I read recently that if you want to get to the heart of something, ask the question “why?” five times. (So, parenthood has been preparing me for something!) “I worked in group dialogue for years: often in dialogue to do with conflict and peace,” wrote Pádraig Ó Tuama, poet, theologian and host of the Poetry Unbound…
Category: pemberton writer
Picklepalooza: preserving high summer for my Future Self
It’s not really cost-effective, this pickling and preserving business, I realize, as I empty another $20 bottle of Bragg’s apple cider vinegar into a pot. My husband keeps checking in, nervously asking “Are you having fun?” because these evenings are cutting into my Netflix/book-reading time, and I tend to be an angry-and resentful-if-you-aren’t-also-contributing house-cleaner. But…
How to be a checklist Ninja
The first item on Alexandra Franzen’s to-do list for Thursday was drink two big glasses of water. We overlook the easy wins when crafting our to-do lists, says the author of the newly released The Checklist Book, and we shouldn’t: when we accomplish something, even something small, that feeling of satisfaction stimulates the body to…
Are you ready for the Analogue Travel Challenge?
In praise of the soul lap, the undocumented adventure. Stephen Hui has taken thousands of photos of pristine backcountry vistas. But these days, he’d rather leave his camera behind, especially if he’s hiking a trail he’s been on before. Even though his work, as author of the just-released and already-a-bestseller guidebook, 105 Hikes in and…
Pemberton’s Grown Up Dilemma
This story appeared in Kicking Horse Coffee’s Full Press Journal, issue 2, in the fall of 2017 at https://www.kickinghorsecoffee.com/en/fullpress/pembertons-grown-up-dilemma with photos by Jordan Manley Growing your own food might be the greatest equal-opportunity gig, but it can’t happen without access to a bit of dirt. Stories of self-sufficient success in the rich (and increasingly rich…
Adapt or Die: how a small town library offers clues to navigating velocity in an accelerating world
There’s a little white board in the corner of Emma Gillis’ office, with a wish list scrawled down it in black marker. Most of the items have been steadily crossed off over the five years since Gillis took the helm of the Pemberton & District Public Library and tried to conjure a future-proof facility. The…
Think like an ancestor – a parting column for the Whistler Question
“Late Capitalism is as good an excuse of any for not getting out of bed, but huddling under the covers worrying about Donald Trump is a very inefficient way of sticking it to the man.”~ Laurie Penny I found a note from my brother while rummaging around in my office the other day – a…
Put a Word on it: picking a word for 2018
I love the annual word of the year from the various dictionary-makers – for what it reveals about our Zeitgeist. Feminism, youthquake and complicit are 2017’s, from the Merriam Webster, Oxford, and Dictionary.com. But we don’t just have to backcast. We can forecast too. And call down the power of a word, to focus or…
30 days of power posing
“You have 61 days left in the year,” said the email. “What will you keep space for?” Cue panic-breathing. And: delete. This week, I interviewed someone I’ve often wanted to talk more deeply with. I used an assignment as an excuse to sit down for four hours with a woman I admire, an extremely low-profile,…
How Patagonia’s Worn Wear Program Will Make You Love Your Old Gear
This story first appeared at Mountain Culture. The other day I resigned from my day job. I walked out of the CAO’s office and into the washroom and realized there was a hole worn through the elbow of my shirt. Good time to be returning to freelance life, I thought. At least I can keep…
Lisa Richardson Bylines 