Parenting Through Climate Change: Coping with Eco-Distress

dinner party by broaching the subject. Most of all we wonder if we’re okay--if our anxiety about the future is even normal.

During these unprecedented times, it helps to turn to the work of eco-philosopher Joanna Macy. In her latest book Active Hope: How to Face the Mess We’re in with Unexpected Resilience and Creative Power (New World Library, 2022, with Chris Johnstone), Dr. Macy explains that with all we’re facing, eco-distress is actually a healthy response to the crisis. It’s a symptom of sanity. Our climate worries grow out of our deep love for the world.

Unsurprisingly, our worries about climate change can also stem from our deep love for our children. With that in mind, parents and others continually ask: What should I do?

One response is to first shift that question to “How do I feel?”

Parents, grandparents, and others who have youth in their lives can experience eco-distress with particular intensity. Heavy feelings exist right below the surface. And our happinesspursuing culture doesn’t always welcome them when they arise. When we have unprocessed fears about the future, it makes it hard to really show up for our kids, and to keep showing up in meaningful ways elsewhere. Leaving those feelings under the surface keeps us stuck. Stuck in paralysis, overwhelm, avoidance, blind outrage, denial or other unhelpful places. On the other hand, when we find a way express or process those messy, raw feelings, we can begin to orient to more wisdom and clarity. And we become more spacious - a better refuge for the children and teens in our lives who need to process their own feelings about it.

Here are some ideas for parents and others who want to experience some movement in this area. You could try streamof-consciousness writing in a journal for a few days in a row. Or be brave enough to bring up the crisis over tea with a friend that you trust. You could take a hike in the forest and silently apologize to the trees until some grief wells up. You could set up a nature altar and connect with a deeper flow of life that speaks to you. There are many articles and books and podcasts by thinkers who explore climate emotion: Joanna Macy, Kaira Jewell Lingo, Zhiwa Woodbury, Britt Wray, Bayo Akomolafe, Kathleen Dean Moore, Francis Weller and Sarah Jaquette Ray, to name a few.

Another powerful way to start moving climate emotion is to do it in community. Options include joining an eco-distress group or a climate café, or finding a climateaware therapist (resources for all three are available online through the Climate Psychology Alliance). Or getting involved with a group like the Cowichan Naturalist Society or the Cowichan Green Community, to connect with like-minded local people who are taking action on ecological preservation and food security.

If these suggestions feel like another list of “to do’s” piled up like dishes in the sink, that’s understandable. Most parents are already overwhelmed to begin with. In that case, feeling climate feelings can be as simple as lying down on the bed for ten minutes, playing an emotional song, and letting your feelings catch up with you. Taking deep breaths into your heart, and allowing the music to float your feelings to the surface. You can notice where you feel sensations in your body, and be patient as they move through you. Pausing for a break or choosing another day if it gets to be too much. Afterwards, consider supporting yourself by doing something kind and calming-holding your face in your hands, wrapping yourself in a blanket, cuddling a pet, walking outside, dancing, calling a friend, or taking a little bit of time for yourself.

Remember that you are not alone. So many of us are struggling with eco-distress these days. Our feelings are a natural response to reverence for Mother Earth, her creatures, her stunning beauty. Keep on loving the world, and letting her beauty nourish you.

Disaster struck the Cowichan School District when Duncan High School burned to the ground on Sunday, March 24, 1946. By the time the Duncan Volunteer Fire Department arrived at the site, the building was fully involved. Efforts to save the school were seriously hampered by lack of water pressure and winds fanning the flames. By morning the school was in ashes. No contents were able to be saved. The only good news was that the fire occurred on a weekend and no student or staff lives were lost.

The school district had to arrange ongoing temporary school accommodation for students in the Duncan area as well as see to the construction of a new high school.

Approximately 200 children of Duncan Elementary School were bussed to Fairbridge Farm School up until June 30,

1947. To avoid transporting these students in the 19471948 school term, other accommodation was found at the old Duncan Public School off Station Street and the old Somenos School on Herd Road.

