Come, my friends

Dear Editor,

While reading the February 2 issue of the Undercurrent, I could not help but smile when I saw Ron Woodall”s inclusion of a powerful quote by the great Ralph Waldo Emerson in his cartoon Where else but on Bowen Island would one see such a quote utilized by a cartoonist in a newspaper!

Having been a property owner on the island since 1975, I am also fully aware that it is not an isolated example Where else but on Bowen would we see a current mayor, such as Andrew Leonard, who finds inspiration in the equally profound thoughts of Herman Hesse and Carl Jung!

Or a former mayor and current environmental activist, such as Bob Turner, who finds kinship in the writings of Eckhart Tolle, the Vancouver author who is one of the foremost spiritual teachers on the planet! As Tolle indicates in his book “A New Earth” , the path to “building a better world” lies in a “transformation of human consciousness” , a transformation that is very much embodied not only in himself, but in in all of these wise authors.

Having had the opportunity to provide my contribution in the creation of our original Official Community Plan and to work with others in the many campaigns throughout the years in support of our community plan, of the Islands Trust and its instrumental mandate in the creation of our OCP, and of the numerous political candidates who have steadfastly upheld our island way of life and the life blood of its participatory democracy, I can fully attest to the fact that this transformation of consciousness was already taking place and was being essentially reflected in all of those efforts within our community

The most vital result was the creation of a community plan in the 1970s with principles and policies of environmental sustainability that were decades ahead of other North American communities

And I have no doubt that Emerson himself would have applauded its integrity of purpose, as reflected in the last sentence of his quote in Woodall’s cartoon: “Do not allow yourself to be governed by customs or conventionalities or arbitrary man-made rules that are not founded on principle” . Emerson’s’s quote goes to the heart of our OCP, a document that was soundly forged on principle, above and beyond the customs and conventionalities of the day.

The name “Bowen” means “ son of Owen” , and the meaning of the name “Owen” is “noble” , “well born” and