Christine Mason
CHRISTINE MASON is the author of Indivisible, Love in the Face of Everything, & her upcoming Bending the Bow. She's the co-founder of New Earth, a farm-based retreat center for Integral Activism on Hawai'i. She convenes, hosts and facilitates conferences, salons, and events at the intersection of science and tech, spirituality, human optimization, society and institutions. She serves as Editor in Chief of Enter Magazine, sits on the board of GRIP, and is chairman of Now Labs, Inc. She's a mom, grandmother, and a long time practitioner and teacher of yoga, meditation and tantra. Follow her at xtinem.com, or on Amazon.
3 words to describe Nature?
Creative. Destructive. True.
3 things Nature taught you?
All things are interconnected.
We are always provided for.
How elegantly things adapt.
And more!! The resonance of beauty and that an ecosystem in balance sounds a harmonic chord, (out of balance there is dissonance - as in all systems).Humility and Awe.
3 most treasured Nature spots?
The golden sunrise rocks in the high desert at Joshua Tree, Southern California.
The long slung white sand beach at Stinson, in Northern California.
The round stone beach at Washington Harbor, on Washington Island in Lake Michigan, surrounded by White Birch forest.
And more!! The ice caves above Aspen, Colorado and the giant rolling dunes in southern Morocco.
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel…?
Surrendered. Integrated. Rebalanced.
When you see a forest, it makes you feel…?
Peaceful. Quiet. Curious.
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel…?
Alive. Creative. Urgent.
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel…?
Grateful. Potentiated. Connected to all beings.
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel…?
Like a child in the summer rains.
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel…?
Lonely
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
I’m a planet earth person.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
11
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
Cresting a ridge at sunrise on snowshoes, my father next to me, deep fresh snow; the morning light catching the crystalline crust just so, a thousand rainbow prisms refracting in every direction, against a crisp cold bright blue sky; cheeks red, legs strong, eyes wide open; a suspended indelible moment of pure beauty.
Brooke Garnett
BROOKE GARNETT is the founder of MAYAMAYA, which specializes in tailoring seamless, premium journeys around the world. MAYAMAYA is a small boutique company and they work intimately with a select group of loyal and discerning clients. With expansive destination knowledge covering over 50 countries and some of the most remote parts of the globe, Brooke has been recognized as a world leader in the travel industry and recently celebrated her fifth consecutive year on Travel + Leisure’s A-List. While Brooke’s travel adventures would take pages to relate, some of her more recent memorable experiences include learning to fish with an Aboriginal community in the Kimberley, a private weeklong helicopter tour of the Scottish Highlands, trekking with the Gorillas in Rwanda, and exploring the secret treasures of Jordan and Egypt. Brooke loves to cook, paint, and any sort of outdoor adventure. She has worked as a divemaster in Thailand and Honduras and is an accomplished photographer. Many of you have likely seen her GoPro video of an orphaned pelican flying over Lake Tanganyika, Tanzania which has gone viral with almost 6 million views on YouTube.
3 words to describe Nature?
Powerful, fragile, harmony
3 things Nature taught you?
Resilience, respect, true beauty
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Great Bear Rainforest, Canada
Hartmann’s Valley, Namib Desert, Namibia
Tasmanian Coast, Australia
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Tiny
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Clean
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
Nervous
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Calm
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Excited
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Alive
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
30% desert, 25% Mountain, 25% Ocean, 20% Forest
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
8
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
My grandfather had a large piece of land in the middle of nowhere in Western Pennsylvania. As a child, I went here for every school holiday and it was the best – playing outside all day catching frogs with no structures in sight. There were some buffalo on the property and one day we found a baby buffalo that was left in a ditch. We rescued the buffalo and bottle fed it back to health.
