Becky Conner - October 17, 2019

I'd like to begin here by offering a tremendous thank you to Shanti O'Connor for connecting me to Becky. We came so close to missing this incredible conversation due to some electronic mail complications, but we managed to recover and I'd say we are all better for it — all, in this case, being you and me and Becky, too. I met Becky at her home in Sisters and she intercepted me outside as I approached her driveway. We immediately went for a short walk to the Wychus Creek, which winds it way through the trees at the end of her street. We talked at length on its bank and chatted about the creek and its eddies as a metaphor for life. I don't fully understand — or maybe it's just that I don't have the most efficient language for it — but there is an almost immediate connection when I meet certain people. And that connection allows for vulnerability and sincerity in a unique and rare way — a way that I don't witness all that often in my daily routines. Perhaps it's a recognition of openness or a spirit-to-spirit (whatever that means to you) vibration. I suppose we all may have different words for it. At any rate, whatever it is and whatever you call it, it was there with Becky. We carried our conversation back to her home and we sat in her kitchen over a cup of delicious and nourishing tea while we prepared to record. I am so happy to offer you that portion of our time together here, but I wish that you could have witnessed our entire exchange. It was full — full of sharing and learning and some laughing and crying. Times like this one continue to amaze me. This connection continues to inspire me. Our capacity for relationship and listening actually maybe be the only thing that inspires me. Our connection with another is the most powerful thing I've encountered and the joy I experience from any other thing doesn't come close to touching it. Thank you so much, Becky, from the bottom of my heart, for meeting me, seeing me, hearing me, and sharing with me.