Spirituality and writing for children

My children’s book Gracie’s Got a Secret (MW Books 2011) shares the concept of “letting go” with children and the “Don’t push the river” approach to life. This echoes the Taoist notion of “wu wei” or “action through inaction.” Find out more on my Gracie’s Got a Secret website.

Read my guest blog post “Spirituality and Writing for Children” as part of the Times Colonist in Victoria, BC to find out how Gracie’s Got a Secret emerged out of my own journey of spiritual discovery.

The art of spiritual writing

I am writing a memoir that incorporates part of my spiritual exploration, which involved seven months of travel and meditation in India. It has proven challenging to articulate my spiritual voyage, attempting to transform words and experience from the abstract realm into something personalized, fresh, and universal.

My essay Dharma by the Dozen: The Art of Spiritual Writing, written in 2008, identifies 12 characteristics found in the best writing on this topic. It addresses the work of Peter Matthiessen, Thich Nhat Hanh, Natalie Goldberg, Anne Lamott, Andrew Harvey, and Pema Chodron. If you would like a copy, please contact me.

I teach workshops on writing as a spiritual practice. See www.heatherconn.com/teaching/ for more details.

Spirituality in the workplace

As we move towards more holistic work environments, employers will strive to honor and provide space and time for employees’ spiritual expression. To me, this is part of celebrating diversity and offering work-life balance.

While editor-in-chief of PeopleTalk magazine in Vancouver, I chose the theme Spirituality in the Workplace for the summer 2005 issue. I wrote the cover story for that issue, which also appeared on the website HRVoice.org. Here it is:

http://hrvoice.org/story.aspx?&storyid=2021&issueid=690

“Thank you so much for the March 2005 magazine. It is the best. The magazine has given my clients a deeper understanding of the topic and the reasoning behind the coaching that I do. The acceptance of the material and the topic by my clients has been 100% positive.”

Steve Everson, MBA
Professional Coach, Everson Coaching

Think beyond Pandora’s box (my editorial in the same issue)

Celebrate yourself with SoulCollage

I teach workshops on a process called SoulCollage, a wonderful, intuitive form of spiritual self-discovery and celebration created by Seena Frost of California. A graduate of the Yale School of Theology, Seena drew on her work in the Human Potential Movement, archetypes and Jungian sub-personalities to form a SoulCollage movement. Now there are SoulCollage workshop facilitators around the world. For more information on my workshops, please see www.sunshinecoastsoulcollage.ca. Seena’s website is www.soulcollage.com.

December 2005

I gave a luncheon talk on A Spiritual Workplace: Reality or Utopia in downtown Vancouver for the Workplace Centre for Spiritual and Ethical Development.  I serve on the Centre’s board.

http://www.workplacecentre.org/page133.htm

For more on spirituality, please see the Spirituality section of my blog.

GREEN AT HEART

I’m passionate about wildlife conservation, sustainability, and combating global warming. I support lifestyles and businesses that promote simplicity, natural and organic foods, and produce a small carbon footprint. Click here to read more about the environment on my blog.

I worked as writer/editor for WE ENVISION, the Draft Sustainability Plan of the Sunshine Coast Regional District, in 2010-11. It’s available in PDF for review and public feedback.

I have written, edited, and consulted for Sustainability Television, an exciting environmental web portal in Vancouver, BC that creates and shares videos that promote sustainability. This Internet-based company strives to build online commmunities where like-minded people can connect to address issues from pesticide use to racism. Click here to read my STV press releases.

I have also done web editing and communications consulting for the B.C. conservation group Pacific Wild. Co-founder Ian McAllister won Time Magazine’s Leader for the 21st Century Award. He has received numerous awards for his photography and notable books such as The Great Bear Rainforest.

ARCHIVES OF MY MAGAZINE WRITING: WILDLIFE, THE ENVIRONMENT & SUSTAINABILITY

(This section is under construction)

Please click on the cover to read the enclosed feature.

