures our sympathies. Elsewhere, though, it is Depardieu the canny, empathic performer who finds a tragic dimension in the heretofore monstrous Devereaux…”—Scott Foundas, Variety

My review in brief: Wow! Very powerful film. A humanizing account of a sex addict. This movie was fascinating on so many levels. The documentary style was Dogme 95-like with its avoidance of background music to cue viewers on what to feel. The script was realistic, with unique voices for characters from the different milieux. Depardieu’s depiction was brilliantly complex—animalistic, self-absorbed, and yet with moments of brutal clarity about human nature. Jacqueline Bisset’s performance as his wife Simone was also an inspiration, particularly in the scene where she is almost drawn back into love with him through her own animal response to his body.

Final Addition: A Different Drummer: Celebrating Eccentrics, Canada – Comedy, 87 min

Friday, Oct 10, 1:15 PM, SFU Woodwards

Academy Award-winning director John Zaritsky (Leave Them Laughing), a bit of an oddball himself, returns with an engaging, light-hearted look at eccentrics. From a desert hermit to Denman Street’s Duck Lady, we’re introduced to those who dare, or are driven, to be different. Eccentrics are healthier and happier, as we discover in this funny, touching and thought-provoking film.

My review in brief: After the horrible experience of Blind Massage I had to add another movie so I could end VIFF on a good note. This film was the perfect antidote. An uplifting, inspiring celebration of people who are not afraid to express their uniqueness in the world. Check out the movie’s website and take the quiz to see if you are an eccentric! Bottom line: eccentrics seem to inspire people and bring joy into the world. And they are smarter than your average duck!

John Zaritsky gave a Q&A after the movie. Wow, this guy has won a lot of awards! He was able to reassure the audience that Laura-Kay is living in an SRO hotel on Granville Street and receiving medical care for her MS. Her duck is allowed to live with her. The film was inspired by a book by Dr. David Weeks that documents a 10-year study of eccentrics. Zaritsky contacted some of the book’s subjects as a starting point for his film, and he mentioned two eccentrics who declined to appear in the film. One of them was Lord Bath, a British peer who has 75 wifelets living on his estate! 😮

Zaritsky’s next project might be a follow-up film on the Thalidomide babies that he has filmed twice previously. They are now about 50 years old.

A bit about the study: “One of Dr Weeks’s most vexing diagnostic tasks was to distinguish between eccentricity and neurosis. “Simply put,” he says, “neurotics are miserable because they think they’re not as good as everyone else, while eccentrics know they’re different and glory in it.” After the research was completed, Dr Weeks and his team came up with a 15-point empirically based list of characteristics that define eccentricity.” From an article in The Independent.

Night sky over the Port of Vancouver

I was captivated by the crescent moon rising over the Port of Vancouver, with the shades of sunset still limning the mountain skyline, and lights sparkling bright as the moon. I was so lucky to enjoy this view for five years. At this point in time, July 2014, I was three months away from my first visit to New York. I don’t think I even knew I was taking the trip yet. This moment in time was a peak moment and culmination of my life BNY.

I could have stayed here, enjoying this wonder and beauty, and the life full of warmth, family, and friendship. (With very low monthly expenses and little need to work.) But it felt too soon to simply retire and enjoy this which I had wrought in perpetuity. New adventures were beckoning, just around the corner.

Shadow play

In addition to writing, I am fascinated with light and colour. Shadows have really been catching my eye lately. Here is the result of a photography experiment I conducted yesterday. In this series of 14 photos, the shifting colour tones and emphases on different elements of the image evoke different moods, from somber to playful to compelling. [Check out post about the exhibit of this series at Havana Art Gallery.]

L’Ouevre was the title of the 14th novel in Émile Zola’s Rougon-Macquart series, first published in serial form in 1885. I once wrote a biography about Zola for a writing class. Interesting how this word popped into my head two decades later as I was thinking of names for these images!

A new book about cougars

May 3 is the night of the BC Book Prizes gala, and up for the Bill Duthie Booksellers’ Choice Award is a new book about cougars. Given the popularity of the blog entries about cougars that I’ve written on this site—it’s the topic that I have received the most comments about—I thought readers might be interested to know about The Cougar: Beautiful, Wild and Dangerous by Paula Wild.

The Cougar is a skillful blend of natural history, scientific research, First Nations stories, and first person accounts. With her in-depth research, Wild explores the relationship between mountain lions and humans, and provides the most up-to-date information on cougar awareness and defense tactics for those living, working, or travelling in cougar country. Both feared and admired, cougars are rarely seen, but odds are that a big cat has watched you walk through the woods while you’ve been totally unaware of its presence. And that’s part of what makes the cougar an icon of all that is beautiful, wild and dangerous. Paula Wild is the author of Sointula Island Utopia, winner of a BC Historical Federation Certificate of Merit. Her work has been nominated for National Magazine Awards and she received the John Alexander Media Award for “On a Mission for Life.” She lives in Courtenay, BC.

Here is some more info about the book on Paula’s publisher’s website.

Are you ready to connect with your wild nature?

On June 21 I will be guiding another medicine walk excursion in North Vancouver. The medicine walk is a way to connect with nature, and especially the wildness and beauty of your own inner nature. I will be teaching the nature psychology of the four directions, and then people will have the chance for a 2-hour solo walk to find out for themselves how this ancient teaching can connect them with their inner guidance and the guidance that nature offers us.

Do you have a burning question about your life, your purpose, your soul? Are you seeking guidance, and ready to look within? If so, I invite you to join with a few other explorers on a day-trip to discovery. June 21 is the summer solstice, and the energy of the universe will be adding to the powerful energy of the beautiful spot in nature where we will be walking. See the Programs page for more information.

Afterward

June 21 was a gorgeous day on the west coast. My friend Marvin and I hiked 16 KM along the Seymour River. We didn’t follow the strict format of the medicine walk, but did spend some time in contemplation as we rested by the water. He taught me how to say “moss-covered stones” in Esperanto: musko kovrita stono. Sounds pretty Russian to me! The cool water flowing over the musko kovrita stono was serene and refreshing. The green of the forest was a soothing balm for my soul. Spending time in nature was a wonderful way to mark the turning of the seasons. It heralded a new way of being in the world for me—more at ease, taking time to enjoy the pleasure of my friends’ company and the beauty of the natural world. While I didn’t consciously bring a question as on a traditional medicine walk, the spontaneous unfolding of insight occurred nonetheless. Life can be gentle and flowing, like the river on the first day of summer. Perhaps that can be my default position, rather than the frozen stillness of winter or the turbulence of the spring run-off. We’ll see!

Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind

As some of you know, I am currently engaged in study in the Diamond Approach (DA) teacher training program. I recently read Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind, and it was such a transformative experience, I’d like to share some of my impressions with you. The impact of nature and the ocean and sky interrelated with the reading, to really open my mind.

I read Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind over the course of about seven weeks. I was renting a house on the coast near Big Sur, with huge open views of the Pacific, sea and sky, and read the book every night before bed. The book and location together impacted my soul by creating a sense of vast openness, not-knowing mind, and spaciousness. I listened to my DA group’s teaching of the blue diamond of the Diamond Guidance (see Spacecruiser Inquiry, by A. H. Almaas, p. 334) during this period as well. This DA teaching evokes that same sense of open not-knowing mind. Awareness, awakeness, freshness, not-knowing, unlimited possibility.

The book blew my mind in so many ways, and I sometimes didn’t understand what Suzuki was talking about at all (“You should be like a frog always,” p. 68; “The blue mountain is the father of the white cloud,” p. 13), but it had the impact of opening my mind to simplicity and unknown experience, over and over again over the course of the reading. It opened me up to not knowing, being okay not to know, even with others—that is, it opened up a self image (of knowing everything, being smart). It increased my openness to life, to not knowing what will happen, what is good to happen—to acceptance of reality.

One example of how it deepened my personal experience is in my personal yoga practice, which continues to have a freshness even though I have been doing the same practice, with some variation but a core set of the same poses, for 11 years. Experimenting with the idea from the book that each moment is unconnected to the previous moment (ashes are not connected to charcoal), I had the experience of each moment of swan-diving forward into a forward fold as being fresh, unknown, not knowing myself, not knowing what was moving, just a sense of awareness, presence, and movement or flow, which became stronger as I went further into the fold. A sense of newness of reality, not just the pose—that all of reality was an unknown mystery, with wonder and openness and a deepening sense of embodied but expansive presence that was filled with white light and colour. It’s a little scary to be that open to not knowing, that open to each moment. “Everything is just a flashing into the vast phenomenal world.” (p. 94)

During this time I did a phone inquiry with my regular inquiry partner and the openness of not knowing was something we explored during our dialectic inquiry. This led to an experience of reality that was totally unfamiliar. The field was a golden amber-orange, reflecting our valuing of each other and of working together, with merging gold, and I could see this in the room I was in. As I invited the inquiry to not know what this was and find out more, my mind was completely gone, no conceptual awareness at all, just complete freedom into something new I had never experienced before. Bringing my thinking mind to the experience in order to describe it, there was a sense of vastness but without a sense of spatial dimension, and absolute cessation of self and concepts, but still with awareness. So free! So that is one example of how the book engaged my inquiry. Overall, the book brought a new sense of curiosity and interest to my inquiry, to see what is fresh in each moment, what will it be this time!? Fresh air into the staleness.

