Goodness52

"Governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed; the ballot is consent. Why should woman be governed without her consent?" The words of Susan B. Anthony inspired a generation of women to join the struggle over the vote. More than 130 years later, they still resonate and still have the power to prompt action. So imagine my delight when I discovered an opportunity through the Library of Congress website that allows everyday folks like me to transcribe the writings of that legendary suffragette. It was a fun week of diving into her speeches, her letters and even her shopping lists. This is not the first time the Library of Congress has reached out to the general public to help transcribe, edit, and tag its holdings. Previous projects have done the same for Abraham Lincoln's writings, Clara Barton's diaries and even memoirs of Civil War veterans. This one struck a chord with me, though, having been schooled by my grandmother at an early age...

"There is no wrong way to perform an act of kindness." The author Catherine Ryan Hyde has given a wonderful phrase to humanity: Pay it Forward. More than just a best-selling book and Hollywood star vehicle , it's a stirring call to action. So I spent a week that I hope will become the rest of my life, simply doing good things for others that I might otherwise have not done. Bathroom wall inspiration at Cup of Joe, Victoria In the past few years, I've become aware of another phrase in our modern zeitgeist: virtue signalling. So I'm really hoping to avoid the suggestion that I'm somehow better than everyone else by doing nice things and then blogging about it. This is only about sharing my own experience; I know how much they pale in comparison to others. About 5 years ago, I was standing in a line at Starbucks in Calgary and realized the person at the front of the line was Sheldon Kennedy . To refresh your memory, he's the NHL hockey player who s...

"Suddenly we find ourselves in the midst of the world, yet undisturbed by its multiplicity, for in our innermost soul we know ourselves to be one with all being." Every few years, I bring down a tattered copy of Hermann Hesse's classic Siddhartha from my shelf and get re-acquainted with the story of Buddha. As a teenager, it was my first encounter with the meditative life and the eternal search for truth within yourself. Unlike some of my deeper-thinking friends, though, I didn't embrace the teachings. Never once did I sit cross-legged in meditation. So why not give that a whirl in my advancing years? Why not try seven straight days of meditation and see where that leads? Like so many people in our modern world, I turned immediately to the App Store on my phone. That's where I came across Headspace, which was named one of the 6 best meditation apps of 2018 . I liked the fact that it was simple and included cute little animations that helped me understand w...

"It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them." I can hardly picture Ernest Hemingway on a bicycle, but if he didn't actually ride one he was at least quite passionate about the idea. Around World War I, he became an avid fan of European bicycle racing, especially in the Basque country. For my son Nic and me , the country would be 1,000 miles (1600km) of blacktop stretching from Port Angeles, Washington to San Francisco. We would discover just what it meant it be sweating up hills and coasting down them on the very steep and dramatic terrain in between. After catching the Coho ferry from Victoria, we began our adventure of riding 19 straight days down the Pacific Coast of the United States. That meant 4 days in Washington, 7 days in Oregon and 8 days in Northern California. We were hardly the first to cover this distance. Although some people we met were astounded when we told th...

"Even though you tie a hundred knots, the string remains one." So true, Rumi. I knew there was something more deep and mystical in the words of the 13th century Persian poet, but it was eluding me when I first read it. Then, after tying hundreds of knots for a week while on an epic cycling/camping adventure with my son , it began to dawn on me. I started looking at the string as the straight line connecting our home in Victoria with our goal in San Francisco, and every knot as a challenge along the way. Each time, Nic and I were able to "untie the knot" and keep the string unbroken. My week of knot-tying started out as a practical objective. First, I had never really learned to tie any, despite several years in Boy Scouts and many more as an active hiker and camper. So I knew that learning to tie knots was a great life skill that I needed to add to my repertoire. I started by reading an article about 17 essential life-saving knots . Then I popped into my loca...

"Find a girl, settle down. If you want you can marry. Look at me, I am old but I am happy." Cat Stevens' powerful song Father and Son  is like a cautionary tale to me, revealing the chasm that often exists between dads and their boys. It's also a reminder to resist the temptation to give advice, and simply listen. That's something I kept in the back of my head while cycling from Victoria to San Francisco over 19 days with my son Nic. What would it be like to spend every minute of every day separated by a distance of no more than 20 metres? To sleep shoulder to shoulder, share every meal together, and have just ourselves for conversation? It was a father-and-son bonding adventure that could have ended any number of ways. And luckily, it ended with the two of us becoming closer than ever. It's something I plan to repeat with my daughter Holly a few years from now. I think timing is important. Nic and I waited until he was 21 and had graduated from UBC ...

"These woods are lovely, dark and deep, but I have promises to keep. And miles to go before I sleep." The words of Robert Frost sound softly in my ear whenever I venture into a forest. Even more so when I'm pitching a tent there for the night. And so, as my son Nic and I ventured 1,000 miles by bicycle from Victoria to San Francisco with many more miles to go every time we set up camp, the calm restfulness of the woods called out to us night after night. The campsites were as varied as the roads we traversed each day. One was close to the Oregon oceanfront, with rolling waves lulling us to sleep. Another was down the coast by giant dunes, with distant dune buggies creating a sleep-inducing drone of their own. One was in the middle of California's Redwood Forest, surrounding us with towering giants that slumbered as quietly as we did. It was a magical week. The outdoors call to us, and it seems perfectly natural to simply erect a temporary shelter that brings ...