Click here to access a comprehensive archive of decades of my magazine writing in a variety of topics (under construction)

GREEN BUSINESSES IN B.C.

What does the new face of corporate social responsibility look like with green-minded organizations in British Columbia? Find out about the organic products, visionary leadership, and sustainability education of Vancouver’s Rocky Mountain Flatbread Company. Learn about the certified organic wines and conservation strategies of Kelowna’s Summerhill Pyramid Winery.

Read about the B.C. Institute of Technology’s dedication to stewardship and sustainable construction and their status as the greenest campuses in Canada. Discover what environmental practices have made the City of Dawson Creek a Green Cities Award winner. I mention all four organizations in my cover story “Corporate Social Opportunity” in the winter 2009 issue of PeopleTalk magazine. Click here to read this feature.

CONSERVATION AND CARE

Currently, I’m a writer based in Vancouver, BC and the Sunshine Coast on Canada’s west coast. Here are some of my environment-related writing activities that span coast to coast:

– photo copyright Heather Conn

Canada’s rare Kermode bear

After joining a small group of eco-tourists on British Columbia’s Princess Royal Island, I was lucky enough to see and photograph the white Kermode bear in remote wilderness.

Canada is the only nation in the world that’s home to this rare form of black bear, whose fur is white due to a genetic abnormality (it’s not an albino).

Inspired by this beautiful animal threatened by poaching and logging, I wrote about it in the Vancouver, BC magazine Shared Vision and the U.S. publication Bears (click here to read the article). I also created postcards, bookmarks, greeting cards, and stationery to promote public awareness about the bear. I gave a portion of the proceeds of sales to the Valhalla Wilderness Society. This environmental group, based in the West Kootenay region of British Columbia, has worked many hard years to protect the vulnerable coastal habitat of the kermode from logging.

A portion of the kermode’s habitat, part of the region known as the Great Bear Rainforest, is now protected, thanks to the committed efforts of many environmentalists, which prompted a 2006 B.C. government decision. But a key watershed, vital to the bear’s survival, was not included in this conservation measure. For more information, check out the website Spirit Bear Youth Coalition.

I wrote an eco-tour story for the Jan/Feb 2009 issue of Sierra magazine on the bald eagles of Brackendale, B.C. (Sierra, the national publication of the Sierra Club in the U.S., has more than a million readers.) Click here to read my article.

Brackendale has set the world record for the most bald eagles counted in a single day. However, in recent years, due to depleted salmon, thousands fewer bald eagles have come to the area.

Although Atlantic puffins are protected in eastern Canada, there remains a tradition of serving them as a special meal at home. In an attempt to stop this practice, the Atlantic Center for the Environment has brought children’s groups to see the puffins at bird sanctuaries; the hope is that the kids will then encourage their parents not to shoot these birds.

I served as publicist for an eco-tour hosted by the Quebec-Labrador Foundation/Atlantic Center for the Environment, based in Ipswich, MA.  The Center retraced the steps of naturalist John James Audubon on the Quebec North Shore. This group conducts community-based educational projects to introduce children to local birds, floral and fauna and promote conservation.

Kathleen Blanchard, the Center’s former director of research and natural history, said this about my work:

“Heather was called upon under short notice to act as reporter and photojournalist for one of our biggest, most sensitive projects. . .Gaining the local people’s confidence was paramount to the project’s success, and this was one of Heather’s strongest features. Heather is utterly conscientious, reliable, and thorough in detail.”

