Suzuki Elders

30/10/2026

30/10/2026

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 09, 2026

A plan for writing
I consider myself a writer, though I haven’t written much for a while. I made my income from writing for over 30 years. Still a writer is what I am. So I’m going to write more.

What is it about being a writer? One writes by oneself. As with speech, the audience is others. Writing is like talking to people but not as fleetingly as talk alone.

If put together well, the words may stick around– in saved emails, in a collection of letters, even in books. Unless recorded, spoken words fly away, unless one is a Socrates, who had his words written down by a Plato, or or one is a Johnson, who had a Boswell.

I enjoy the physical act of writing. I’m not sure where the letters are if I look at a Qwerty keyboard, but my body – my fingers – know. It amazes me to see what was in my head appear on the page or pop up on the screen. Revision is fun also – making a sentence more compact, or placing a paragraph so the words and ideas flow like water. Occasionally writer’s block builds a dam. Yet eventually the dam breaks and words flow again and I get a great feeling as I surf the words-wave.

What to write about? Maybe I’ll revise some of my occasional lengthy letters on a particular topic. Maybe I can make them not quite so pompous. I may expand on observations I’ve jotted down in many notebooks. I’ll look at drawings and doodles I’ve put in the same notebooks and see what they bring to mind. Here’s hoping I can maintain a light touch.

At regular Tuesday meeting with a group of friends, with their indulgence – I intend to read out no more than a page of the latest musings and seek reaction. If I interest them by what I’ve written, I’ll be happy. If I get silence, I will have failed. If I get yawns, my heart will sink. In any case, I should learn something. Maybe they might too. Reaction will be my only goal, at least initially. There’s so much I want to write about. Possible initial topics: Emily Carr’s paintings; why the parliamentary system is superior; staying calm in marriage; is death part of life or the opposite?; was Jesus insane? I’m open to your ideas, and your writing. There’s lots to write about. I’m looking forward to it.



Neale

29/10/2026

MORE wisdom from the elders - what do you think?
Is Neale alone in this? -

29/10/2026

Here is an interesting study - comments ??? - https://www.psypost.org/people-who-feel-a-spiritual-connection-to-their-surroundings-tend-to-report-better-mental-health/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook&fbclid=IwY2xjawVQORJleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBwZG9mBXNydGMGYXBwX2lkEDIyMjAzOTE3ODgyMDA4OTIAAR_gcKLh8hJqEZAGvu9jeedxrBsTBmZDbZdQasmXUfYIshU7zCvB7MZsU8B2yg_aem_kfi0HNsh9lZzXJbj9iGKfw

A recent study published in the Archive for the Psychology of Religion suggests that feeling a deep spiritual connection to a specific physical location is associated with better mental health, especially when people struggle with feelings of insignificance.

24/10/2026

Trial begins October 26th - be there! - https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1Eb6vjwttt/

They were too young to vote, so on Monday they’ll take Canada to court over climate change. They are arguing that Canada is putting young people’s health, safety and futures at risk by supporting fossil fuel development while repeatedly missing its emissions targets.

10/09/2026

This was a fun event with music and speeches - Let's keep track of their caravan. https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1DdTYdVe56/

17/03/2026

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Power of the raven be yours,
Wisdom of the serpent be yours,
Voice of the swan be yours,
Eloquence of the honey be yours.
Power of the sea be yours,
Goodness of the land be yours,
Brightness of the sun be yours,
Fullness of the moon be yours.
For you and your children’s children—
Peace, Power, and Goodness be yours.
Thus it is spoken forevermore.

07/03/2026

Telling a Story - Bob Worcester
In preparing for a workshop on storytelling here is my attempt to tell a story using the structure: launch the boat, navigate the rapids, bring the boat ashore. - Comments?

