COCHRANE— As a part of the ongoing COVID-19 recovery process, the Town’s Social Recovery Task Force will be hosting a speaker series beginning next week.
On Tuesday (Sept. 29), the Town will be hosting renowned leadership speaker David Irvine.
Irvine has more than 35 years of experience as a family therapist, workshop facilitator, lecturer and advisor. He has advanced degrees in human development, science and social work.
Irvine’s talk will revolve around community building in the era of COVID-19.
“I plan on talking about the importance of community, and the importance of finding a space where people can contribute their gifts and how important that is to the human spirit,” he said.
Irvine noted that in the wake of COVID-19, while there is a need to isolate to keep each other and ourselves healthy, it is important to figure out a way to contribute. Contributing is key, he said, in establishing healthy communities and important to maintaining one's personal health.
“Every single person has something to offer this community, and the more diverse it is, the healthier it is,” he said. “When we give, in our life, it stimulates a part of the brain that gives you a high, that gives you a sense of peace and wellbeing."
He added contributing to the community, and giving without expectation of reward is key to living a fulfilled life.
During his talk he will also touch on topics that include personal citizenship, personal responsibility and who is responsible for building a community.
He noted as more and more people take to social media to air their grievances and complaints, to him, that demonstrates a tremendous lack of personal accountability.
When people complain about their culture, they are actually creating a culture of complaint, he said.
Responsible citizenship is the realization that everyone has a role in building the community they are a part of and accountable to the building process, he said.
“When I decide that I’m actually co-creating this world around me it’s the ultimate act of accountability, and we will never have satisfied citizens until we take accountability for the communities where we live.”
Irvine said the interactions he sees online have contributed to our culture in a very negative way.
“We have a culture of complaint, and we have a culture of adolescence, where we point the finger and say ‘everyone else is wrong.’ This is about ownership,” he said.
Irvine used the example of picking up garbage in a park. A responsible citizen would realize that while they are not the one who littered in the park, they are still obligated to clean it up, to better the community as a whole.
That sort of accountability is what healthy community building is all about, he said.
Irvine said he hopes his audience on Sept. 29 will have three main takeaways.
“Value community, value personal responsibility in making that community and value themselves,” he said. “That’s what I hope people will come out of my talk with, are those three things.”