From Sierra Club Bulletin, July/August 2008:

British Columbia: Nice Break
Our neighbors in British Columbia are cheering a victory that favors farms over fairways. Last year Patricia Aldworth, a member of the Sierra Club of Canada’s Malaspina Group, spearheaded protests against a massive development on protected farmland. The project in Powell River, a remote town about 80 miles northwest of Vancouver, included a golf course, gated community, airport, hotel, and convention center on 850 acres of cropland preserved by B.C. law. Aided by Club activists, environmental groups, and outraged residents, Aldworth’s efforts bore fruit when the provincial Agricultural Land Commission rejected the proposal. “People saw that we need our agricultural land,” says Aldworth, “and that more and more development is not sustainable.” In February, she was elected to Powell River’s city council. —Heather Conn

Maryland: In Focus
From a workshop on “wacky weather” to a hybrid car display, the Sierra Student Coalition (SSC) last winter brought home the impact of global warming to a group of Maryland high schoolers. The Sierra Club’s student arm invited scientists, Club volunteers, and a Democratic congressional candidate to Oxon Hill High School to discuss climate-change solutions with about 100 teens. The one-day event was part of Focus the Nation, an environmental education initiative held at 1,000 campuses and businesses nationwide; the SSC participated at more than 200 schools. “Focus the Nation has changed the way both students and administrators view environmental activism,” says student Dominique Hazzard, the SSC’s campus organizer at Oxon Hill. “The [school] administration definitely gives our group more respect now.” —Heather Conn

© 2008 Sierra Club. All Rights Reserved.

Sierra Magazine, San Francisco, CA 2008

I spent four months working in the editorial department of Sierra magazine where I wrote news stories, web copy, and reviews as part of a requirement for my master’s degree in creative nonfiction writing.

Here’s what Sierra’s then-copy editor Karina Kinik had to say: “Heather . . .was very thorough and professional . . . and she wrote clean, catchy stories. She is well-qualified for any editorial position.”

Here’s an example of one of my magazine features:

Roberts Creek: Canada’s first rural co-housing community (Western Canadian Resorts magazine, December 2006)

Toxic nail polish

Did you know that most nail polishes contain the same material found in dynamite? For more information, read my article from Alive magazine:

http://www.alive.com/1326a4a2.php

Bald eagle photo courtesy of We for Animals

This article appeared in the May 2005 issue of Balanced Life magazine:

BIRD-WATCHING: Find the essence
BY HEATHER CONN

If a stranger walked through your yard, peered at you through a window and made funny sounds to attract your attention, you’d likely call the police.

Yet birds endure such attention every day. They’re the focus of the fastest-growing hobby in North America: bird-watching or birding. In the U.S., 51.3 million people report that they watch birds, according to the Fish and Wildlife Service, and more adopt this pastime every day.

That’s a lot of people trampling through woods, parks, and shorelines. Yet few leave any trace of their presence because bird-watching demands a deep respect for nature. To discover the essence of birds, one must feel attuned to their surroundings and wait with patience and stillness, absorbing their sounds and movements like an honorary guest. We can all grab binoculars, flip through a field guide, and check off a name on a list. However, to capture the true art of birding, one must find that quiet place within and surrender to what comes: the beauty of wing beats, a sweet song or a brilliant flash of colour.

Bird-watching is like meditation with open eyes; it requires concentration and a release of expectations. Maybe no birds will appear. Maybe a flock. Maybe a pair. Whatever nature brings is a gift. Such quiet readiness can provide wondrous contentment and a sense of spiritual connectedness.

“When we enter the world of nature in a spirit of openness, splendid experiences come to us unsought,” says Joseph Cornell, one of the world’s top nature educators, in his guidebook Sharing Nature with Children (Dawn Publications, 1979). “Receptivity, combined with our efforts to expand these blessings, clears a channel that enables us to receive still deeper inspirations.”

Such an approach eliminates the need to make species identification your primary goal in bird-watching, or to even take a camera. (As one wise observer said: “To name something is to lose its essence.”) You can begin at home, in your own backyard, with the help of a bird-feeder or bird-bath.

Beyond your home, most rural areas abound with birds, as do forests and wilderness. Bird-watching is a great addition to any walk or hike (see sidebar). Parks make good venues for spotting birds, either on water, land or in the air.