When my family moved to Montana from Minneapolis in the 1950s, Dad bought a house on the last paved street up the slope above the state government buildings in Helena. On a warm summer day when I was 14, bored and adrift, I decided it was time to explore the slope of the hill behind our house where an old dirt road led up and around the side of a mountain. I was familiar with the woodlots, rivers and marshes around my Grandpa’s farm in Minnesota but mountains were new to me. As a “free range” kid, I packed a lunch and canteen into a back pack, headed out our back door and up an old road behind our house to see where it led. It passed through trees with the sharp smell of lodgepole pine sap, some sage brush and a couple of old abandoned gold mines. At some point the gravel road became a horse trail. After a couple of hours, I reached the peak of the foothill behind our house. I was tired, thirsty and wished I had packed more than one sandwich and an apple. I polished off my lunch and looked back down the trail I had followed up the mountain. It was the farthest and the highest I had ever climbed and behind me I could see the whole town laid out and the long, dry valley reaching up to the continental divide about 100 kilometres to the northwest. When I turned and looked south, I saw ridge after ridge of foothills leading upwards toward snow-capped peaks in the distance. There was no sign of roads, power lines, houses or any other human artifacts. I felt a long way from home and far from anything familiar but it was not scary. I had more of a feeling that the world was now much bigger than I had imagined and that the climb had been well worth the effort. The air was thin and I was light headed. I took one last look around and headed back down the path. I was now in familiar territory and could follow my tracks in the dust. I was treated to the sight of a family of mule deer who seemed unperturbed at my passing. A magpie joined me hoping, perhaps, I would scare some insects out of the dry grass. I was home in time for supper and tried not to be too effusive at the dinner table and, for my mother’s sake, I did not dwell on how far I had gone. I had wandered in the woodlots on my grandpa’s farm but this was different and I felt now that I was part of a much bigger and wilder world than I had known, a feeling that remains with me to this day. Years later I looked at satellite maps of that area to see where I had been and where I might have ended up if I had continued on that day. It would have been many miles before I would have crossed a road. Our old house in Helena is no longer on the last street up the slope. Other streets had been added and a new subdivision was built on the road I had hiked. The smell of Tamarack and sage remains, however, in the hot dry summer air and the view from the mountain remains if one can make the trip. There have been other hikes and other vistas since then but that one remains with me.

03/03/2026

What’s Your Story? - Bob Worcester

Stories guide our lives. Stories weave the fabric of our culture. Stories tear us apart or heal us and bring us back together with in a community of shared values and experience. Some stories enchant us while others discourage or worst of all, bore us. We all have a story though some are more gifted in the presentation while others struggle merely to be heard. The Suzuki Elders have been collecting stories for many years and have recorded some of them. Now it has been suggested that those stories be used to build up more resilient communities and guide our actions toward addressing the impending challenges to future generations - but how?

What’s your story? We all have a story and could probably tell many of them. A story is not just a collection of words and images. Much has been written about the “art” of storytelling,
the structure of a good story and the many ways stories are told. Our brains seem to have a special affinity for stories and some suggest that stories are the basis for our collective behavior whether to ground us in our origins, predict our possible futures or situate us in the here and now. “Once I was lost but now I’m found” could be the opening line of a story of transformation. Snoopy starts his stories with, “it was a dark and stormy night” and both the biblical story and the scientific account of our origins starts with, “the beginning was without form and void.”

Scholars try to identify the common elements of good stories. Joseph Campbell saw “heroes” share a “call” away from the ordinary, a “challenge” to confront and a “gift” derived from that struggle. Ecologists see a pattern in the “adaptation cycle” of growth, maturation, decline and regeneration that can apply to forests, businesses or civilizations. “Things fall apart, the centre cannot hold.” We are inspired when the challenges are dealt with, renewal occurs and the cycle ends happily. We know however that not all stories have happy endings as when “a rough beast slouches toward Bethlehem to be born.” We call those cautionary tales.

What happens when we get together to tell our stories? Sometimes we are merely entertained, sometimes admonished, inspired or reminded again of our common humanity. Activists use the I, WE, NOW story to inspire action. “I saw the danger, WE banded together and NOW, together, we will build a better world. Sadly, another story used to great effect is; fearsome forces are at play, I alone am stronger than your fears, follow me to safety! (donations welcome.) Sometimes telling our stories helps us to be “known” and brings us together as neighbours who can see themselves in each other and work together despite their differences toward a common vision for the future.

As popular media floods us with mindless stories of superheroes and villains, social media separates us into silos of like-mindedness and the news media distracts us with sound and fury, perhaps it is time for us to get together to tell our stories. Elders share a common history, some common experiences, some shared values and a shared hope for future generations. A workshop for elders on storytelling might include something like this: THINK for a moment of the first time you found yourself in a completely natural environment that felt WILD. What did you see and feel? Did being there change you in anyway? Have you been back there mentally or physically? If so, what was different? What of that experience makes a story you would share with children or grandchildren? What details stick with you now? Would you come and share it with us?

08/02/2026

Resilience in a Polycrisis – Bob Worcester, February 2026

“May you live in interesting times” is thought to be an ancient curse. Few would doubt that we are living in “interesting times.” Most would say that we are living on the cusp of a crisis, some would say we are in the midst of several. Officially the term “polycrisis” refers not just to a number of concurrent crises but to a situation where they also interact and exacerbate each other rather than merely compound the difficulties. We can easily identify and link our personal stressors (grocery bills) with local organizations (distribution problems) and geo- political factors (trade wars.) Understanding the complexities of the current situation is a first step toward dealing realistically and effectively with them. “Resilience” is a term used to describe both personal qualities, organizational qualities and the nature of ecological systems. IF we can look at the personal, local and global aspects of a polycrisis, we can also look at the resilience of individuals, local groups and global institutions.

