Community Decision Making

Posted on December 8, 2011 by John Horn

Last night I had a beer and a chat with a man who is is wise beyond his years. He shared with me some great ideas about decision making in organizational environments, such as charities, social enterprises, businesses, the government, the non-government, and neighbourhoods. My friend argued that there are four kinds of decisions that we make:

The ones that the leader/boss makes with no input. “Alright, sailors, I burned our ships so that you will feel a great sense of commitment to this land and, most importantly, to me, Hernan Cortes, and not that jerk Governor of Cuba!”
The ones that the leader/boss makes with consultative input to/from a team. “Hey, Vancouver, we’ve developed a plan to put bike lanes everywhere. Just a heads-up. Drive carefully!”
The ones that the team/people make with consultative input to/from the leader. “Hey, boss. Because I’m a Millennial and I like to customize things, I created my own performance review based on my specific skills and interests – it just feels more me, you know? Would you have some time to review it before we use it to measure my awesomeness?”
The ones that the team/people make with no input. “Dear CEO of our company, I just averted a potentially horrendous brand-epic-failure on Twitter by engaging the customer immediately and solving their problem right away; this involved giving them a free service/product that we make/provide.”

The idea here is that the most effective decisions for a thriving community come from the fourth point – when in possession of a strong vision, a clear set of principles, and a wicked-awesome plan, everybody in a community knows what to do and work/business/advocacy/change/governance happens as efficiently as it does strategically as it does quickly.

And then there’s the terrible state of our poor little planet and the important decisions that need to be made in order to sustain not lose half of the Earth’s population in a tsunami-nuclear-firestorm-hurricane-drought-war.

After chatting with my friend I came home and watched the video below, which was shared by my awesome sister.

I don’t know about you, but the idea of our global team making most of the decisions seems like the best solution for the many complex problems that lie before us. And, yes, I realize the incredibly/ridiculously complicated nature of doing this. And I also recognize that it’s time to try something new and ridiculous. Because the boring old stuff ain’t working.

99 Ways to Leverage Our Humanity – Part 3

Posted on December 5, 2011 by John Horn

[Editor's note: I must start by saying that what unfolds below is a team effort - thanks to everyone who has contributed to this list! So, for better or worse, many parts of the world have been recently occupied - and in some places, like Vancouver, this may or may not be coming to an end. Many elements of the Occupy Movement have issued demands. Personally, I see many problems with demands, as they imply binary-negotiating and/or unchangeable beliefs. Personally, I see more value and possibility in ideas and collaborative brainstorming - though this is a much harder process for certain. Some other folks share a love for collaboration and they have kindly offered their ideas in world-changing list-form. So, without further ado, here is part three of a four-part series that is meant to get our community thinking about how our brilliant, passionate, inspiring, adaptive, funny, delicious, healthy, and innovative humanity can make the world a better place. Thanks for the memories, everyone!].

How can we leverage our humanity to solve the world’s problems?

Here are ideas 1-25. And here are ideas 26-50. And here are ideas 51-75:

Hike. Get out in nature’s bosom. Commune with the forest spirits. Skinny dip. Roll in dirt. It’s clean. Sit. Listen. Yell! Pee your name in the snow (men only, I think). Play capture the flag. Know Nature. Know Its value to you personally. Because you can’t want to protect something if you don’t even know what it is.
Cycle. You’ll see more and feel good. Buy rain pants and suit up. You’ll be dry under you clothes (and naked!). Be visible. Cyclists are the future: fuckin non-motorized, non-electronic cyborgs on wheels.
Draw. Not for art’s sake. For communicating. Long before we wrote, we drew. On cave walls and on bark and hide. Appreciate the symbolic nature of signs and symbols, and the miracle that allows all humans to interpret them. Ed Emberley is a prophet.
Drink. Water. H2O. Its ubiquity only adds to its many mysteries.
Learn. A language. Or several. Or even just a smattering of words. Knowing another’s tongue is the quickest way to break the ice and will allow you to more easily understand ‘the other’.
Objectify. Be partial. Know that your opinions are opinions and based on what you believe you know. Do not mistake passion for rightfulness. Choose to be emotional; do not make emotional choices.
Listen. You talk too much. Listening allows for ideas to reveal themselves to speakers who may not even know they have such ideas. If you can’t listen, pretend to listen, as this often has the same effect.
Keep. Imbue physical objects with meaning. A ring, a rock, or even a house. We are physical creatures living in a physical world, not virtual avatars. Don’t tear down old buildings. Believe in ghosts and spirits.
Teach. To teach is to learn well. Whether it be abstract or practical knowledge, by teaching it you will learn it deeper, and it will become you.
Smile. In monkeys it lowers tension and creates group harmony. We are all monkeys. Faking is acceptable as it often leads to the real thing. Emotions and your facial muscles are inextriclaby linked. You can fool your own brain.
Don’t. Don’t do anything. Eke. Survive. Be simple. Learn the art of inertia. Laziness is godliness. The planet will thank you for it.
Think critically. Do not accept things for what they are and ask lots and lots of questions.
Perform. Sock puppets, Shakespeare, Improv, and Musicals are great ways to tell stories as well as tackle the pesky problem of fearing public speaking.
Dance with people. And, to quote a wise man named Jim, “never let the rhythm control your dancing.”
It might’ve been said before but it bears repeating: learn another language. This will help when you visit other places. And it will really help you visit communities not just tourist attractions.
Have heroes and role models who exist in the real world, not the hyper-sexed and overly violent fictional worlds of so much media.
Send handwritten thank you cards. First, because it’s the right thing to do. Second, people love getting mail and, let’s face it, the cards are outstanding advertising for your personal brand!
Be skeptical and question authority. This doesn’t mean rebelling against anything and everything; it just means that you shouldn’t take everyone at their word all the time.
Strive to be a bit more of an armchair economist so that you can understand – and share knowledge about – the complex workings of the global financial system.
Commit to keeping the complex complex. Sometimes simple solutions come at the erosion and sacrifice of necessarily complex and important things.
Remember that the things you own end up owning you. The only logical solution here is for you to give your things away so that they can own other people.
Take off/out your headphones and/or earbuds and listen to the world around you. This will expose you to funny things, interesting things, and things that will inspire you to engage members of your community in conversation.
Collaborate. Like a symphony. Working together is the only way that we’re going to pull ourselves out of this mess.
Find common ground with someone who has a totally different worldview than you. It’s possible. I mean, Kurt and John do it every day on this blog!
Recognize that humanity’s adaptability will see us through tsunamis, earthquakes, peak oil, and the zombie apocalypse; however, there will be catastrophic collateral damage and many of us will not survive the next 100 years. Try your best to be okay with this fact and also try really, really hard to not be a weird survivalist who makes people super uncomfortable while riding the bus…

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Masthead photo courtesy of Kurt Heinrich, who is awesome.

99 Ways to Leverage our Humanity – Part 2

Posted on November 29, 2011 by John Horn

[Editor's note: I must start by saying that what unfolds below is a team effort - thanks to everyone who has contributed to this list! So, for better or worse, many parts of the world have been recently occupied - and in some places, like Vancouver, this may or may not be coming to an end. Many elements of the Occupy Movement have issued demands. Personally, I see many problems with demands, as they imply binary-negotiating and/or unchangeable beliefs. Personally, I see more value and possibility in ideas and collaborative brainstorming - though this is a much harder process for certain. Some other folks share a love for collaboration and they have kindly offered their ideas in world-changing list-form. So, without further ado, here is part two of a four-part series that is meant to get our community thinking about how our brilliant, passionate, inspiring, adaptive, funny, delicious, healthy, and innovative humanity can make the world a better place. Thanks for the memories, everyone!].

How can we leverage our humanity to solve the world’s problems?

