I grew up on the North Shore, before there were public swimming pools! I learned to swim in the Burrard Inlet. My parents (and grand-parents) were very "outdoorsy" people, so I walked, spent summers at the beach, hiked, skied, picked berries all over the mountains very early and grew very familiar with the trees, flowers, birds thanks to my Mum's interests in naming everything! I think that post World War II many people found healing in the out-of-doors....and there were fewer city attractions and addictions!

Later at UBC I joined the Varsity Outdoor Club, where I learned to be more expert, in the company of peers who became lifelong friends. So, I have an association of wilderness with rich, reliable companionship.  Later, as a young stay at home mum, I became a docent at the Vancouver Aquarium.  I was introduced to the beauty and richness below the surface of Burrard Inlet.  Later again, I learned to kayak, and about the same time, to meditate. As I outgrew rigorous long haul kayak trips, and opted for shorter, more gentle paddles, I came to recognize that sitting still, resting with my paddle across the boat, being rocked by the waves of Indian Arm, was the same experience I had in deep, healing meditation. 

When the first talk came up of expanding the pipeline and terminating it on Burrard Inlet I was very alert to all the discussion. I could not bear the thought of contamination and destruction of the waters. I attended rallies, talks, open houses by the pipeline company, supported friends who made formal presentations, wrote letters, signed petitions, protested outside MP's offices, and it became obvious that though we were many in opposition to the pipeline, the decision to build had been made, and the hearings were just window dressing. The conditions required to present at hearings were infamously narrow, and the panel members did not take notes, and would not accept most written submissions. It was very disillusioning. I grew increasingly angry and frustrated. I had already witnessed climate change as receding glaciers in the mountains of Whistler and the Rockies. I was outraged that from the start, that the conditions set by the Harper government, for allowable carbon to the atmosphere did not include the "downstream" burning of it, once it was sold offshore, only what happened during production, here in Canada.....not to mention infuriated that what goes into the pipeline is referred to as "energy" instead of what it is: diluted bitumen, with the consistency of road tar, diluted with among other things, benzene, the worst carcinogen going!!! 

But I "knew", from my meditation practise, and from psychology, that disillusionment and outrage were not good states for my health!  I stumbled on a meditation group that met monthly at the Watch House on Burnaby Mountain. I thought that at least I could have some moments of calm around all of this!!!  And from there, I became a member of the Prayer Circle of StopTMX.  (Trans Mountain Expansion)