Arrangements were also made with Vimy Social Club to convert their premises into two classrooms. It was expected that Vimy Hall would be used for at least two years after being renovated and divided into two classrooms. $1000 was offered by the school district to the Vimy Social Club for repairs, with a monthly rent of $25 to be paid once the repairs had been completed. Work on the partitions and floor extensions to divide the Vimy Hall into two classrooms was well underway by midAugust 1947.

Vimy Hall opened to two classes of children in September 1947 as an annex of Duncan Elementary. Many residents in the Vimy Hall neighborhood expressed approval of their children attending school at the Hall because it eliminated a long bus ride to Fairbridge for their children.

One class at Vimy Hall held their June 1948 school picnic at the “8” pool, swimming and racing for small prizes. The story “Silversheen” was later told around a bonfire at which marshmallows were toasted. The other Vimy class held their picnic at Menzies’ Creek. Those students, too, enjoyed swimming and games in the morning, lunch with ice cream and afternoon novelty races at Peck’s field.

In 1949 Vimy Hall was reported to be in a state of disrepair, poorly heated and with outhouses and a poor playground. However, Duncan Elementary Schools classes continued to be held there until 1951.

At the vacating of school classes from the Hall in 1951 Vimy Social Club decided to renovate the building. The partition was removed, and the interior lined with plywood and the ceiling with plaster board. The stage walls and ceiling were also lined with plaster board. Doors and fittings were donated, and smaller windows and modern lighting fixtures were installed. Many local businesses made generous reductions on goods purchased and locals also contributed generously with volunteer labour.

Former teachers at Vimy Hall included:

• Principal Andrew M. McMorland (1947-1950)

• Miss M. Joy Collins (September-December 1947)

• Miss Betty Mae Masters (later McColl, then Alexander) (1947-1950)

• Miss Elizabeth Anne Bonsall (later Iverson) (January-June 1948)

A Cowichan Valley Schools

Heritage Society school-bell sign commemorating Vimy Hall’s use as a school was mounted on the front of Vimy Hall near the entrance in January 2023.

Learn To Nurture Your Unique Nature

Cathy is now offering Living Your Design classes online.

“You and Stephanie, knocked it out of the park. It’s so lovely listening to both of you, you both explain things so well. I am so happy I joined this course.” Lorraine

For class dates, please contact Cathy or visit her website.

Human Design for ChildrenNurturing their True Nature!

The first 7 years of our lives are formative and we can use this time to “to nurture a child’s true nature,” as Cathy so beautifully says, so they can thrive in an environment of non-interference, love, and respect.

Human Design is a unique tool that offers us the blueprint of each person and parents can get to know their child’s makeup in a way that has never been seen before. Follow your strategy and honor your inner authority! By finding out your child’s type (strategy), you learn how they interact with the world and you.

with, most of them will be very happy when they are included to help you and guide you by sharing what they see, so please invite them when you have energy for them, and are open to their seeing. That allows them to learn to enjoy their extraordinary perceptive qualities and find their role in the world.

Ask your Generator/ Manifesting Generator child yes-/no-question so it can respond from the moment they are born. Allow them to follow their response so they learn how to maintain healthy boundaries. Their life-force has a unique way to express itself in words or actions and they can only get to know themselves when they are unrestricted in their receptive dance with life itself. They will build and create a happier and healthier world for all of us.

crystalclearawakening@gmail.com www.crystalclearawakening.com

Be respectful and friendly with your Manifestor child and teach them manners. Allow them to roam free within the safety of your boundaries when they ask permission. They will grow into strong, confident, selfsufficient beings that know when and who to inform in the moment that life pushes through them to initiate. Invite your Projector to things and activities they can enjoy. They are not meant to work, some have energy to play

Allow your Reflector child to be in the middle of what is happening without necessarily having to participate. Bring them outside so they can marvel at the beauty of the natural world and the cosmic forces. Playfully allow them to find their unique rhythm with the moon cycle. On March 26, 2023, 10 am PST, Cathy and Stephanie will be offering an Introduction to HD for Parents - How to Nurture Your Child’s True Nature! If you are interested in the workshop, personal reading for you and your family, you find their contact information below.

