Post Earth Day Ponderings

Our women's quartet was invited to perform at a mini film festival on Earth Day. The two films were being shown at the local United Church, which has wonderful acoustics. We performed four songs first, then the thought provoking film Spoil was shown. We performed one more and then we all watched a lovely little short called Gratitude which left us in a hopeful mood. After the short, we had some time for discussion and then we proceeded into the hall for home-made cookies and tea. I had seen an Earth Day display on a large free-standing bulletin board in the foyer and ventured out with my cookie to read the various postings Several of the postings were quotes I had read before, but a few were poems by Scottish poet Robert Montgomery. I read one, and then I read them all.

Before the short film, we sang a song called 'The Simple Life'. But before we had begun, I had to pull myself together. The film Spoil, which is about a group of world-class photographers who gather at Hartley Bay in the Great Bear Rainforest on the West Coast of British Columbia to document, and thus show the world, what will be at stake environmentally should the Enbridge Gateway Pipeline project be allowed to go ahead and oil tankers negotiate the hazardous waterways in the area. The film had been very moving and disturbing and thus, emotional. Marilee introduced the song with a few quiet words: "It's time to apply the K.I.S.S. principle in our world: Keep it Simple, Stupid." I was at a loss for words, or more accurately, lyrics to begin the song, but somehow we rose to the occasion.

A cottage small is all I'm after

Not one that's spacious and wide

A house that rings with joy and laughter

And the ones you love inside

'The Simple Life' is a cute song from a film of the 1940's. And while it rang true for the occasion, I ventured out into the hallway looking for something more, something deeper. I found it in this short poem by Robert Montgomery, who routinely hijacks advertising billboards for his installations:



The desire for simplicity is strong in me. I wish more people felt that way because I believe if we all just stopped the somewhat blinding drive to aquire more of everything, and simply appreciated the good of what we have, if we purchased for quality and lastingness rather than trends and financial convenience, if we took more time to smell the proverbial roses and ponder the wonder of the created world of which we as people are a beautiful and ancient part, we would all be happier and our land use decisions would be wiser and from a place of stewardship rather than theft for short term gain. 

More of Robert Montgomery's work can be found here.

The photo above is of the extremely rare 'spirit bear', and is by Canadian photographer Ian McAllister, one of the photographers featured in the film, Spoil.

I will now step down from my soap box to wish you a Happy weekend.