Mary Brian
Hello everyone!
I have enjoyed reading about your lives and where you have ended up. I notice all the husbands and grandchildren, and realize that for some unexplained reason my family has remained quite small. Just myself, and two grown-up children. No grandchildren! But life has been, and continues to be, wonderful, ever-changing and interesting!!
Home is on Vancouver Island,BC, just south of a small fishing village called Cowichan Bay...
Here is how my life has unfolded:
After two years at Bishop's U, and then graduation from UBC in 1968 (psychology and english), I worked for a year in Ottawa for the NRC. I loved the work, editing and writing, even if life in Ottawa felt a bit staid. However when one older man in the office, said, “I have been sitting at this same desk for 40 years...” it woke me up. Soon afterwards, at the wedding of a friend (Patsy Winters) in the Laurentians, I met another friend from Bishop's University who was setting off to travel around the world and she was looking for a companion. Off I went with her, and it was about 10 years before I returned to Canada.
Life in Europe was the start of my real education. My travelling mate and I hitchhiked through France and the Netherlands, hungrily imbibing the art, culture, and history, then up through Denmark and Sweden to ski in Norway, then across a stormy North Sea to England, where we both got jobs. In London, I discovered Eurythmy, and that became the focus of my life. Eurythmy is movement to the sounds of speech, and also of music. I learned German and graduated (as a Eurythmist) after four years in Stuttgart, Germany. Then I spent a few more years practicing this art in Bern, Switzerland. Hikes over high green tracks under the blue skies in Switzerland to the clanging of cow bells remain among my favourite memories!
I returned to Canada and taught eurythmy to children in Waldorf Schools in Vancouver, BC, and then on Vancouver Island, BC, for a total of about 15 years. Both my children grew up here on the Island..... quite a rural life with lots of hikes, potlucks, craft and 4-H fairs, and rivers to swim in.
After problems with my feet from working on cement floors, I stopped teaching and trained in a version of acupressure called Jin Shin Do (based on Traditional Chinese Medicine). In the UK, I also did a training in a therapeutic specialization of eurythmy. A highlight was the opportunity to do practicums in Anthroposophical hospitals in Germany. I was so impressed with the quality of care and rehabilitation which included therapies (painting, clay work, drama, speech, biography) for the soul/spirit as well as for the body (homeopathic medicines, therapeutic eurythmy, rhythmic massage with aromatic oils, and physio). Later, I was fortunate to be able to practice therapeutic eurythmy alongside an Anthroposophical doctor at Natura Medical Arts Center in Barrie, Ontario, for five years.
About eight years ago I returned to Cowichan Bay, Vancouver Island, where I bump into children I used to teach, but now they are grown up and have their own children! That does date me a bit!. I still give individual therapeutic eurythmy sessions and occasionally do Jin Shin Do. I also teach eurythmy part-time in a small Waldorf farm school. I like to work (mostly weed!) in my vegetable garden that overlooks the green expanses of a farmer›'s field and misty hills. I am grateful for the very active healing, musical and artistic community here.
My son Paul, born in 1984, is a journalist, who has just returned to BC to figure out “what next?” after time abroad and in Brazil. Unlike myself, who spent my education memorizing for exams instead of understanding (sorry, Mr. Scammell!), Paul has an amazing comprehension of history and geopolitical events. My daughter, Tara, born in 1986, has worked in Europe and Egypt for the UN affiliated IOM (International Organization of Migration) and is now a journalist in Berlin, Germany. My children have certainly expanded my horizons!
I wish everyone good health and activity, as well as moments of tranquillity, understanding, and joy in this speeding-ahead world.
We only have a few more years to appreciate each day and to do what we are able!
Please do call, if you are ever out this way!
Mary