Catherine Simons-Harding crystalclearawakening@ gmail.com www.crystalclearawakening. com

Stephanie Orion omgodiva@gmail.com www.stephanieorion.com

Nature Based Art Therapy with Darlene Tully

Connection is a Naturebased Art Therapy Group. I will be offering two groups during Spring Break for young people aged 9-11. This small group experience will enjoy an opportunity to connect… with nature, with the process of art-making, and guiding a positive connection with Self. As an artist and a nature enthusiast, I’ve found creative and nature-based endeavours to be grounding and healing. As a counsellor and art therapist for over 26 years, I’ve enjoyed supporting wellness and helping young people tap into their resilience using story, art, and movement.

Having fun with nature and art, we will explore the challenges, the joys, and the changes that are ongoing in life. Goals are: to be social, to give space to feelings, and to give voice to the strengths and creativity that are guides through these times. This group may be helpful for children who experience anxiety. Youth is a critical time for developing interpersonal and regulation skills. The last three years have impacted the lives of our young people in big and small ways. An Art Therapy Group is different from an art class; we will be exploring with art materials and we’ll be creating artwork, but the process is key, rather than the art product itself. No experience with art-making is needed, although it is helpful to have an interest in making art. Limited spaces are available. Location for these groups is Duncan. Call with inquiries at 236-989-4500.

Group 1: March 13-16 (10:00 am – 12:00 pm)

Group 2: March 20-23 (10:00 am – 12:00 pm)

Fee: $360

Registration Deadline: March 7 art-of-being-human.com

Xwulqw’selu (Koksilah) Water Sustainability Plan Update

TheXwulqw’selu (Koksilah) Water Sustainability Planning process will be a collaborative, communitybased initiative to address concerns and support a longterm sustainable watershed. Cowichan Tribes and the Province of BC are working together in this innovative partnership to build better water management and

Spirit Guide Readings with Tiffany Mailloux

These sessions will be lead by your Spirit Guides so each one can be different depending on what you need in that moment. They will include messages from your guides and loved ones resilience in the Koksilah watershed (located south of Duncan). Stay tuned for details later this spring and learn more at koksilahwater. ca.

Image above: Members of the Xwulqw’selu (Koksilah) Watershed Sustainability Planning Transitional Project Team gather to receive guidance from Cowichan Tribes elder, Luschiim. Sept 2022 who come through, energy healing and tools to take away as well as time for your questions to make sure you have both the healing and clarity you need. March 11th 11- 4pm @ The Community Farm Store, 25 mins for $40 email: nettlecohealing@ gmail.com to book.

Tens of thousands of hazardous chemicals flood the global market daily. We don’t fully know how most of them are affecting human health and the environment.

Scientific research has demonstrated, though, that widespread dispersion is causing significant health problems, including a “silent pandemic of neurodevelopmental toxicity” — that is, they’re affecting human nervous systems throughout the lives of those exposed, even before birth. Exposure can result in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, dyslexia, cancer, reproductive and immune system harm and more.

The chemicals we rely on in everyday life are also causing “catastrophic” declines in bird and pollinator populations, among others.

Globalized trade and supply chains make it difficult to map the range of toxic substances that manufactured products may contain. With multiple levels of subcontracting across continents and legal protections for confidential business information, it’s often difficult to know exactly what many commodities are made of, where they originated and what hazards they contain. Many multinational firms are unable to thoroughly trace their supply chains.

Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS — often referred to as “forever chemicals” because they don’t break down easily — are used in a broad range of industrial, commercial and personal health products, from cookware to clothing to construction materials, in part because of their water- and stainresistant properties.

