It was as I was flying home from the UN Earth Summit – twenty-eight hours in flight – that I received this, amongst many, insights: Most people are followers; few are leaders. This revelation dawned in my awareness – not as criticism, rather as a necessary fact to be recognized, should I wish to truly participate in affecting any real and long-lasting, beneficial change. The minority are leaders. What does this Continue Reading
Global Warming or Pollution? – Part 2
The signature of ‘development’ stands blatantly against the natural world. It is more challenging for us to see this – those of us who live in the ‘developed’ world – as it is what surrounds us now. And the photo gallery during the UN Earth Summit in Brazil – showing photographs of three generations of Brazilians who have been born and raised in a massive ‘dump’ that is so vast, it spans the horizon. This … is the Continue Reading
Underwhelming the Overwhelm – Part 1
In 1992 (some of you may not have been born then!) I felt called to participate ‘live’ in the most important global gathering of the century – the United Nations Earth Summit, to be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. As I recall, some 180 heads of state gathered (an unprecedented showing) to discuss the critical implications of human development on the environment. Leading up to this monumental event, I noticed that something was Continue Reading
Stepping Up into Our Genius
When I was at the 1992 UN Earth Summit, the era of thinking was that, to curb the global climate crisis, we would have to fall back to simpler, less evolved ways. We would have to 'give up' so much of what we've gained since the advent of Agriculture and the Industrial Revolution. We would have to become 'primitive' again. Hmmm. This mis-perception arose from a singular angle of logic – one that apparently was the Continue Reading
Activism with Heart
In the ensuing months following the UN Earth Summit I enjoyed a wave of direct contact with activists in many fields, including the environment, human rights, women's issues and more. To me, these were all spokes of the very same wheel. I had not worked directly with activists before. This was at the height of the road blockades in various old-growth forests in British Columbia - richly bio-diverse terrain which was being Continue Reading
‘Brazil’ – Hunger Strikes, Rallies, and Effecting Change
* This popular post is excerpted from Awakening Instinct * Running the Gauntlet * Windows Through Time - A Trilogy by Ariole K. Alei. I participated in the United Nations Earth Summit's parallel conference - the Global Forum - in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992. It was a 10-day gathering of over 180 heads of state, plus media, aides, and non-governmental leaders. And concerned citizens like myself. One day I participated in a local rally. Continue Reading
Leadership
What is leadership? Who are our leaders? Where are they? These are three of the most important questions we can ask ourselves today. I was a young child when I first realized that our leaders may not be who and where we assume them to be. I was watching a televised program of the Canadian House of Commons. The behavior of our supposed leaders as they harassed and bullied Continue Reading