"The wonder of the Kootenays has been shaped by those strong individuals who have followed their passions to build genuine and empowered lives. This book inspires and motivates." - Ryan Oakley, Creator of Humans of Nelson |
Delve into the lives of twelve remarkable individuals who call the Kootenay region of British Columbia home. Featuring entrepreneurs, artists, outdoors people, activists, farmers, community builders, teachers, nurses and more, Kootenay Inspired shares their secrets for overcoming enormous challenges, following passions against all odds, and achieving the one goal we’re all striving for: meaning.
With stunning photography and intimate life stories you’ll never forget, Kootenay Inspired offers deep insight into the region’s most precious resource: its extraordinary people. Step into their shoes, and share in their wisdom for living a purposeful, authentic and inspired life. 50% of proceeds will be donated to local charities Tipi Camp and Wildsight to further empower and inspire our community. We are proud to have made our first donation to Tipi Camp to send kids to camp this summer!
"It's a beautiful thing to discover insight and inspiration via your neighbours. With this book Paul has captured the tales that encourage us to live with more intent and purpose.” - Vince Hempsall, Kootenay Mountain Culture magazine |
Tanya Wilson...While Alex’s descent into schizophrenia dominated much of Tanya’s experience, she was also building a deep relationship with the land. After a couple of years living on the mountain, with barely enough food to survive, Tanya began researching and harvesting edible plants from the forest, and noticing the connections between the plants and animals. The relationships in the ecosystem around her were coming alive and it became clear that she was part of it... |
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Jon Meyer...“The intention was never to have a grandiose coffee company,” says Jon. “It was to understand coffee. We wanted to produce a quality product, to have a lot of fun, to learn a lot, to have a viable operation, and to do it with a lot of grace.” In the first few years, Jon often worked eighty hours a week, and even held other jobs to stay afloat. His dedication to his coffee and his customers was contagious, and people were drawn in until the lines stretched out the doors... |
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Lucas Myers...A big part of Lucas’s professional challenge has been to create his own measures of success. To do this, he has had to break away from the idea of success that he learned in theatre school - that success is only achieved through moving to the big city and working in commercial theatre and American television. “It’s about leaving yourself open to discover your own idea of success as opposed to having one imposed on you,” says Lucas. “How do I define success? Well, if I can find that balance where I’m supporting my family, feeling artistically fulfilled, and generally content. And if I can get a bike ride in every once in a while.”... |
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Karuna Erickson...“Every day was a new adventure,” says Karuna. “It was amazing to watch the animals. We saw lots of packs of wolves coming through, and all the birds. We even got chased by an eighteen-hundred-pound bull moose. We had to chip through two and a half feet of ice to get our water in the winter, then the chainsaw broke and we had to cut all our wood by hand using one of those two-person saws. We thought, ‘this will either kill us or we’ll be together for life.’”... |
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John Cooper...“I don’t paint to make masterpieces,” says John. “I don’t paint to make money. I don’t paint to be an artist. I paint because I paint, and it’s like a roller-coaster ride. I’m in there fencing with it, slugging it out, and at last some order comes out of the chaos, and then that order moves to some other order, and in the succession of the order I arrange my thoughts and ideas. It’s like play. As an artist I get to play with and present ideas. Painting is communication.”... |
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Luanne Armstrong...When they weren’t working, Luanne and her siblings spent a lot of time in the woods, often riding the wild horses that their neighbors would catch and break. “They would just give me a stick and we would get on these crazy horses and ride all over the place at a dead run, because that’s how the horses went. We were completely wild kids. We had knives, axes, dogs, guns, bicycles, and horses. Everything any kid could want. Life was great, if you survived.”... |
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Mary Woodward...“I used to wonder why people always wanted to show pictures of their grandkids, and now I know: because I’m so darn proud of them. It gives my life meaning to know that there’s going to be more generations of my family. I would do anything for my family. I would give up anything for them.”... |
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Marilyn James...“This is a place where the landscape speaks to me, where stories come to me. It takes care of me, takes care of my hurts, my sorrows, my joy. It is where I feel the most at home. It is where I want to die. How could I not be grateful and be compelled to uphold the responsibility to maintain this beauty? The colonial oppressive machinery has taught people to give up, to roll over. People do that before they even get started. If black people gave up there would still be slavery. If Martin Luther King gave up there would still be black oppression. I just can’t be a party to that. I can’t give up.”... |
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Mary Ann Morris
Despite the busyness of family life, Mary Ann has stayed focused on helping those in need. “I remember reading to my son and delighting in his beauty and innocence, but at the same time being painfully aware that there were horrible human rights violations being perpetrated and people suffering. It would be so nice to not be preoccupied with the state of the world, but that’s not often my reality. It is what I am. You can covet another state of being ‘til the cows come home, but ultimately you must surrender to who you are and work with it. My work is my way of being. It feeds my spiritual and emotional needs. And it’s not all altruistic. My work has given tons of meaning to my life. It’s made my life so much richer.”
J.J. Verigin...“Before my dad passed away, one of the best internal feelings that I’ve had in the course of my life is the feeling that my father and I were both working towards the same ends, trying to advance the same principles, and strongly believing in what we were doing, and the reasons for doing it. I will keep on getting nourished by the wonderful diversity in which I find myself - diversity of people, environmental diversity, and by other people who strive to make a positive impact. What more could a person ask for?”... |
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Brian Cross...“I never knew what I wanted to be when I grew up, but I was pretty concerned that I had to be able to ski,” says Brian. By following his love for skiing and the outdoors, and not being afraid of hard work, Brian feels that his life opened up like a book on a table. |
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Ricardo Hubbs...“To me, one of the magical things of coming to the Kootenays was discovering the meaning of community. Seeing all these people who know each other and love each other, and celebrate the turning of the seasons together, and share their gardens, it really inspired me to keep creating community and become a cultural creative. It’s like planting seeds in a garden you may never see grow. But when I die, I’ll feel like I’ve planted seeds for a better world, whether they ever sprout, whether there is the environment for that to happen, I don’t know. But if people have communities where they can help take care of each other’s children, where they can rely on each other, where they can take care of each other, that’s what is going to get us through what’s coming down the pipeline.”... |
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