Not only do they take a long time to biodegrade, they also travel long distances through air and water and have been detected in the environment, animals and humans in almost all regions of the world. A U.S. study found them in the blood of 97 per cent of people tested.

Like other persistent organic pollutants, PFAS accumulate in the Arctic region, causing disproportionate toxic harm to communities far removed from their production and consumption chains.

Studies dating as far back as the 1960s found these substances to be harmful, which eventually led to many being phased out. But, as has been the case throughout our history of chemical use, they’re often replaced with

by Shiloh Badman Bad Comics

other synthetic chemicals that pose similar risks to human and environmental health.

Forever chemicals in water bodies and “biosolids” — organic matter from wastewater treatment used as soil fertilizer — have caused significant harm in farming and fishing communities in the U.S., leading to a flurry of litigation and stricter regulation in a number of jurisdictions. The recent revelation that contaminated biosolids are being exported from the U.S. to Canada has raised concerns that we’ve fallen behind other jurisdictions in regulating this intergenerational, expansive and currently uncontrolled public health risk.

The European Union is considering a proposal to ban more than 10,000 PFAS, and the U.S. is also strengthening measures to address contamination and restrict uses. It’s crucial that Canada’s federal and provincial governments address the massive regulatory gap here. While the federal government holds jurisdiction over toxic substances and has committed to developing a report on the current state of these chemicals, expected to be published this year, provincial governments also have a key role to play in areas under their jurisdiction — for example, watershed and waste management, effluent discharges from industries and drinking water safety.

The recent international COP15 biodiversity summit in Montreal underscored the need to reduce pollution from highly hazardous chemicals, an objective included under Target 7 of the resulting global agreement. Federal and provincial governments need to accelerate action on regulating and restricting PFAS to protect public and environmental health from these dangerous substances that have been rampantly commercialized without consideration for the longlasting harms they pose.

Our current legal frameworks for chemical risk governance have proven to be ineffective and unable to keep up with the speed at which new substances are being introduced to the market. The reality is that chemical governance frameworks have been propelled mainly by economic objectives, not environmental or public health concerns. Ultimately, we need an alternative vision of chemical risk governance, one that not only integrates but prioritizes fundamental environmental principles and objectives, such as intergenerational equity and common concern for humanity.

Prioritizing profit and economic growth over human health and the environment is a shortsighted and increasingly costly way of living that threatens our very survival. The convenience offered by these chemicals is not worth the significant longlasting dangers. It’s time to make “forever” chemicals a thing of the past.

Learn more at davidsuzuki.org.

LUCKY DOG Dogs in the news…

Thisjust in: A Dalmation in the UK whelped eighteen puppies in May of 2020. Nellie was is labour for fourteen hours and was in good hands. Her human was an experienced breeder and all the pups survived. Nellie appeared to be a dog of superior planning, as an average litter is half that size and now she gets to retire. This is not a world record. That tiara goes to “Tia”, a Neoplolitan mastiff who popped out twenty four pups in 2014 in England.

More recently: A dog in El Paso who had spent a lot of time at the local shelter escaped from her new home and returned to the shelter, ten miles away, and rang the doorbell. Bailey had been in and out of the shelter a couple of times in new homes and was an experienced escape artist. Her latest owner was getting her into harness for a walk and she noped right out and ran. Bailey ran right back to the shelter. She was spotted at various points along the way and ten miles later, late at night, Bailey activated the doorbell at the shelter. “I’m home!” There was staff to let her in and contact the new owner. She slept hard at the shelter and her new human gathered her the next day. I suspect she forgot something valuable in the shelter and had to retrieve it. Bailey is now outfitted with a GPS tracker, but since she got her buried treasure at the shelter, she won’t leave her human’s side.

