A bittersweet day for me. I've spent almost half of my life as a member of the Rotary Club of Kamloops.
Such great mentors and such great friends over the years. Learning about our community and the larger world. And significantly serving others with dear friends and fellow Rotarians.
The Rotary Club of Kamloops first meetings were in early 1922 and the last meeting is next week. The last regular lunch meeting was today.
It's hard to overstate how much good this club has brought into my life. I don't think I would have been a city councillor, I don't think I would know so many good people who think differently than I, I don't know if I would have had so many wonderful friends, if I were not a member of the Rotary Club of Kamloops.
This also the club in which my Dad was a member. I am thankful to him for so much and he inviting me to consider joining is among the very long list.
A big constant in life is change. Ironic but so true.
The vast majority of us are joining other clubs so our Rotary service will continue but I won't be seeing many dear friends as much
I am looking forward to being part of a Rotary club, in my case Rotary Club of Kamloops Aurora Centennial, that is in a growth phase. I know many of my present club members will join the Rotary Club of Kamloops West, Kamloops Daybreak Rotary, and the Rotary Club of Sun Peaks - also strong clubs with positive movement and activity.
I will miss my first Rotary Club forever and hopefully all local and regional clubs will learn and be inspired by the history of how Rotary started in Kamloops.
Images and Presentations for Collaborative Community Conversations presentation 2025
January 30, 2025
2025 reflections...
January 01, 2025
I won't sugarcoat it—I’m worried about what 2025 might bring. Society faces enormous challenges, and it often seems that instead of lifting each other up and working together, we're busy tearing each other down and becoming more polarized.
But my life experience has shown me many pathways of community, collaboration, goodness, and strength. I’m re-committing myself to working with others to take action based on these values. It won't be easy; in fact, it might be harder than ever. But I’ve seen these pathways in action, and they are incredibly important, empowering, and powerful.
I know many of my friends are less worried about the impact of the new Trump administration. Some even support Donald Trump. And I still value my friendships with you. I hope you can understand my deep worry, shared by many, that Trump will double down on unnecessary division and thoughtless disrespect. That he will inspire others to demonize their fellow humans, creating a more dog-eat-dog world.
These issues aren't entirely Trump’s doing. Our society has been heading down this path for a while. As a political junkie, I’ve watched our provincial and national politics in Canada become more partisan and hard-hearted since the late 1990s. We seem to reward conflict over collaboration. The news media, reflecting society, feeds us a steady diet of negativity and sensationalism. We have fewer venues now for different people to get to know each other, highlight the positive, have thoughtful conversations, and find ways to collaborate. The Trump era often seems like a logical extension of what has been gaining momentum for years.
Given today’s challenges and opportunities, we need to find ways to collaborate more than ever. Climate change, the overdose crisis, huge cost of living increases, extreme weather—we are living with these enormous challenges and many others. Wouldn't it make sense for us to use as many hearts and brains as possible to work together to address these challenges? And maybe even find that addressing these challenges in the most effective ways can uncover massive opportunities.
During my foundational facilitator and community engagement training, my teachers shared a few insights that resonate with me as I write these thoughts. First, it starts with self-reflection and self-care. Second, diving deeper into an issue or question is extremely valuable. Third, achieving the best outcomes on a community or larger level requires a great diversity of perspectives working well together.
So, a big part of 2025 for me will be:
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Improving my personal health: I’m 55 years old, overweight, out of shape, and have aches and pains I probably shouldn't. I have high blood pressure caused by naturally occurring hormones and exacerbated by factors I can control. I want to feel better physically. If I’m at my physical best, I feel I can be better for those around me and for the world in general.
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Really getting deep: A lot of community conversation is still pretty superficial. People don’t embrace their own abilities to be a force for good. Within each of us, there are deep wells of desire, ability, and knowledge. I want to work on myself and support others to dig deep.
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Promoting the value of diverse perspectives: At the highest levels of leadership, we constantly see the delegitimization of honest and heartfelt perspectives. It’s not that the leader of a different political party has a different opinion; it’s that this person is entirely bad. Different views are not celebrated; they are termed outrageous, shameful, completely out of touch, even treasonous. What are citizens to think when we see our leaders behaving this way? Thankfully, at the local and regional levels, and in many day-to-day grassroots examples, we see great examples of collaboration and positive community building. We welcome different perspectives and invite them as critical to achieving the best outcomes.
There is more to say here. I welcome your reflections on 2025 and, if you would like, your reflections on mine.
From the saddest moment in my life to one of the happiest...
March 31, 2024
From the saddest moment in my life to one of the one of the happiest.
30 years ago, my Dad’s only brother passed away in a tragic car accident. My Uncle Manmohan was an amazing person - kind, loving, solid. I really looked up to him.
Uncle Manmohan left a young family. My Aunt Nishi and their two young children - both under 10 years old I believe.
I have always also looked up to my Aunt. She is a vibrant, kind, loving, and she dedicated herself to raising her two kids. They have also grown up to be interesting, kind, loving people - just like their parents. Both have great careers.
Every family and every person has ups and downs. A big part of life. I wish I could see this part of my family more often. I’m so thankful to be my Aunt’s nephew and Neeta and Amar’s cousin. They are amazing people.