Here are ideas 1-25. And here are ideas 26-50:

Find photos from the nineteenth century. Strive to emulate the facial hair styles found in the photos. It is hard to take yourself too seriously with a silly looking beard or mustache and the world would likely be a better place if we all took our ourselves less seriously.
Find your passion. And help others find theirs, too.
Volunteer at something. It could totally sync with your interests and talent and get you the experience you need to start a career, or it could be a task, trade or activity that makes a difference and/or brings you pure joy.
Strive to eat foods that are inspired by other cultures and contain locally harvested ingredients.
Go camping. And take an urbanite with you so that they can see the stars!
Honour your grandparents. Ask them to talk about their lives. Listen with pure love.
Practice compassion. You may not be able to take on all causes, but you can send your support in spirit. Leverage those warm fuzzies, draw from the marrow of your own sorrows, and send loving understanding out to all who struggle.
Forgive someone. Feel that painful weight you’ve held in your chest for years? Let it go.
Come to your senses, and no, I don’t mean your common sense. Savour delicious morsels, pause to listen to cello players peeling out beauty in the subway, lift your face up to the sun.
Another way to leverage your humanity is to make out more often. Grab your lover and take luscious long moments to reconnect. Simple pleasures will fuel you in the good fight.
Do whatever you can to empower women, especially in the developing world. Honestly, doing what we can to be in possession of more female leaders will make the world a better place.
Speaking of #31, to the senior citizens (about 78% of our readership) out there, leverage your epic knowledge of life, the universe and everything and tell it to one, or several, young person/people.
Speaking of #37, which spoke of #31, to the young people (about 4% of our readership) out there, write down our elders’ life lessons. Ideally, digitize them on the Internets.
Google “Slow Food.” When you begin to think about the taste and texture of what you consume, you also start to think about the quality of your food and where it comes from — it’s amazing what we realize when we slow things down.
Watch a TED talk once a week. Start with this one.
If you have children or you want to have children, consider what poet Kahlil Gibran wrote: “ You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth. The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far. Let your bending in the archer’s hand be for gladness; For even as He loves the earrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.”
Laughter feels so good. Find the “funny” in as many things as you can. People are more likely to listen if they think you don’t take yourself too seriously.
Take the opportunity to gain a basic understand of how the law works; of how your body works, of how your car works and how your computer works. And the teach your children. It’s nice to be able to fix even the most basic of problems, yourself.
Personally, I think this is one of the most important things you can possibly do to change the world: tell the people you love, like, and care about how you feel about them. Today. This week. This year. Text, email, call or set up a coffee date. It’s hard at first but if we close ourselves off to the words that heal others, we risk hurting ourselves.
Start a book club and hand over your reading time to someone else — you never know where inspiration is going to come from.
Continue to give to charities but consider whether the non-profits you support encourage the people on the other end to climb up and out of poverty and prosper. Kiva is a great organization to start with as well as charity:water.
Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken. Also, let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier.
Get involved in mentoring; inspire someone who is coming up in the world and also soak up wisdom and experience from people who have been where you want to go and done what you’re planning to do.
Listen actively and carefully. Showing that your absorbing someone else’s story is a immensely rewarding experience both for yourself and for the one telling the story.
Have children. The world recently reached 8 billion and we have a population crisis. Yet, having a child can be the ultimate affirmation that another life will make your world better.

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Masthead photo courtesy of Kurt Heinrich, who is awesome.

Mackenzie Noot – The All-World Neighbour

Posted on November 20, 2011 by John Horn

Who are you?

How can I attempt to answer this question at 1:30 in the morning?! I am Mackenzie of Clan Noot of Driffield Rd. Eldest child of two fantastic individuals, Tim and Theresa, both of whom instilled solid values and nurtured a love of life and adventure in their offspring. I’m a sister, a daughter, a granddaughter, and an auntie of two little munchkins. I’m an advocate for healthy living, I’m a westcoast girl, a gumboot wearing deckhand on the Titanium, and a surgical nurse. I am a collector of the world’s greatest friends. Although I have no “special” talent, I can easily be convinced that I’m the next lead singer in Aerosmith or a backup dancer for Britney. Some may say that I have courage to a fault. Those people are merely disillusioned Overall, I’m a small town gal of Merville, a somewhat charasmatic nerd with really cool friends and family.

