They Ask Me Why I Sing So Loud

Introducing my brand new, hot off The Collins Foundation Press, poetry book, They Ask Me Why I Sing So Loud.

Here is what poet, Susan McCaslin had to say about the book:

“With a big cosmological bang, a shout, a creation song, Pauline Le Bel’s They Ask Me Why I Sing So Loud opens with a hymn to creation, to planet earth, to our common mother Gaia. Then the poems plunge us into the particularities of a woman’s everyday life, moving through the stages of childhood, adulthood, and elder-dom. Her compelling lyrics dance us through her taut word-craft: “I’ll make sentences/ gather nouns and verbs/ the occasional unnecessary adjective/ the mighty metaphor/ pile them together/ like stones on the beach.” Le Bel is above all else a praise-singer whose poems call us to participate in the universal song.” Susan McCaslin, author of Painter, Poet, Mountain: After Cézanne (Quattro Books, 2016)

Available by email: songspinner(at)shaw(dot)ca $15 plus shipping

Review of They Ask Me Why I Sing So Loud: “I loved reading your writings….so grounding, so poignant, so breathtaking. I am inspired to think about the air I’m breathing so it’s not such a casual thing anymore. So many gifts you give. Thank you.” Joan Caplan

Book launch: August 13, 3-5 pm at Rustique Bistro, Bowen Island. Music by Pauline Le Bel and Teun Schut, musical cookies, refreshments, and of course reading from my book.

Becoming Intimate with the Earth Bethlehem Centre May 12-13

Becoming Intimate with the Earth:

a Work and Play Shop with Pauline Le Bel

We have a new sacred narrative for the world – a scientific cosmology that redefines the role of humans and offers hope in these challenging times. Pauline Le Bel, in her book, Becoming Intimate with the Earth, offers powerful ways to live inside that story.

With wisdom, wit, poetry and music, Pauline will guide workshop participants through the Ways of Intimacy described in her book: Wonder, Emptiness, Imagining, Transformation and Community. Immerse yourself in Earth’s beauty and generosity. Experience how you are embraced by, and embedded in, the natural world. And come away with your own intimacy practices.

Review: “Science-rich, artful, soul-nourishing.” Michael Dowd, author, Thank God for Evolution

For those who would like to purchase the book before the retreat, please email Pauline at songspinner(at)shaw(dot)ca or send a cheque for $25 to Pauline at P.O. Box 412, Bowen Island BC V0N 1G0.

 Collaborating with Bethlehem Centre

Date: Fri May 12 – Sat May 13, 2017
Fri 7 – 9 pm, Sat 10 am – 4 pm
Location: Bethlehem Centre, 2371 Arbot Rd. Nanaimo, BC

 Suggested donation:  Residential $198: includes overnight, three meals and two snacks. Please do not let cost deter you, call us about our scholarship fund

Register:  www.bethlehemretreatcentre.com

Salmon on their way to Paris

Many thanks to Cheoken, Lisa and Denise who will be in Paris for the UN Climate Summit and are bringing the salmon with them.

Photo by Michael Brunk / nwlens.com

They are part of a collective of artists and community organizers who work with 350 Seattle to support each other in making the world a better place. They practice “celebration art” to awaken the heart and inspire people to action. I am unable to go to Paris but through my contribution to their Indiegogo fundraiser “my” salmon will be going. More information at:

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/international-salmon-delegation-for-the-climate#/updates

Bon voyage!

Telling New Stories for Our Uncertain Times

What better place to spark your imagination than the magical VanDusen Garden in Vancouver?

Come and join me as we take back the power to tell our own stories. We have become disenchanted and disempowered by the stories of the generals, the politicians, and the corporations. One of the most evolutionary acts in which we can engage is the telling of our own stories. People the world over are speaking out, telling stories about their land, their right to collect rainwater, to protect their mountaintop and coastline. In a lighthearted and nurturing atmosphere, participants will be guided in the spontaneous development of their own transformative stories, perhaps realizing Thomas Berry’s belief that by learning to tell the story of the place, we may find our place in that story. No storytelling experience necessary.

Saturday, November 28, 2015 10 am – 4 pm

VanDusen Botanical Garden, 5251 Oak Street, Vancouver B.C.

$70. Please bring your lunch. Refreshments provided.

