(Photo: Vincent Tom)
Lynn is a long-time David Suzuki Foundation and Blue Dot volunteer.
I’m a grandmother and a retired dance teacher. I live on the unceded territory of the Coast Salish peoples in Delta, B.C., but I come from Mi’kmaq territory Jipugtug (Halifax area), Eastern Shore, Nova Scotia.
As a youngster I participated in Mother Nature’s choreography, vibrations and calls, on most days, in all seasons. One day during my first solo adventure through the woods (away from my older brother’s watchful eye), I experienced a memorable moment of falling in love with Mother Nature. With senses alert, I simultaneously noticed songbirds singing, a white-tailed deer’s hasty crackling departure, the hare’s upwind nostrils sensing my approach, squirrels going about their daily chores, the sound of the babbling brook nearby, the aroma of a spruce tree, a dewy forest floor and flowers in bloom. The fog had lifted and the sun’s rays warmed me. This is now all etched in my memory many decades later. Being deep in nature became magical to me.
The precursor to wanting to make a difference came in summer 2011 on a remote five-day coastal trek on Vancouver Island’s northwestern coast. Seeing the plastic pollution from Japan’s tsunami was real and distressing. Local knowledge-keepers said the ocean had swallowed much.
Seeing the growth of the Blue Dot movement over the past 4.5 years gives me hope. I am grateful to be able to work alongside other Blue Dot volunteers who are filled with such determination, tenacity and endurance. They give me strength to stay focused on the next necessary actions.
Blue Dot relies on the efforts of dedicated citizens taking action in their local communities. Humans of Blue Dot is an attempt to capture the unique stories of some inspiring volunteers who have generously given their time to advancing the environmental rights movement in Canada.