Resilience can be seen a process that goes through stages. Those stages are: growth, maturation, decline and renewal. This idea was first applied to forest ecology (Holling, 2002) but has since found applications in many different areas of natural, economic and social systems. It implies more than a simple “boom and bust” description of growth and decay. Resiliency requires particular characteristics that allow for the reorganization and renewal of a failing system so that the growth and maturation phases continue rather than decline leading to permanent collapse and destruction or extinction.

Just as a polycrisis involves interacting parts so can a resilience cycle involve immediate personal qualities interacting with local communities and global institutions over time. An example would be to see how individuals change vacation plans which effect airline schedules leading to changes in geo-political patterns of travel. Personal decisions to “buy local” effects the distribution networks of grocery chains leading to capital allocation changes in international markets. Conversely, a global boycott of Kentucky bourbon may lead to a change in the personal retirement plans of a Kentucky senator. Interactions go both ways. One implication of a polycrisis is that there may be no quick fix to a problem when a web of relationships is involved. Buying an air conditioner to deal with a heat wave creates demands on electrical systems that may exacerbate global temperatures. Closing breweries in Kentucky may exacerbate the political dynamics that intensify a trade war.

Personal Resiliency -
There are psychological factors that contribute to the resiliency of individuals facing stressful situations. A quick summary of 5 Cs:

Calm - emotional modulation allows for better decision-making – breath
Clear - communication allows for a more realistic assessment of a crisis
Connected - being part of a network can be critical to crisis management
Competent – experience and skill are assets in a crisis.
Courageous (confident) – A positive attitude and a sense of agency helps

This is not an exhaustive list and there is much more that can and has been said about personal resilience.

Organizational Resilience -
Individuals exist in a network of social relationships that come into play during a polycrisis. When social, economic or natural systems are subjected to pressure some qualities stand out:

1. Redundancy - systems with single points of failure are vulnerable in a crisis and more so in a polycrisis. Fail-safe systems are built into airplanes, nuclear reactors and computers for a reason; things fall apart often at the worst possible time. Having a backup is essential.

2. Diversity – different perspectives and approaches to a problem are more likely to resolve difficult situations than single-minded ones.

3. Adaptability – the ability to learn from the past, modify behaviors amid changing conditions,

4. Modularity – independent, interconnected components can help limit damage from the failure in one component spreading throughout the system

5. Feedback loops – systems which self-monitor to detect problems at early stages and are alert for changing conditions are better able to respond and adapt to those changing conditions.

6. Margins of Error - systems operating at 100% efficiency may not have enough backup in the system to absorb sudden changes in circumstances. Excess capacity is useful in a crisis.

7. Cohesion – strong interconnections, trust and familiarity allow for the strength in some areas to compensate for weaknesses in other areas of the system while reorganization is in play.

Other considerations are:

Social capital - helps coordination, trust, and morale.
Human capital - helps problem-solving
Natural capital - helps sustenance with land, water and air
Technology - can improve efficiency, productivity, speed
Institutional/ organizational structure - helps division and utilization of resources.

Consider how would these qualities and considerations might apply to a rock band. a bank or an NGO ?

Rock Band - five members can each play each other's instruments, sing a range of songs, follow feedback from fans and critics to balance old/new material, arrange days off during tours that can be skipped to make up time. They keep some equipment and cash in reserve and debrief each concert or tour. Use current technologies.

Bank - a bank can have a wide range of services, keep extra cash reserves, have well trained staff who can fill in for each other, have connections with community groups (teams), experiment with new technologies (ATMs) but keep older ones handy (calculators), have spare employees to fill in on busy days and get feedback from customers and contacts to identify slip ups and inefficiencies.

NGO – Encourages a range of interests: climate, food security, biodiversity and conservation. Encourages a variety of members, old, young, nerds, activists with a range of experience and skill. Experiments with new media and technology but preserves mail, phone lists and flyers. Engages in activities that builds trust and a sense of community internally while building a network of relationships externally. Encourages DIY and McGivering. Rotates key positions in the group. Maintains connections with local, national and international groups working in its area. Budgets for unforeseen emergencies.

A Hockey Team ?
A Government ?

Conclusion:

We seem to be in the midst of overlapping crises in the environment, the economy and in the “old world order.” The consequences of this “polycrisis” can be seen in personal relationships, social organization and geo-political dynamics. There are many interpretations of the problems and many suggestions for solutions to those problems. We live in “interesting times.” The response to a crisis can be understood as process of growth, maturation, decline and renewal. The renewal phase is not guaranteed and requires “resilience” which is enhanced by factors which either contribute to a renewal of the process or to the collapse and termination of the process. These include the personal qualities of calm, clarity, connection, competence and confidence. Systemic factors include adaptability, redundancy, modularity, diversity, robustness, learning capacity, cohesion and connection. These qualities can be acquired and distinguish individuals and organizations which can respond to a crisis with adaptations that do not change their essential nature. The survival of a system cannot be guaranteed but the chances for survival can be enhanced from consideration and incorporation of these qualities.