Even cities can offer prime bird-watching habitat. In Vancouver, Stanley Park makes a perfect locale for offshore birds, while Lost Lagoon remains home to many ducks. Vancouver’s Pacific Spirit Park, Van Dusen Gardens, Jericho Beach marshes and Queen Elizabeth Park are all good viewing spots. (To find out other recommended areas, call the Vancouver Natural History Society’s Bird Alert at 604-737-3074.)

Bird sanctuaries or reserves make ideal viewing points; some have observation towers. Vancouver residents can enjoy the Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary in nearby Ladner or venture north of the city near Whistler to Brackendale, a 550-hectare eagle reserve (www.brackendaleeagles.com) that boasts the world record for bald eagles counted in one day: 3,766.

Bird-watching is a delightful activity to share with children. Afterwards, you can invite them to draw the birds they saw. Cornell’s book offers respectful ways to attract and observe birds, aimed at youngsters age four and up.

After a bird-watching session, you might be surprised how inspired and energized you feel. It’s exhilarating to spot a bird for the first time and share this with friends or family. The fresh air and rich smells of nature, whether it’s forest, marsh, or shoreline, will heighten your birding experience, adding sensory pleasure to your time outdoors.

Don’t be surprised if you also feel tired after you sit or stand without exertion. It takes effort to remain motionless and aware for long periods, training your eyes and ears to pick up sudden movement or sounds.

Enthusiasts who do seek bird identification can consult two excellent field guides: Sibley Guide to Birds, written and illustrated by David Allen Sibley (Knopf, 2000) and Field Guide to the Bird of North America, 4^th edition (National Geographic, 2002).

For more information, check out the Internet. Two introductory sites, targeted to the U.S., are www.birdwatching.com and www.wildbird.com.

Whatever your venue, enjoy the journey of discovery into the world of birds. Remember: You don’t need a passport or permission — just bring silence and respect.

“Birding is a quest,” the www.birdwatching.com website reminds us. “You set out to see birds - but the prize you may come back with can only be described as happiness. Learning to bird is like getting a lifetime ticket to the theatre of nature.”

ENVIRONMENTAL BOOKS

Do you want to save the planet with small, daily steps? Try reading the books I reviewed for the HR Voice website:

http://hrvoice.org/story.aspx?&storyid=4248&issueid=825

RECOMMENDED BOOKS

Blessed Unrest by Paul Hawken

The Ecology of Commerce by Paul Hawken

Fight Global Warming Now by Bill McKibben

RECOMMENDED GREEN PUBLISHER

New Society Publishers, carbon-neutral and British Columbia-based

Frances Moore Lappé

I interviewed the author of Diet for a Small Planet at the Women of Wisdom conference in Seattle, WA. She had recently published Hope’s Edge, co-written with her daughter Anna. Lappé’s dedication to ending world hunger and promoting sustainable agriculture and democracy world-wide is impressive. My article ”Reclaiming control of our food supply” appeared in the November 2003 issue of Alive magazine: http://www.alive.com/1556a4a2.php

Want to learn more about Lappé’s work? Check out the websites of the organizations she founded: Small Planet Institute, The Institute for Food and Development Policy/Food First and Center for Living Democracy.

OTHER RECOMMENDED BOOKS BY LAPPE

Getting A Grip: Clarity, Creativity and Courage in a World Gone Mad

You Have the Power: Choosing Courage in a Culture of Fear

I have written two history books Vancouver’s Glory Years (Whitecap Books 2003), co-written with Henry Ewert, and Vancouver’s Trolley Buses 1948-1998. Both feature never-before-published photographs and examine the sociocultural impact that public transit had in shaping Vancouver and the lives of its residents.

While working at BC Transit, I conducted oral history interviews with retired transit employees and included historic photos and stories in the employee newsletter.

