19 October 2007 – Gibsons, British Columbia, Canada
’cause I’ll drink to you, my baby
I’ll think to that, I’ll think to that.
We meet people where they are, and they are all over the place. Some of them have been looking at the world situation for decades. Others have only recently awakened. And for some, the issues discussed in What a Way to Go are almost brand new, at least at the level of conscious conversation. We meet people where they are, and they see what they see, taking in what they can and will, filtering our movie through what they already know and believe, moving through whatever spaces they can move through in the three or four hours we have together. We meet people where they are, disturbing the comfortable and comforting the disturbed. We meet people where they are, in their home communities, their churches, their schools, their homes, their lives. We meet people where they are, and it is an honor and privilege to do so.
We met the people at Elphinstone Secondary School in Gibsons, and they are sobered and thoughtful and wise and aware and willing and able to meet the present predicament with their hearts open and their minds engaged.
We had a day off. Breakfast until 1 PM. Hours of good conversation. Hot showers and cold rain and soup and bread and fruit. In the late afternoon we made our way south to White Rock for a great dinner with Meg and Phil. Then we put ourselves to bed early, in anticipation of our 6 AM alarms, in order to get us to breakfast and then the ferry from Horseshoe Bay to Gibsons. It all went off without a hitch. We said our goodbyes to Nic and Viv and boarded the boat for our quick trip across the sound. On the other side, Bob met us with his car and drove us to the home of Tim and Wendy, our next hosts and organizers.
This screening was part of a Professional Development Day for teachers in BC. We met in the high school library and started the program at 11:30 AM. Val, another organizer, had it all set up beautifully, with chairs and projector and screen and sound system all working very well. Almost fifty people filed in, teachers and students and parents and other local folk, filling most of the seats. Tim gave his introductions, followed by Sally and me. Val hit play and Sally and I watched and stretched and caught up on email and ate a lunch of sandwiches and fruit and cookies that Tim and Wendy had provided. It was a relaxing and rejuvenating time, for which we were quite ready after our early morning travels. The audience laughed heartily and often, which is always so gratifying, as it means to us that they’re letting it in.
The credits rolled, we made some announcements, then we took a short break to form a circle of chairs. Twenty-seven stayed for the circle, and it was warm and clear and full of heart. We spoke of our grief and our anger and our joy and our shame. We spoke of clarity and resolve and possibility. We spoke of the challenges for young people in this time, and of the responsibilities of elders. We spoke of action and response arising from some new paradigm, rather than from domination and control. We spoke with quiet acceptance and thoughtful questioning and reflection. The circle was a safe and sacred space into which we could place our lives. It was a joy to be there.
We said our goodbyes and made our way back to Tim and