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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Guide Weather Subscribe Contact Us January 21, 2005 Accessible to others at all times By Joanie McGowan Ashland Joanie McGowan was a playwright and peace-environmental activist living in Ashland, who took her life Jan. 6, 2005. She was 48. She gave the following speech, transcribed from videotape, at an Ashland Country Fair Town Meeting in September 2001, after the tragic events of 9/11. A friend of Joanie offered this in tribute. I live in Ashland and I work at JPR. I love living here right now and for 31 years. The only real issue is sustainability. The reason for sustainability is so that we can live. And the only reason for us to live is so that we can love. If you go backwards from there, you have to start with love - and love is the hard way. We have a lot of opportunities now to place judgment on each other. We can't do that now. That has to be over. We have to look at anyone who might have caused this (9/11) and love them. You have to look at everyone who is suffering now and love them. You have to look at anyone who is causing pain and you have to love them. It is the hard way. It doesn't really change what is happening with us, what happened on Sept. 11. What it is, is a tremendous opportunity to look at our reality. We only have a very short period of time to maintain sustainability. We have to act now. It's about simplicity - and living very carefully and simply. Simplicity is the key to turning it around - and now is the time, a critical time, our last opportunity to maintain sustainability. It has the be our focus. We have to do it without judgment. We have to act individually and we have to do it now. The other thing we have to do is be accessible to each other at all times - to our children, to our friend's children, to our elders. We must have open doors. We must allow people to ask us for help and give it to them at all times. This is a way of living simply. So call upon each other. My name is Joanie McGowan. My name is in the phone book. If you ever need me, call me. Be well and take good care of each other. On Oct 17, I hope to have a community potluck in Lithia Park. Everyone is invited, with no agenda other than to get together and get to know each other, because that's really all that we have. So bless all of you. Take good care of each other and let's not forget our sense of humor and our smile too. If we do a really good job it just gets better from here. So hang in there. DailyTidings.com Home Page Archives | Revels | Classifieds | Real Estate Guide | Weather | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2005 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Slippers Women's Slippers men's slippers Ceramic Piggy Banks heloc libor rate Calenders 2005 Calender 2005 Accelerate Weight Loss Programs Memory Foam Mattress college loans alternative student loans Matchmaking & Dating Scripts Adventure Travel Conference Calls - $50/Month Security Systems student loan consolidation trillion cut diamonds Currancy Exchange Click Here Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams