Blog posts for October, 2018

Harvesting what life offers seems to be the theme unfolding as I write this post for the October newsletter. There is so much darkness and despair in the world, so very many unforeseen circumstances that we face each day, lest not forget the numerous blessings that surround us. Through community, compassion, action, sound and music there are so many ways to accomplish things in meaningful ways. We certainly experienced this on our recent trip to the Arctic. This was a trip that we researched heavily, saved and planned for since we went to Antarctica in 2005. It did not unfold as expected, it was not even close. But we did get to experience climate change in a most dramatic form and we were blessed to see much amazing wildlife, even the shy and elusive Narwhal. One of our expedition leaders, who has been travelling in the Arctic for more than thirty years has only seen Narwhal once before. Our visit to Inuit communities, and conversations with our Inuit expedition member Leslie also provided us with first-hand knowledge of Inuit myths as well as more dramatic numbers regarding the high suicide rates in the Canadian arctic, particularly among young people. We also saw many films that were new to us, including Qapirangajug an Inuit film that raises awareness about climate change through the stories of Inuit elders and local knowledge holders directly affected by it. http://www.isuma.tv/inuit-knowledge-and-climate-change/movie