What do you do for fun?

Well I’d have to list eating (especially seafood), sleeping and laughing as my top three fave hobbies. Although I also like anything to do with the ocean – aside from sports fishing – too boring. My major passion is getting out and about in the world experiencing new people and places. This year I spend 3.5 months “having fun” travelling. And, my secret fave thing to do is deep chest compressions on a patient. This may sound morbid, but there’s nothing more satisfying than doing everything you possibly can to bring someone back to life – including breaking ribs. Work is fun for me.

What is your favourite community? Why?

My fave community would be hands down that of Rennie Road. Nowhere else have I encountered neighbours and friends who lend out anything from baking essentials to automobiles to skill sets to hugs. If you need a hand tackling pigs to building garages to putting on a wedding, we’re on it. Y2K no big deal on Rennie Rd … we practiced baking over woodstoves for months before New Years and would have monthly neighbourhood potlucks to celebrate. Growing up there, you always had extra parents and a herd of playmates – those off all whom remain good friends and second families. The support, kindness, friendship, and love of those that live in this small community is something to be cherished and is, I fear, quite uncommon.

What is your superpower?

I honestly wish I could say flying. However, I’ll settle on a super human ability to connect with those around me? Yep, I suppose that’d be it.

How do I use it to build community?

Well, the super human power of connecting with others is key in bringing my community together. If thats just a social meeting of friends, or workmates or neighbours … people tend to meet, greet and be merry. Which in the end makes me happy. Although a superhuman flying ability would be cooler.

My Three Favourite Things About Mackenzie Are…

1. She comes from good stock. Mackenzie’s family is all about kindness, hardwork, being local, and, you guessed it, family. I love the Noots’ big hearts, their athleticism, their sense of adventure, their entrepreneurial spirit, and the fact that the Noot Clan’s senses of humour truly run the gamut of sensation; from slapstick to wordplay to funny-hat-prop-comedy. Oh, and she – and the rest of her family – all proudly sport gumboots, too.

2. Hilarity and Adventure become her. One need only befriend Mackenzie on Facebook to get a sense of her, um, sense of adventure. She’s traveled to many continents. She’s inspired and been inspired by many people and places. And she made it on many news programs on April 29, 2011 because her and some friends wore fancy hats to the Royal Wedding and know a thing or two about self-promotion. Positive, laugh-inspiring energy like Mackenzie’s hits your community like a train and, in my opinion, it’s in your best interest to hop on board and enjoy the ride!

3. Connectivity. A few months ago my sister got married and Mackenzie was one of the guests – well, she was much more than that. Truly, Mackenzie was one of the connectors at the event. She helped out, played games, pulled people on to the dance floor, cleaned-up, engaged introverted strangers, and definitely left a positive impact on the weekend. This was a window, I think, into how Mackenzie just plain connects with people.

Emergency Prepared Community

Posted on November 16, 2011 by Mary Henley

My partner and I recently put together an emergency kit for our home. Getting organized was fun and we both learned lots through the process. The most important lesson is this: by being prepared, we’ll be better positioned to help.

Shortly after the earthquake and tsunami in Japan earlier this year, I attended a Vancouver Coastal Health public information session about preparing for natural disasters. The session was eye-opening and I had been meaning to get on it since then. One Sunday night last month, I was going through my neglected in-tray at home and found the emergency preparedness literature. I finally had a proper look through it and started pulling together what we needed to be self-sufficient for 72 hours.