Tomorrow is my Aunt’s 70th birthday. And many of her family have gathered in Cancun Mexico at a wonderful all inclusive beachfront resort to celebrate her. It’s wonderful to reconnect with extended family and friends after a long time. I’m here with my Mom and my sister.
I’m very confident my Uncle would be so proud of his family. I so wish he was still here. Many of us carry him in our hearts every day. For him, I’ll raise a glass of the most local beer I can find this evening
Hitting my Heart at the National Coalition of Dialogue and Deliberation conference #ncdd2023
October 28, 2023
I've spent much of the evening going through resources that came through participating in the recent NCDD conference in Atlanta Georgia.
What a treasure trove of community building, democracy strengthening, human spirit lifting materials And whats more -> from incredible committed good people.
In these troubled times, this is what we need to highlight. There is hope, there incredibly effective tools to allow folks to collaborate and not be in conflict.
We have let our lizard brains get a major upper hand. And predominantly, what we see and highlight is a constant toxic stream of calamity, conflict, and negativity. It's almost a deluge. And sometimes its hard to conceive how the hopeful, effective, colllaborative stuff can punch through and really gain well deserved attention on a societal scale.
One way is through art and media. What's sticking with me the most from the NCDD conference is the impact of the art and media showcased. Got way further into my heart.
Check out this incredible slam poem from Kevin Coval from the opening plenary - "a call to you who is me".
One evening at the conference, we also saw an incredibly moving documentary about the courage and leadership of six women, three pro life leaders and three pro choice leaders, asked to come together after an incredible tragedy to try to forge stronger relationships while not compromising their very strongly held views and values. Abortion Talks is a masterpiece documentary that hopefully is seen far and wide as a reminder that better ways are possible.
Throughout the whole conference, talented people were graphically recording the sessions. I love this complement to text based notes. Really helps broader understanding of key insights. Here is my online photo album of these graphic recordings.
Kamloops Leadership Podcast - Tyson Andrykew!
October 20, 2023
So great to chat with Tyson Andrykew who, at a very young age for his resume and well deserved recognition, has really lived the concept of making Kamloops as cool as place as possible. One of the founders of Brewloops, already a Chamber of Commerce Past President, and involved with so many community building efforts, I got to ask Tyson about leadership through service. Some amazing insights here.
NCDD Bring Hopes for the World.... #ncdd2023
October 10, 2023
I'm really looking forward to this week, especially towards the end of the week. I'm travelling to the US based National Coalition of Dialogue and Deliberation conference in Atlanta Georgia on Thursday.
There is a lot going on the world these days. Scrolling through news and first hand accounts of what has happened in Israel and Palestine, as just the most recent example, has made my heart and head hurt badly.
I still hold on to a lot of hope that we can survive and thrive as individuals, as communities, as a species. I've made many friends in the facilitation, dialogue, deliberation, democracy building world and they remain a constant source of inspiration.
I've been thinking a lot about resilience and wonder if anyone has any guidance and advice for me as I have been invited to help open the conference in the best way possible. Look at the amazing people I get to chat with on this panel!!
The conference will offer such amazing learning opportunities and the chance to make and renew great friendships.
Kamloops Leadership Podcast - Danica Wilkinson!
September 17, 2023
Coordinator of the huge iconic Kamloops Daybreak Rotary Ribfest, the Gur Singh Memorial Golf Tourney, and the Volkswagen Kamloops Turtle Race. She is an event planner extraordinaire!
Link to Rotary presentation
February 12, 2023
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1XS-GShKXI6huB0jiWdLCJpEIlMPkiKrKkftflqrr_0Y/edit?usp=sharing
One thing I want to share about 2021...
December 31, 2021
The one thing I want share about 2021 is this was a year where I really had to make conscious choices.
There was great challenge and adversity both personally and in the community as a whole. There was also opportunities for tremendous learning, growth, and for building resilience.
I’ve never seen the level of community anxiety and concern that I saw this year. The question I ask myself about this is “what do we do with this?”.
There is generally speaking, for me, a path of light and a path of darkness.
Many wise people, for thousands of years, have been thinking on this question and there is a full, robust, and very effective and helpful body of human knowledge that helps us take a path of light.
Unfortunately, it is not the path that gets the most attention.
For today, I wanted to share with you a quote from the great Parker Palmer. I’ve thought a lot about these words this year.
“Suffering breaks our hearts, but the heart can break in two different ways. There's the brittle heart that breaks into shards, shattering the one who suffers as it explodes, and sometimes taking others down when it's thrown like a grenade at the ostensible source of its pain.
Then there's the supple heart, the one that breaks open, not apart, the one that can grow into greater capacity for the many forms of love. Only the supple heart can hold suffering in a way that opens to new life.”
― Parker J. Palmer, On the Brink of Everything: Grace, Gravity, and Getting Old”
I try hard to continue to cultivate an open heart. This year, sometimes, that has been as hard as it has ever been. And this difficulty thankfully has caused in me the desire to redouble my efforts, knowing I will sometimes fail. It feels so wonderfully amazing to live in open heartedness.
Much love everyone! Wishes for a happy and healthy 2022!