by Sarah Chu
March 2008
Kathleen Gibson describes herself as a “dilettante” because she has dabbled in many different things, but that word also means she is drawn to the richness and complexity of real life. She is passionate about how ideas move in a society from being radical to being mainstream. She is drawn to the processes by which groups of different people resolve conflicts. It is the interconnections between things that fascinate her. What were the influences that created this dynamic woman?
There were influences from family and church. She was born in 1953 in Victoria. Her father, who was then sixty-one years old, had earlier emigrated from England to Alberta in 1927, buying a half section for $1 an acre near Edmonton. He was not only a farmer but a linguist and a mountain climber of some renown. He was twenty years older than her mother. When Kathleen was four, her father died in a climbing accident on Mt Howson near Smithers. Since Kathleen’s memories of him are more like snapshots from her mother’s remembrances, he became an adored, almost mythical figure, and she was later to pursue his interests in her own way, in languages, climbing, and agriculture. She was to emulate his courage in meeting life’s challenges.
Kathleen’s first years were spent at her grandmother’s home on Mt Newton Cross Road in Saanich. There her grandmother’s love of art, music, theater, books, and storytelling gave Kathleen early experiences in forms of communication. Following her father’s death in 1957, Kathleen, her mother and grandmother moved to Victoria, next door to her mother’s sister, who had married into the Scott-Moncrieff family, well-known at St John’s. In fact, Kathleen has been a member of St John’s (although not continuously) since 1958 and currently sings in our choir.
At school at Norfolk House in the 1960s, Kathleen was teased for her accent and for being bright and “nerdy”. She acquired a lifelong distaste for sarcastic humour. In grade eleven she lost her grip on math when her favourite math teacher died, and that decision was to limit her choices in university later on when she would have liked to go further with sciences.
What other influences contributed to Kathleen becoming a leader in group process and the dynamics of change? At University of Victoria she first studied humanities and languages, and became interested in biography and documentary. In 1972 she moved on to St Andrew’s University in Scotland, her mother’s alma mater, for a Master’s degree in history in art, specifically art as social commentary to reflect shifts in ideas. Always she was drawn to real people and real issues. In 1980 she took courses in advertising and public relations at Grant McEwan College in Edmonton. There she delighted in journalism, photography, documentary film, and graphic design and resisted the predictions of disapproving friends that she would end up as just a “shill for crooks”.
Kathleen found spiritual growth as well. She studied the existential philosophers and learned the art of formal argument. She went on retreat at a Cistercian monastery run by Irish monks near Edinburgh. There she experienced the Christian life lived in the fullness of God’s presence. It was a life-changing event in which faith moved from head to heart. In the 1980s she encountered Matthew Fox’s creation spirituality and the ideas of Brian Swimme and Joanna Macy. In the 1990s she earned a certificate in Conflict Resolution at the Justice Institute in Vancouver. Later she connected with the Whidbey Institute for Earth, Spirit, and the Human Future in Washington State to study “leadership for the new commons.”
We see in Kathleen’s work life the evolution of her talent for communications, group process, and conflict resolution. In 1982 she took a job as communications officer for the BC Federation of Agriculture, a farmers’ lobby group, and her portfolio included pesticides. She first learned about sustainable agriculture through the Rodale Institute. In 1986 she parted company with the lobby group, sensing that their goals were not sustainable. After a brief first marriage, during which she worked on workplace management issues, Kathleen did a stint with SALTS (Sail and Life Training Society). She also lectured at U Vic on process in multi-party public conflict resolution.
The 1990s brought husband Chris Boatman into Kathleen’s life. She was researching and writing feature articles for science textbooks on diverse subjects from polar bears to space shuttles. She moved to Vancouver to be with Chris and to work as a technical writer on environmental management systems. In 1997 Kathleen’s mother died, leaving them her house in Victoria. Chris and Kathleen left their jobs and Vancouver, and in 1998 launched their own consulting firm and rebuilt the house. Chris became an investment consultant and Kathleen became a food systems policy analyst. She has since managed a project called “Growing Green” (policy and law reform for sustainable food systems in BC). Currently she manages the Meat Industry Enhancement Strategy, a province-wide project to assist meat processors to comply with new food safety regulations. She also, until recently, facilitated Faith in Action, a multi-faith group meeting at St John’s to address negative changes in BC’s welfare laws. These are only some highlights of her extensive resume.
Kathleen thinks of the process of changing ideas in a society as being in layers. The myths and beliefs that drive the system are at the bottom. In the middle is a layer of emotion - the “weather” in the system. This is characterized by the stages of grief (denial, anger, etc.). The visible material at the top is simply a by-product of what is below. Real change happens when people engage with new stories and find a way through the “weather” to new results.
Kathleen quotes theologian Matthew Fox: “Both therapists and politicians should join the mystics in leading us, gently but surely, into the wounds of our times, because if we did not live in such denial, we could develop the collective imagination necessary to deal with our problems.” She takes inspiration from Joanna Macy’s description of the Shambhala warrior as one who goes into the fortress to dismantle the weapons.
In both faith and work, it is the relationships between parts of the whole, and how those relationships can be transformed, that are important to Kathleen.