Art Card - Connection (Whale)

Take a deep breath. Feel the air flow into your lungs. Let it nourish your body. Return the air to the world by gently exhaling. Connect.

Now reflect on where that air came from. Those same molecules that make up this air have been inhaled by your friends, neighbours and family. They also nourished your ancestors long ago. Those exact gases have entered the lungs of the creatures that surround us—from the tiniest of insects to the greatest of whales. Once exhaled, it is absorbed by plants where it is cleansed and transformed—only to be carried away by the winds. On this little blue planet amongst the endless entirety of the universe, we share so much. This is connection.

My K’omoks ancestors have a profound bond to the territory that has sustained us since time immemorial. They wrote songs in praise of the environment and paid homage to the creatures of the land, sea and air. One of my grandfather’s main crests was the killer whale and actually saw one in the clouds above the glacier as a premonition before he passed. I was born a few short months later. This is connection.

Last summer, residents of the Comox Valley were surprised to see a lone transient orca enter the harbour and remain here for nearly two weeks. It caused us to reflect on the world around us—to become aware of our small part in the larger world. How are our actions and inactions threatening the killer whale population? What can we do to ensure that our descendants get to experience the same world as we do—from the largest of whales to the tiniest of insects? This is connection.
-Andy Everson

8 3/4" x 6 1/4" Card
12" x 9" Matted Card