John Montalbano
JOHN MONTALBANO recently served as Vice Chairman of RBC Wealth Management and Head of RBC Global Asset Management during the period of 2008 to 2016. RBC Global Asset Management ranked among the largest 50 asset managers in the world, with more than $375 billion is assets under management. John is a Trustee of the Killam Trusts, and is a director on many community boards, including the foundations of St. Paul’s Hospital, The Vancouver Police, Take a Hike Youth at Risk, Junior Achievement of BC and also chairs the capital campaign for The Vancouver Public Library. Recently appointed to the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and the Asia Pacific Foundation, John holds a finance degree from the University of British Columbia and an Honorary Doctor of Letters from Emily Carr University of Art & Design.
3 words to describe Nature?
Miraculous
Precious
Vulnerable
3 things Nature taught you?
1. Whenever I am in nature, it always re-educates me that there is so much more to life than my urban reality.
2. Nature has taught me to be respectful of it, to relish in it and to rediscover myself with it.
3. Nature has taught me that it rarely lies. If it looks distressed, then it is likely distressed.
3 most treasured spots?
1. Haida Gwaii
2. A savanna in Botswana
3. The tidal pools off Sonora Island
When I look at the ocean, it makes me feel…?
Whole
When I see a forest it makes me feel…?
The need to get into the trees.
When I see a volcano, it makes me feel…?
Wondrous of what lurks within it.
When I see a sunrise, it makes me feel…?
Renewed; when I see a sunset, it makes me feel… that I have lived to have seen another day in my children’s lives.
When I hear thunder, it makes me feel…?
Unsettled
When I hear the wind howling, it makes me feel…?
Concerned for those who do not have shelter.
Am I an Ocean, Mountain, Forest or Desert person?...?
Vancouver is deep within me, therefore, I am an Ocean, Mountain and Forest person. One is not complete without the others.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
9- being near an ocean, mountain or forest is important for me to feel grounded.
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
Growing up in a working class family did not afford us an opportunity to see the world very often. The anticipation of my first overseas vacation had me all excited about the destination, only to find that it was the journey that I remember most. Flying through the clouds, for the first time, at a window seat, left me in awe and feeling like I was flying along side the angels…ok, in truth, I thought I was on a magic carpet, flying above earth and into space; but being raised Catholic, I quickly found myself becoming consumed with guilt because of my indulgent thoughts and, therefore, traded the carpet in for wings. Until that trip, I could never have imagined how beautiful clouds were, or how big, how broad and how bumpy. I have flown over 3 million miles and every take off would bring me back to that magic carpet ride.
David Labistour
DAVID LABISTOUR is a Board Member for Aritzia and former Chief Executive Officer of Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC), Canada’s leading outdoor retailer.
With a professional experience spanning over 30 years working with companies such as Adidas, Woolworths, one of South Africa’s most successful retailers, and Aritzia - David’s diversified international experience has covered Design and Product Development in apparel, gear and food, retail product management, Brand management and complex Strategic planning and execution. His Management and Leadership experience has developed in Private, Public, Co-op and military environments.
David is MEC’s first CEO to have been appointed from within the 46-year-old organization. In his former capacity as the Senior Manager of Buying and Design, David was part of the Executive team that transformed the MEC Brand and shaped MEC’s award-winning recognition as Canada’s Best and Most Trusted Brand whilst equally encompassing sustainability initiatives operation wide.
David lives in Deep Cove with his wife Lianne, sons Liam and Felix, and indulges in a “jack of all trades, master of none” approach to a range of activities including such things as skiing, snowboarding, mountain biking, kite surfing.
3 words to describe Nature?
We. Are. Nature
3 things Nature taught you?
Consider the bigger system of things.
Nothing is simple or linear
Nature is a part of us and we are a part of nature
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Too many to pick one. The world is full of wonder. From your front door to the wildest and remotest of places
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Like riding a wave
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Like climbing a tree
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
I have never seen a live volcano up close
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Sunrise = new possibilities. A beautiful sunset on a warm evening = tranquility/ relaxation
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Depends on what my situation is. In the wild = batten the hatches. At home = energy
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Depends on my situation. On the beach = time to kite.
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Ocean first, then mountain.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
See question 1
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
I grew up on a farm in the foothills of the mountains, went to school on a nature reserve and holidayed on the ocean. That was my childhood.