To register: earthliteracies@gmail.com   250-220-4601

The Leap

This is one of the most important movements in our country today. It supports reconciliation with aboriginal people and with the Earth. It calls for true democracy, including energy democracy.

“The time for energy democracy has come: we believe not just in changes to our energy sources, but that wherever possible communities should collectively control these new energy systems.”

I urge you to sign the Manifesto and spread the word. It’s time to help Canada be all that it was meant to be.

IN THIS ELECTION IT’S THE SMALL THINGS THAT COUNT

The choice of where to place my X on October 19th is perplexing. Are you like me? Worn out from the tedious debates about who will best manage a healthy economy and who will balance the budget? There is no talk of managing the health and vitality of the rivers, lakes, oceans, forests, and topsoil, which are the foundation of our economy – not to mention our lives. There is no talk of balancing human desires for stuff and the ability of Mother Earth to provide them.

I’m tired of the popularity contests, the promises of tax breaks and jobs and yet more hypothetical jobs. Our electoral system is broken. There must be a more rational, more wholesome way to judge the contenders. In desperation, I’ve created another yardstick. And that is to assess who is best with babies, because after all we’re doing this for the next generation, aren’t we? We’re creating a healthy Canada so the babies of today will have a good life, so they can breathe clean air, drink clean water, eat food grown in healthy soil, have access to quality education and engage in work that is satisfying and productive. Right? Listen carefully and you will notice that most candidates don’t even mention babies. I suppose because babies don’t have the vote. Yet.

So I’ve decided to cast my vote for the candidate who will put babies above everything else.

Howe Sound – Defending Our Home

On Sunday, March 29th, a busload of Bowen Islanders travelled to Squamish to stand with Skwomesh Action and defend Howe Sound against an LNG proposal. The proposal includes the fracking of the land, the use and abuse of exorbitant amounts of Howe Sound water which would be returned to the Sound – chlorinated and hot – and super tankers navigating our narrow busy waterway.

We marched in the pouring rain with 500 others who no longer want to see our beautiful inlet used as a garbage dump.  Air and water pollution from pulp mills and Britannia Mine led to Howe Sound being declared a Dead Zone in the 1980’s. Recent successful attempts to clean Howe Sound have led to a dramatic recovery. The herring have returned, and dolphins and whales. 

We are determined to build on that recovery, to protect the Sound for kayakers, tourists, hikers, boaters, the whales, seals, dolphins and glass sponges. We were brought together by the words of Joyce Williams of the Squamish Nation. “God forbid our land should be totally devastated and the children ask: What did you do to stop it?’

Becoming Workshop on Bowen

I’m really thrilled to have been approached by the Bowen Island Yoga Studio. They asked if I would present my Becoming Intimate with the Earth workshop on Bowen Island. We’ll be spending the day at Rivendell Retreat Centre, enjoying the magnificent mountain and sea views. Looking forward to being with the earthy, wise, and adventurous people who attend my workshops.

Interview with Carolyn Baker on Progressive Radio Network

This Sunday (January 18) I will be interviewed on The LifeBoat Hour, a radio show hosted by Carolyn Baker. Carolyn has been an adjunct professor of history and psychology, a psychotherapist, and has written several books, including Collapsing Consciously: Transformative Truths for Turbulent Times. I met Carolyn two years ago at one of her workshops and look forward to speaking with her. If you miss the program, you can listen to it later and download the episode, if you like.

Here’s the announcement on her website:

Join Me Sunday Night, January 18 With Pauline Le Bel:
Becoming Intimate With The Earth

How do we become intimate with the earth? How do music, art, and, poetry sustain us in turbulent times? Join me at 9PM Eastern, 8PM Central, 7PM Mountain, and 6PM Pacific at http://lifeboathour.podbean.com/

Christmas Bird Count

Whether snow or slush or rain, nothing stops the most determined bird watchers. So four of us trudged for three hours around Killarney Lake yesterday on Bowen Island to count the birds of winter. We had a glorious time spotting Ravens and Wrens, and listening for the high-pitched call of the tiny Kinglets. The highlight was the sight of two Trumpeter Swans walking very gingerly over the frozen lake until they came to open water. With a wingspan of over seven feet they are impressive. This is their winter playground, having left the cold frozen tundra of the north. They form a pair bond here – they mate for life – and will go back north in the spring to start a family.