Being prepared for a minimum of three full days without public assistance and without access to utilities, fresh water and communication channels is recommended by our municipal government and provincial health authorities. It’s a good idea to prepare three-day emergency kits for your home and for your car. A step further is to build a second kit for your home that includes supplies for an additional four days so you’re covered for a week.

We started with getting a three-day kit together for our home. We already had most of the stuff we needed, scattered through camping storage bins, first aid kits, and in the garage. That first night, our three-day home kit was assembled into a backpack containing medical basics, flashlights and batteries, duct tape, matches, scissors, rope, plastic bags and a few other odds and ends. We had also created a to-do list of missing items, like work gloves, energy bars, and spare keys.

The best part was talking about our emergency plan. We assumed that we would not be together, that we would not have cell phone coverage, and that we would be on foot. Our meeting point is our home and if it’s unsafe to be there, it’s our local community centre. We’ve stashed a Sharpie, paper and tape in a baggie on our porch so we can leave a note if we do make it home but decide to leave. Our plan is specific: meet at the NE corner of Ontario and East 33^rd Ave.

The second part of our plan is getting to our young daughter. We assumed that she would be with my parents, who care for her while we’re both at work, and that they will be at their home in North Van. We plan to ride our bikes over the Second Narrows to gather with the rest of my family. We also agreed who we would call outside of the city to check-in. My aunt in Edmonton will be my family’s communication hub so if we can’t get to one another, at least we can let someone know we’re ok. Deciding upon our emergency plan started our whole family talking about emergency what-ifs. We all feel better for it.

Before considering emergency preparedness, I guess I just assumed that we would be ok/taken care of when shit goes down. We often hear of communities pulling together during crisis. I now realize that being prepared positions us to help our neighbours because our chances of staying healthy are increased. That sounds like a good plan to me.

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Masthead photo courtesy of Earthworm

An Appropriated Diet for a Full Life

Posted on November 10, 2011 by Allison Blake

My Dad’s favourite book of the year is Tim Ferriss’, The 4-Hour Body. At his insistence I had to check out the website where I found a bonus chapter, written by Dr. Seth Roberts, that really sent my mind on a tangent. I’ll explain it from the beginning…

“Louise and Brody build the Eiffel tower” by Gedidiah McCaughey

Dr. Roberts is a professor of psychology and a member of the editorial board of the journal, Nutrition. His work has appeared in the New York Times Magazine and The Scientist. He’s legit. The theory that captured my imagination is the basis for what he calls The Shangri-La Diet and springs from Pavlov’s psychological framework of associative learning. The idea is that our brains are hard wired from the days of hunting and gathering to stock up on calories when they detect that there is an abundance of good food. The brain detects that abundance when it registers familiar flavours or smells. The first time we taste something, our brain has not yet made the connection between the associated flavours and the calories that are derived from their consumption. Because no association exists yet, the impulse to stock up on calories is not triggered and we feel satisfied with less. The next time we have that same thing, we subconsciously remember we like it and want more! Essentially, flavours are addictive and make us crave progressively more and more in order to feel that same initial feeling of satisfaction that a new taste experience elicits. The stronger the smell or flavour, the stronger this effect is. This is the same theory that industrial food brands capitalize on by striving to make their products taste identical each time and therefore making us crave their products at the first familiar whiff of grease or sugar.

This theory about appetite seems to me to be a very apt analogy for many human conditions. Particularly, it seems to me that our experience of time is affected very similarly. It is well recognized that as we grow older time seems to speed up. In the beginning of our lives when everything is unfamiliar and new, a few days can seem like an eternity. As we grow older and more familiar with what it is to experience the passage of time and as our daily experiences become well-worn routine, the months seem to fly by before we have the chance to even flip the calendar page and satisfaction doesn’t come as easily. The weekends seem to get shorter and shorter, and vacations are never long enough. We crave more and more time for the things that really nourish our lives but we are restricted to our standard time tables and schedules.

