February 2006

As I write this, the final outcome of the 2006 federal election is unknown. I live in the area bounded by Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke, which was one of the two ridings in Ontario to elect a Canadian Alliance candidate in 2000.

In 2004 she was elected as a Conservative and they will likely vote her in again. (The incumbent here compared abortion to the beheading of American prisoners by Iraqi insurgents!)

So I have grown accustomed to living in a political environment that doesn’t much reflect my view of the world. Last election the primary concern for voters here was the gun law. They had built their own homes, raised their meat and grown their vegetables, and someone in Ottawa wanted to take away their right to shoot a ground hog or scare away a bear. Very simple concerns.

Unfortunately, the fact that my neighbours would vote in a politician whose party has a reputation for turning away from environmental issues, free health care, organics, ecology, gay and women’s rights, and green anything, is only circumstantial to them.

Rather than be frustrated, I take the situation I find my self in as an opportunity to double my efforts to live softly on the Earth in a respectful, creative, and productive way, offering an example of another way of viewing and interacting with the world: to stop looking outside for answers in the “political environment” and become that which I long to see more of in the world.

I made the move to the country, started a green business and grow what food I can in the garden. My business partner lives more softly than I do, and inspires me to do more; to jump in with both feet. He heats the farm with biodiesel and a wood stove, shops twice a month by car, and is getting a biodiesel car. His family is also committed to eating fruits and vegetables grown locally rather than imported exotics (at least 80% of the time). The farm is now going to become an intentional eco-community. David Suzuki could use him as an example of a Canadian who is making an effort to make the world a better place.

For me there are a few ways I can set an example this coming year. Knowing that the oil furnace in my old house is basically funding the war in Iraq is reason enough to add another wood stove in the living-room, open up the old holes in the floor that used to circulate wood heat upstairs, and switch the oil furnace to biodiesel for when it gets cold enough at night to threaten freezing the pipes. Simple enough. (For more on heating with biodiesel go to www.biodiesel.org)

A second lifestyle change is to cut myself off from the violence of the television and just use it for watching videos and DVDs. To be honest this move still scares me a bit. Sure I can recommend to this generation of teenagers with ADD that they quit TV and sugar, but what about hockey games and TVO movies? My excuse is that there are not a lot of World Music bands playing at the Legion on Saturday nights, however if I am honest with myself I have been finding television more and more violent lately; alas, even Coronation Street is full of murders now.

A woman from Quebec City called to order tea a few minutes ago. We found ourselves talking about the world and she said she had been TV free for five years and felt great about it, but she also did not know for sure who Stephen Harper was, which made me laugh and laugh. When I told her he might be the next prime minister, she laughed and laughed. The more we spoke, the more we appeared to have in common. As spiritual beings we were walking the same road, and our paths were going to exist whether we were defined as Canadian or Québécois. Her way of setting an example, as a naturopath, has been to initiate becoming an MD so that people could feel free to move toward alternative therapies from within her medical practice. I also have been drawn to become a certified Bowen therapist this year. In these chaotic times there is lots of room for healing work.

A friend gave me a card that I now have framed that says “Live the life you have imagined.” In fact, I would suggest that at this time in the world, it is even more important that we walk our talk. Our quiet votes do not always rock the world, but no matter who is at the helm, we are being called to co-create the world, one open heart at a time.