I came upon a fiddler on a Halifax pier just after dusk recently. He was playing a lament. The moon was already bright and sparkly yet the music transported me into a sorrowful state as it always does. Laments are … Read More
Author Archives: Al Etmanski
Happy Without Heroes?
It’s sad but perhaps fitting that few Canadians know of Women’s Institute. Even fewer remember Adelaide Hoodless who got it started. Sad because not too long ago Women’s Institute was selected as one of the top ten social innovations in … Read More
Top Ten New Brunswick & Nova Scotia Social Innovations
My soul is Maritime infused. My earliest memory is of tap dancing as a toddler to Don Messer’s Jubilee on the radio. My Mother was a Prince Edward Islander. I cut my community and political organizing teeth in Halifax. Scents, … Read More
Peace Is Our Time
Canada is a country with deep peacemaking roots. We were welcomed in peace by First Nations and aboriginal people, although we seriously betrayed their hospitality and trust. Many of the early French explorers were humanists who sought a land where … Read More
Wanted: Social Entrepreneur Book Publisher
It’s been a busy book-publishing year for me. My new book, Impact: Six Patterns to Spread Your Social Innovation was published in April. In addition, two expanded versions of my first book, Safe and Secure were published – one in British … Read More
Take Us to the Limit
A new breed of social change activists has emerged that wants us to become comfortable with complexity, chaos, uncertainty and ambiguity. They contend, and I agree, that we no longer live in a world where we know exactly where we … Read More
Salt, Seed and Taking Care
Ghandhi’s first act of civil disobedience was aimed at the British Salt Tax. Salt was deeply symbolic to Ghandhi. “Next to air and water, salt is perhaps the greatest necessity of life,” he said. He understood that an item of … Read More
Caring Makes the World go Round
There is a direct link between caring for each other and caring for our planet. Caring is that invisible but indispensable force that connects us to each other and to all forms of life. Caring reminds us that we belong, … Read More
Thinking Like a Voyageur – Prévoyance
Prévoyance is the ability to prepare for the unexpected in a world of uncertainty while maintaining your principles. It is a concept introduced to Canada by the great explorer Champlain. There is no English equivalent. Pity. We could use more … Read More
Angels in the Architecture
I woke up the other day to a radio report that one of the parties in the election campaign will now be ‘turning its guns’ on the leader of another party. I was filled with sadness. Election campaigns are not … Read More