In this context it is logical that humans strive to perpetuate the feeling of satisfaction that a first experience produces. Drugs have been used throughout history as a tool to do this. The desired effect being to alter human perceptions, arguably in order to experience the familiar in a new way and ultimately recreate the initial satisfaction of what was once new and novel.

Another tool we can use to break us out of the monotony of our daily experiences and alter our perceptions of the world is art. Consider how a new song can make a routine commute seem fresh again, or an unexpected piece of public art can transform a familiar city or landscape. Art has the power to make us reassess our surroundings and experience them like new again. It can also be the stimulus that makes us reassess our assumptions and see the familiar in a new light. This is why art is such an essential part of a full life experience. It alters and enriches daily experiences and offers an alternative to monotony. In a Big Mac world Art provides the nourishment that makes your life feel fuller longer.

So, there you have it. That is one insightful diet book. Thanks Dad!

A Community of 7 Billion

Posted on November 7, 2011 by John Horn

Last week the population of our global community hit and surpassed seven billion. We started out pretty slowly, but – over the last few decades – we’ve exploded our baby-making and alive-people-keeping, which has resulted in our planet’s population doubling in the last 50 years.

Wow. Seven billion, eh?

How did this happen? Well, just in case rhetorical questions aren’t your thing, here’s a pretty cool explanation from NPR:

How do you feel about this? Where do you fit into this story of human life? Check out this supercool tool from BBC News and learn your exact number in our world’s current population figures.

So, with at least 6,999,999,999 people on the planet besides you, what will be some of our community’s biggest challenges going forward? Here are the top three challenges that you and I can work on together:

Food and Water. There’s enough of it, sure, but it’s not really distributed equally or efficiently and we waste a lot of it, especially after Thanksgiving dinners and when we flush toilets in North America. Oh, and we also destroy and contaminate a lot of it, too.
Greed. It almost ruined our global economy three years ago and, well, it hasn’t really gone away. In fact, it’s being applied to strategically control many, many things from the above category. Transforming our world from me to we might be the most important – and difficult – hurdle that our global community clears.
Aliens and/or Robots from the Future. If James Cameron and Will Smith have taught us anything it’s that, eventually, our fragmented global community will unite to confront terrifying aliens/cyborgs bent on destroying us. If your name is John Connor or Neo please wear a helmet when you do dangerous things, as you will be important in this struggle.

To wrap things up I encourage you to expand your mind regarding what you know about our brave new world. This fact-filled video with sweet beats presents some compelling data on everything from language to technology to education to the environment to media:

Alright, that’s it, folks! I’m gonna wrap this up before my Android (a phone, not Lieutenant Commander Data) becomes even more suspicious…

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Masthead photo courtesy of UggBoy UggGirl

Trusting Community

Posted on October 17, 2011 by John Horn

Last Thursday I was playing in my weekly Tier 2 Men’s Basketball League game. We won, but that’s not what this story is about.

This story is about trust.

As I sat on the bench during the game (I get tired quite easily when games begin at 10pm), a young man came over and said the following:

Young Man: “Forgive my interruption, sir, but I was wondering if I could trouble you with something.”

John: “Sure thing, what is it?”

YM: “My friend and I would like to shoot around on the next court over. Could we please borrow your basketball? We will just be nextdoor.”

John: “Yes, certainly.” [Hands over the ball]. “Wait a sec. I’m going to need some collateral from you. Give me your hat.”

YM (somewhat taken aback): “Okay, sure.” [Hands over hat].

The two guys took my ball and bounced it over to the court nextdoor. As they left, I was overwhelmed with disappointment in myself. Where was the trust in my community? For years, I have prided myself on being a person who shares and gives more than he probably should based on the principle that people are inherently good and that anyone who receives what I give (secrets, ideas, money, food, drink, trust) would never use it for evil. The interaction above was not reflective of such a philosophy.