I researched and wrote historical articles for The Greater Vancouver Book edited by Chuck Davis:

The History of Stanley Park, Vancouver, BC:

http://www.discovervancouver.com/GVB/stanley-park.asp

Early Coastal Explorers to Vancouver and the Pacific Northwest:

http://www.discovervancouver.com/GVB/expolrs.asp/

After graduating in History at the University of British Columbia, I worked as an oral historian in northern Ontario for the Ministry of Natural Resources. It was fascinating to interview old trappers, loggers, and prospectors and to document stories about horse logging and life in the bush in the 1930s and ’40s.

I talked to men who thought nothing of carving their own paddle if they needed one or making their own snowshoes. I heard tales of a foul-mouthed blacksmith who could create much-needed horseshoes on the spot in the backwoods. I interviewed a retired fire spotter who pored over forests from an open-air plane in search of flames. I learned about forest fires and how German POWs in northern Ontario, put to work in logging camps, were popular with local women at weekly dances.

It was wonderful to meet rugged men and women who had forged livelihoods in the challenging bush of Canada’s north. My job was to document the human history of Wakami Lake Provincial Park. Besides writing weekly history articles for The Chapleau Sentinel, I wrote material for the park interpretive programs. Through theatrical reenactments, we brought the region’s characters of old to life, inviting campers to “meet” them on an evening walk in the woods. That work was fun. My research also provided background material and helped identify artifacts for the park’s outdoor museum.

Here are excerpts from the interview transcripts and report that I did:

http://www.canadianfishing.com/sultan/wakami.htm#sultan

In another oral history study, I interviewed residents of the classic fishing village Peggy’s Cove in Nova Scotia on Canada’s east coast. My mandate was to document the impact of tourism on this much-visited coastal gem and write a report for the Atlantic Center for the Environment/Quebec-Labrador Foundation, based in Ipswich, MA. I wrote the article “Life in a fish bowl” for Atlantic Insight magazine.

This SoulCollage card that I created, which represents the historian part of me, features an image of the first streetcar in San Francisco.

What is oral history?

This living form of history records people’s memories and anecdotes through sound (and sometimes visual) recording. It allows people to share their personal experiences in their own words, maintaining the richness of their language and unique forms of self-expression. It gives a voice to those who otherwise might not be heard.

FAMILY AND COMMUNITY: Save your cherished stories

Consider oral history interviews. One thing that makes them different from regular questioning is the lack of leading questions. Unlike a reporter, the interviewer does not try to influence the subject’s perspective.

A great way to start: Dig out old photos. They will inspire great stories and bring back old memories. Don’t let those great stories of old-timers in your family and community disappear. Once they die, the stories are often gone.

For further information, try these resources:

For an excellent example of oral history, try the Foxfire series of books, one of the first popular series written. Each volume has a different editor.

In these engaging books, a teacher in Appalachia transformed his classroom into a collection of fascinating folklore and practical tips. He had his students share and record what they learned at home, from log-cabin-building and mountain crafts to faith healing and moonshine recipes.

Other resources:

www.oralhistory.org.uk/

www.bluetreebooks.com/titles/presfam.shtml?source=over&OVRAW=oral%20history&OVKEY=oral%20history&OVMTC=standard

www.omega.dickinson.edu/organizations/oha/

www.historymatters.gmu.edu/mse/oral/

www.dohistory.org/on_your_own/toolkit/oralHistory.html

Here’s what Dr. Rosamund Harrison, chair of pediatric dentistry at the University of British Columbia, said about my article that featured her in the spring 2009 issue of Impressions magazine (page 14):

“I was delighted with the lovely article that you put together about our MI (motivational interviewing) community projects. The way that you ‘told a story’ and integrated the comments of my colleagues and friends was so well done and readable. My mother started to cry when she read your article!

“I gained a new admiration and respect for writers like you who are so good at journalism.  Such a breath of fresh air from the stodgy scientific papers that I read on a daily basis. Thank you for the care and attention that you put into telling this story.  It was a pleasure to work with you!”

Dr. Harrison does exciting cutting-edge research and clinical work in low-income and new immigrant communities in Canada that have a high rate of cavities in preschool children.  Her compassionate, hands-on work has resulted in huge improvements in dental care in groups ranging from South Asians and Vietnamese in British Columbia to Cree in remote Quebec villages.