Speaking of dogs out for a walk: In the harsh Nevada desert a terrier cross found himself with a small pack of coyotes. He’d been spotted running with the wild canines and was nick named “Ghost” because he couldn’t be approached by humans. He had his own Facebook page with people updating the sightings. It went on for six months. When someone saw that Ghost was limping, a serious effort was put into capturing the domestic dog. He was safely trapped and given medical care. My thought is that he accidently joined a cult, because he was in bad shape.

A GoFundMe page raised over $14,000 to cover his tab. A broken toe, multiple contusions, an infected scrotum, bites scars, and organic craft coffee and mmmore by the sea across from Salt Spring ferry terminal

1532 CHAPLIN ST, CROFTON

probably some serious emotional trauma. And then the people that captured him had to fight with the family that lost him over ownership, because some people suck.

Ancient news: Some canine bones had been dug up in Northern Spain in 1985, and recently were carbon dated to show that our beloved companions have been hanging out with us for over 18,000 years. These bones are considered the earliest evidence of domestic dogs in Europe. Labelled the “Erralla” dog, she joined humans in the upper Paleolithic era and undoubtedly begged at the table, scratched her butt, and barked just as her people nodded off.

Not news: Dogs are awesome. Just awesome.

Government signals critical shift towards greater value-added wood manufacturing and potential oldgrowth protection

Premier David Eby announced critical changes to BC forestry policy last month that could help fulfill promises to protect old-growth forests and create a more resilient value-added wood manufacturing industry.

These changes include removing the “unduly restrict” clause that has historically limited the scope of conservation efforts by preventing forest reserves from interfering with timber supply; establishing a conservation financing fund to help with the establishment of new Indigenous Protected and

SustainableAdo’s

Conserved Areas (IPCAs); investing $180 million in support for value-added wood manufacturing to help the forest industry adapt to oldgrowth protection measures and using smaller-diameter trees while maintaining employment in the industry; and temporarily deferring an additional estimated 200,000 hectares of old-growth forests while longer-term land use

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Yard Maintenance & Organic Garden Care

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“Removing the “unduly restrict” clause is as important a step symbolically as it is legally in helping facilitate the promised paradigm shift in the approach to old-growth forests and endangered ecosystems across the province,” stated Ancient Forest Alliance Campaigner TJ Watt. “For far too long the protection of old-growth forests, wildlife habitat, and other critical ecosystem services has been secondary to the push to industrially extract resources from the land. In light of the global biodiversity crisis we are in, we must first determine what needs protection before determining what, if anything, can be sustainably removed. We commend the BC government for taking this first step and hope it continues to take action by removing any remaining policy caps on regulatory protection measures such as Old-Growth Management Areas, Wildlife Habitat Areas, etc.”

The BC government has also committed to establishing a new conservation financing mechanism in the next six months to support First Nations’ capacity, sustainable economic development, and land stewardship, as well as the creation of new IPCAs. The vast majority of old-growth forests in BC are located on the unceded territories of diverse First Nations communities, whose consent and support is a legal necessity for the creation of any new protected areas. The BC government can’t unilaterally declare new legislated protected areas on the unceded territory of First Nations, many of whom are also heavily dependent on the revenues of old-growth logging for their economic survival. Conservation financing, which was critical to the protection of oldgrowth ecosystems in the Great Bear Rainforest, is needed elsewhere across BC to provide economic alternatives to old-growth logging, giving First Nations communities a fair choice and viable path to old-growth protection.

“For years we have been pushing for the province to commit to conservation financing that links protecting endangered old-growth forests through IPCAs with First Nations’ sustainable economic development,” notes Watt. “Creating conservation economies that allow new, sustainable jobs and businesses to flourish while preserving imperiled ecosystems is a win-win for humans and nature. The province must now dedicate a significant amount of its own funding to this plan, especially with its current budget surplus. Private funders and philanthropists will play an important role but cannot be expected to provide the scale of funding quickly enough in the time frame needed to keep all atrisk old-growth standing.” ancientforestalliance.org