The book also had a big impact on my meditation practice. Suzuki said zazen is enlightenment. The act of sitting is all that’s needed, all there is. This freed me from superego judgement about my practice and striving for it to be a certain way. “Sit without any gaining idea.” (p. 26) Also the instruction to press my diaphragm down towards the hara (p. 8) or kath, to gain strength in my posture—this was a new instruction that I have found very helpful for landing in the kath.

If you’ve never read ZMBM, I envy you, for you still have the option of your own fresh discovery ahead of you! How will Suzuki’s mind impact your mind?

B. van der Kolk on new advances in trauma treatment

I am currently studying massage at Esalen, and was fortunate to have the chance to hear Bessel van der Kolk speak on new advances in trauma treatment. Here is a summary of some of the ideas he discussed.

Bessel began his talk by making the point that people have been indifferent to the people who suffer trauma at least since the 1500s when Pieter Brueghel the Elder painted Landscape with the Fall of Icarus, and those around to witness the spectacular event went about their business and let the boy drown. He then discussed the US government’s prioritization of trauma that is worth treating. 2.5 million children are physically abused in the US each year. Changing this would require ensuring everyone has enough food and a home to feel safe in, yet the food stamp program was just revoked by congress. Conversely, there was $83 million in funding offered to help the families of the 3 people who were killed by the Boston marathon bombings.

He described the body’s fight, flight, or freeze response to trauma, and said that few of the 911 witnesses who could run over the bridge to the safety of home suffered Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). A boy who witnessed people jumping out of the towers to their death found the imagination to think of a solution for the future (a trampoline) while President Bush froze for 17 minutes. So being able to run or otherwise work off the adrenaline response to a dangerous situation, having a home to go to, and having people to take care of oneself until able to function again are all factors that help prevent PTSD in response to trauma. It is also helpful if someone takes charge who seems to know what they are doing—this is reassuring. Being able to speak about the trauma is the first requirement, so those suffering from secret trauma (physical or sexual abuse at home, molestation, rape, and soldiers) don’t get the help they need—a survivor can’t deal with trauma until someone is willing to listen. Survivors also must be able to cultivate their imagination in order to heal, for example by imagining an alternate outcome.

The survivors of 911 said these were the most effective ways to treat trauma, in order: acupuncture (1), massage, yoga, and EMDR (4). EMDR has been studied the most, and yoga is also an evidence-based treatment. Massage has not been studied, nor has acupuncture. But the officials in charge of funding wanted to fund psychoanalysis and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) as treatment modalities for the survivors. Yet during a traumatic event, the frontal lobe shuts down and the limbic brain takes over. So psychoanalysis and CBT are not effective at treating trauma—cognitive understanding has no pathways to the emotional system. But no one is doing limbic system therapy. (He did not mention all the somatic modalities of trauma-treatment therapy that are out there, such as somatic experiencing. And actually EMDR is somatic as well.) Bessel said Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy is very effective for treating chronic trauma, while EMDR is effective for single events. Neurofeedback is a new trauma-treatment method that changes how the brain processes information. It involves expensive equipment and is mechanical. The Boston school system is experimenting with theatre for traumatized kids; taking a different role than the person they usually feel like has been very effective for some children.

People who have PTSD can be triggered by the most innocuous event that others would not find traumatic at all. For example, being touched during child’s pose in a yoga class could re-trigger a traumatic event. Those with PTSD perceive the world as a dangerous place. The brain is actually changed by chronic danger, so that the survivor can’t accurately perceive what is going on in the present. The brain waves produced from different parts of the brain in response to stimulus are altered. The chronic arousal (hyperalertness) caused by PTSD also reduces the body’s immune system’s ability to fight disease. They need to find ways to calm their bodies and reclaim ownership of their bodies. Feldenkrais can help people feel safe some of the time. Yoga is as helpful as most psychological treatments; people with PTSD feel uncomfortable in their bodies, and a trauma-sensitive yoga class can help people learn to feel a sense of safety and ownership (control) of their bodies, and connection to their breath is calming. Massage can be boundary-violating, but if it is gentle, thoughtful, and responsive to the client’s agreement of where they can be touched, it can be very powerful. People are not healed from PTSD until they can be safely touched.

Bessel’s new book, The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma, will be coming out in June 2014. It describes the impact of trauma on brain chemistry, and the studies that have been done with neurofeedback, in greater detail.