In the fall of 2008, I interviewed forensic dentist Dr. David Sweet, who runs B.O.L.D., the world’s leading forensic dentistry lab at the University of British Columbia. Sweet has pioneered many cutting-edge forensic techniques and has appeared on the television show Cold Case Files.

See my Impressions magazine cover story, page 9:
http://www.dentistry.ubc.ca/impressions/2008/fall/Impressions-Fall2008.pdf
(Impressions won the North-America-wide 2010 Meskin Journalism Award from the American Association of Dental Editors for the best overall excellence in publishing, including editorial content and design, for a dental student publication.)

A coast-to-coast love connects in a B.C. home labyrinth

Equine therapy: humor (Alive magazine) – Can you find a man by getting to know a horse?!
http://www.alive.com/1807a5a2.php

When a son fears that he’ll lose his mom, she reassures him with a lifelong symbol of her love:
Three rings: Real Weddings magazine

Best of both worlds: Allopathic medicine vs. alternative methods (Alive magazine) http://www.alive.com/1331a4a2.php?subject_bread_cramb=240

Body Rolling (Alive magazine)
http://www.alive.com/1602a4a2.php?subject_bread_cramb=103

As part of a trip to central America, I wrote a three-part series for Kinesis, the now-defunct Vancouver women’s publication, on the status of women in post-war Nicaragua:

• “More and more Nicaragua women are organizing”
• “Contradictions persist in Nicaragua’s sexual revolution”
• “Mothers an active, respected force in Nicaraguan society”

– Ursula Le Guin, in a note sent to me on her letterhead

I’ve interviewed and written about writers like Ursula LeGuin for Quill and Quire and Canada’s oral historian Barry Broadfoot for Vancouver’s Georgia Straight. I’ve also published profiles and arts features of photographers, artists, sculptors, actors, filmmakers, and musicians. Creative souls are my kindred spirits; I love hearing their passionate tales, anguish and triumphs, learning what drives their work and them.

Here are a few artists I’ve interviewed and covered in a variety of media:

• Judy Chicago, artist and creator of The Dinner Party and The Birth Project
• Deena Metzger, California poet and author of many books including Writing for Your Life
• Joy Coghill, Canadian actor and playwright
• Ferron, Canadian songwriter and musician
• Lorraine Segato, lead singer of the group Parachute Club
• P.E.T.A., members of this theatre group from the Phillipines
• Stas Namin, a Soviet rock musician
• Charles Lillard, the late author of B.C. history books
• Paul Wong, a video artist

I created a press kit, wrote promotional materials, and provided additional lyrics to this CD of children’s music by U.S. entertainer Persephone Dimson.

Some of the publications that have published my arts-related articles include the following:

The Vancouver Sun
The Edmonton Journal
The Georgia Straight
BC BookWorld
BC Parent
Common Ground (Vancouver)
Quill & Quire
Reel West
PhotoMedia
Vancouver Parent
The Sun (North Carolina)

I wrote about the arts and entertainment scene in Vancouver, BC, Canada for the 2009 guidebook Vancouver, Victoria, and Whistler, produced by Formac Publishing. Click here to read the article.

Here are some artist profiles I’ve done:

Celso Machado: His Brazilian beat thrums through world instruments (Sunshine Coast Life magazine)

Carver Bradley Hunt and his sons cherish their Pacific Northwest Coast native art traditions (Sunshine Coast Life magazine)

I won’t have more writing samples here until I get time to sift through and scan much of my published material. In the meantime, here are two features I wrote for PhotoMedia magazine, based in Seattle, WA:

John Lund: Empire of the silly
http://photomediagroup.com/?m=200410 (second article from the top)

Top photography in black and white: “Bruce Barnbaum and Michael Kenna: A Study in Contrasts” (PhotoMedia magazine, online)

Click here to read book reviews that I have written

Click here for my film and TV work

Click here for my personal essays

Click here for my books

WHY NOT SUBSCRIBE TO MY BLOG?

