It was a delight to come together to discuss the book of local islander, Heather Menzies, “Reclaiming the Commons for the Common Good”. I especially appreciated being able to join by Zoom and that Heather Menzies attended the book club meeting and guided our discussion.
Local connection and content skillfully guided and thoughtfully discussed — I loved it and look forward to our next meeting.
Our GES Book Club gathering in February was excellent. On Wednesday February 16, eight of our group gathered to share our experience reading the book is “Reclaiming the Commons for the Common Good”, by Gabriola’s own Heather Menzies.
Heather was in attendance, which made the session even more interesting and inspiring. The book itself is fascinating, connecting the past “Commoning” style of community in Scotland, the home of Heather’s ancestors, with our current world environment which has strayed so far from the Commons and so much into our capitalistic and exploitative economy. And yet there are examples of Commons today, of course even here on Gabriola, and Heather devotes a chapter to that as well.
The book ends with a “manifesto” for how we can get back to that reciprocal and respectful relationship envisioned by The Commons, and what each one of us could do to further the cause of community. It was a lively discussion, with real life lessons and many different views freely expressed. We look forward to our next Book Club gathering which will be on April 7, and the book is “The Wild in Us” by Thirza Voisey, another talented Gabriola author.