While sitting on the bench with my teammates, I reflected on what just happened. And – as I’m known to do – I told a story as part of my reflection. In the above photo from Kigali, Rwanda in 2007, my friend Edouard is wearing headphones (attached to my iPod). And it was the story of my iPod that I told last Thursday night. As with the basketball – my possession – I was so nervous about leaving my iPod with a kid who was sitting on the bench while my team played that I implored some of my teammates and expat friends sitting in the stands to “watch him to make sure that he doesn’t go anywhere.” This was such a fail. No one anywhere near the court would’ve let someone steal something from me. More importantly, no one would’ve thought of taking something from me.

As with the guys who borrowed my basketball, I quickly learned that stealing something from a member of the community just isn’t done. Yes, I learned a lesson about our North American perceptions of possession, ownership and trust during my 2007 adventures in East Africa. And, yes, I need to remember its application going forward.

Because, clearly, I need to work on trusting my community.

Masthead photo courtesy of Acidpix, Flickr.

Fresh Turkey: Breaking Thanksgiving Tradition

Posted on October 6, 2011 by Allison Blake

Thanksgiving traditions are treasured. Thinking back though, I realize that it has been a very long time since I had a traditional Thanksgiving. Hearing people discuss their plans for the upcoming weekend of feasts had me feeling a bit dejected for the past few weeks. If you share this circumstance or have occasionally caught your lower lip jutting out towards self-pity in recent days, take heart. I am here to tell you that missing out on all the usual trimmings really isn’t the same thing as missing out on all the fun.

The Gumboot proclaimed winner of the ‘war of the holidays’ earns its crown for many reasons. Many of those things that make Thanksgiving so favored are conspicuously absent from what has become my atypical Thanksgiving. If upholding tradition is an option, it is still probably the best option but, if not, there is still hope for your Thanksgiving weekend to be full of all the warmth and happiness it’s meant to bring.

Coming from a large matriarchal family, my Italian grandmother and her many daughters (my mom and aunts) have always been counted on to orchestrate incredible feats of holiday gatherings where food and family take center stage. Thanksgiving, however, has become the exception to this rule since the year my family elders decided they would rather roast themselves in the Palm Springs sun than roast turkeys to feed 40 people.

Since the first abandonment occurred, I have been launched from my cozy continuum of consumption and into an experiment of creating my own holiday rules. Each year a new occasion has been invented or discovered. One year was an Oregon art gallery where many new friends were eagerly introduced to the Canadian version of a holiday they also love. Another year was a potluck pool party with all the fixins. Another was simply a long table in a tiny apartment packed with close friends. Whether they were spent with old friends or new, these deviations from the thanksgiving norm that I grew up with have been filled with good company, delicious food, and the thrill of breaking free from the norm and creating something new.

The emptiness left by a tradition lost can seem much more difficult to fill than that of a hungry belly. But losing one isn’t always an occasion to grieve. It can also be an opportunity to create new experiences that will stand out from the repetition of other holidays and to create something truly memorable and soul filling. The hunt is on for this year’s adventure. I’m still not sure what it will be, but I am certain that I will find a sense of community, if not a sense of tradition, wherever I wind up.

Super Yacht? Or Super Not?

Posted on October 5, 2011 by Godfrey von Nostitz-Tait

If you read my post “The Laser: the People’s Boat“, this thing is the complete opposite. While the Laser gives rise to communities of sailors young and old, this thing discourages them. At 93 metres long, “The Eos” ranks as the largest private sailing yacht in the world (beating out the Maltese Falcon mostly because of a very pointy nose). It’s valued at over US $150 million, sleeps up to 16 and has a crew of 21, or 1.3 crew per guest. (Just in case you’re worried there’s not enough ‘hired help’ to go around.)

A boat (or, “ship”) like this gives sailing a bad name. It’s just so opulent, ostentatious and, over the top it makes me gag. To make some amends, the owner ought to think of giving free rides to school kids or using it to teach people more about the ocean. No such luck. He’s keeping it entirely to himself and its complement of 23 staff always at the ready. For shame, media billionaire Barry Diller. Your floating palace gives sailing a bad name.

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