Click here to read on my blog about writing

Click here to read on my blog about creativity

Click here to read on my blog about film and TV

Cultural Creatives unite

A member of the Cultural Creative Network,^TM I am part of today’s thriving Cultural Creatives movement. Who are we? More than 50 million people in North America and Europe are “redefining what success means, away from success at work and making a lot of money, toward a more soulful life focused on personal fulfillment, social conscience, creating a better future for everyone on the planet.” Find out more at www.culturalcreatives.org.

This month’s featured Cultural Creative book

Field Notes on the Compassionate Life: A Search for the Soul of Kindness (Rodale, 2005) by Marc Barasch, an award-winning writer, editor and television producer

How well do we value artists?

Here’s a story to ponder, which someone forwarded to me from the Internet:

A Violinist in the Metro

A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, at rush hour, thousands of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

Three minutes went by and a middle-aged man noticed the musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds, then hurried to meet his schedule.

A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw him the money. Without stopping, she continued to walk. A few minutes later, a man leaned against the wall to listen to the music, looked at his watch, and started to walk again. Clearly, he was late for work.

The one who paid the most attention was a three-year-old boy. His mother, hurrying, tugged him along, but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. The mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head repeatedly to see the man playing music. Several other children repeated these actions. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.

In the 45 minutes that the musician played, only six people stopped and stayed for awhile. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed. No one applauded.

No one knew but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written with a violin worth $3.5 million. Two days before performing in the subway, Bell had sold out at a theater in Boston where the seat price averaged $100.

This is a true story. The Washington Post arranged to have Joshua Bell play incognito in the subway station as part of a social experiment about people’s perceptions, tastes, and priorities. Do we perceive beauty in an everyday environment at an inconvenient time? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?

Consider this: If we do not take a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?

“You are only as free as you are in your heart”

At the 2006 Burning Man Festival in Nevada’s
Black Rock Desert

Travel is one of my passions. From post-war Nicaragua in 1981 to a year of solo travel in southeast Asia, I’ve relished adventures and encounters on many continents. I’ve squared off with gawkers and hawkers at train stations in India and faced men with knives on a train in Italy. I’ve ridden camels and elephants, suffered a horse bite in Thailand,  and watched bed bugs leaping off flimsy guest house mattresses in numerous countries. From the Himalayas to the Alps and the Andes, from the backwoods to boardwalks, I’ve met amazing people and experienced landscapes so intense, they singe with memory.

INDIA: TRAVEL MEMOIR

I am currently writing a memoir with tales of my seven months in India, from a bout of bacterial dysentery in New Delhi to summitting the 20,000-foot peak Stok Kangri. It’s full of romance, misadventures, spiritual exploration, and the plight of a single western woman facing too many advances, and even wedding proposals, from sex-obsessed men.   

ONLINE TRAVEL FEATURES: BRITISH WEBSITE

I am a travel writer for the website www.thetraveleditor.com, based in the United Kingdom. Besides international tales, my posted articles highlight the arts and entertainment scene in Vancouver, BC and on the Sunshine Coast on Canada’s west coast. Click here to read some of my travel features:  http://www.thetraveleditor.com/authors/846/Heather_Conn/

Childbirth in Haiti: A bundle of joy?

I wrote short items to accompany a photo essay of the challenges pregnant women face in Haiti. The piece is meant to increase public awareness of the activities of Doctors Without Borders in Haiti.

Click here to read the article

SIERRA MAGAZINE: National Magazine of Sierra Club of U.S.  (1 million+ readers)

Eco-tourism: Bald eagles in Brackendale, BC, Canada

Here’s WILD AT HEART, an eco-tour piece I did for the Jan/Feb ‘09 issue of Sierra magazine in San Francisco:

I’m drifting in the clear shallows of the Squamish River, eyes gaping and ears pricked for signs of avian life. Just 40 miles north of bustling Vancouver, British Columbia, sits one of the top viewing spots for wintering bald eagles. Six of us and a guide float through morning silence in a yellow inflatable, paddles still, our caps and woolens fending off a frigid January drizzle. Clouds shroud the glacial heads of Mts. Garibaldi and Mamquam and the Tantalus Range. Mist tucks into spruce and hemlock. Someone told me you can see 60 eagles in a tree here, but I’m beginning to suspect that’s as credible as the tale of the 100-pound trout.

Most years, between late November and early February, 3,000 to 4,000 bald eagles from across western North America converge to roost where the Mamquam and Cheakamus Rivers join the Squamish. Like ravenous diners at an all-you-can-eat buffet, they gorge on dying chum salmon that have forged their way up from Howe Sound to spawn. The opportunistic raptors share a 1,865-acre smorgasbord, Brackendale Eagles Provincial Park, with some 150 bird species. Fifteen years ago, Brackendale heralded a world record: 3,769 bald eagles counted in a single day.

We creep up on an overhanging red alder branch. About six feet from our heads rests a juvenile bald eagle, its broad wings cocked motionless to dry. As we glide directly below, it hardly acknowledges our presence. I spy half a dozen dark shapes in a neighboring alder. Then more. And more. We’re surrounded by dozens of mottled brown youngsters as well as elders that sport the white heads and tails of maturity. Soundless and still, they regard us with eyes four to seven times stronger than ours. Several pick at salmon they’ve hauled up to a branch. Others, shadowed by squabbling gulls, demolish the fleshy fish on gravelly shores flanked by alders, maples, firs, and cottonwoods.

A trumpeter swan whooshes past. A great blue heron departs in a blurred whir. After spotting 50 eagles, I stop counting. Cameras and eyeballs sated, we coast gratefully homeward. —Heather Conn

BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA: Click here to view article as it appears in the magazine 

Samples of my travel writing:

I have written travel pieces on Cuba, India, and Nicaragua plus many places in Canada, including Peggy’s Cove, Nova Scotia; British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast, and the Khutzeymateen Grizzly Bear Sanctuary in northern B.C. (Click here to read my feature in the U.S. magazine Bears.)

MASSACHUSETTS, UNITED STATES:

“Martha’s Vineyard inspires”: 40th anniversary of the Chappaquiddick Bridge incident (Coast Reporter, Sechelt, BC, July 17, 2009, B13)

BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA:

Click below to read
“Sunshine Coast,” Vancouver & Victoria, Travel Colourguide, Formac Publishing, Halifax, NS, 2008 

“The Sunshine Coast: a little out of the way but that’s the beauty of it”:
http://www.seaviewvillaestates.com/images/sunshine.pdf

Here’s a piece I did for Seattle’s PhotoMedia magazine on Helge Pedersen, a round-the-world motorcycle photographer:

GLOBAL TRAVEL BY MOTORCYCLE:

http://photomediagroup.com/?m=200503 (second article from the top)

 NOVA SCOTIA, CANADA (EAST COAST):

“Life in a fishbowl” [Peggy's Cove, N.S.] (Atlantic Insight magazine, Halifax)

My creative nonfiction excerpt “Adrift”, which describes my visit to an exorcism temple in Balaji, India, apppeared in the anthology Chasing Halley’s Comet (Laughing Willow Press, Vancouver, 1995). This was a multi-genre collection of work from the winners of the Federation of BC Writers’ Festival Competition.

INDIA: Click here to read an excerpt from “Adrift” in Chasing Halley’s Comet

Travel writing workshop

I teach travel writing at Capilano University in Sechelt, B.C., Canada. For more information on this half-day workshop, which offers engaging hands-on exercises, query tips, and a great bibliography, see Teaching.

Cuba Travel Article “From the Coast to Cuba,” Coast Reporter, Nov. 11, 2001