Toronto Oasis, Secular Community

Our event starts at 11 am on the 2nd floor of the Koffler House (569 Spadina Avenue).  Social 10:45am – 11:00am.

On their website the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) defines trauma as follows:

“Trauma is the lasting emotional response that often results from living through a distressing event. Experiencing a traumatic event can harm a person’s sense of safety, sense of self, and ability to regulate emotions and navigate relationships. Long after the traumatic event occurs, people with trauma can often feel shame, helplessness, powerlessness and intense fear.” (https://www.camh.ca/en/health-info/mental-illness-and-addiction-index/trauma)

This week our featured speaker, Laval Martin, will lead us in an interactive session, discussing the nature of trauma, how to recognize its presence, and how to heal and move forward.  Specifically, Laval will address the following:

– Triggers and what to do if you’re triggered during this talk

– What counts as trauma?

– Recognizing the trauma response

– The four stages of moving through trauma

– Tools and strategies for healing

– When to seek professional therapy

– Does the trauma go away?

– Acceptance and (maybe) forgiveness

Laval Martin is a corporate trainer on topics such as resilience, conflict resolution, emotional intelligence, and mindfulness (lavalmartinconsulting.com). Holding a Master of Social Work degree, he also provides psychotherapy and relationship therapy (wisemindtoronto.com). Additionally, Laval has practiced various martial arts and self-defence systems since 2001, with a focus on avoiding and de-escalating conflict. He is a full-instructor of Senshido and also holds an instructor certification with Safe International. Laval has been hosting a monthly Beer and Philosophy Night for over four years.

Our guest musician will be Erik Bleich. Erik is a singer songwriter whose genre blends classic pop and folk traditions – from street lit lullabies to manic, rambling romps.  It’s his vision of folk music for the Internet Age.  Check out his website: www.erikbleich.com

This week Lola Bradford will do the Community Moment.  The Community Moment is a chance for one of our own to share their journey, thoughts about life, or something personal about themselves.  It could be light and silly or it could be emotionally heavy.  Either way, you’ll learn more about a valued person in our community.  Interested in presenting your own Community Moment?  Contact Tania at 416oasis@gmail.com.

You can RSVP for this on our Meetup page at:
https://www.meetup.com/Toronto-Oasis/events/260749110/

Our event starts at 11 am on the 2nd floor of the Koffler House (569 Spadina Avenue).  Social 10:45am – 11:00am.

This Sunday, join us for a discussion with Citizenship Judge Hardish K. Dhaliwal about the meaning of citizenship to new Canadians and to Canada. 

Judge Dhaliwal is responsible for making decisions on some citizenship applications, presiding over citizenship ceremonies and administering the oath of citizenship to new citizens. She is also active in promoting Canadian citizenship and civic values in communities across the Greater Toronto Area.

Judge Dhaliwal is Indian by birth, English by upbringing, and Canadian by choice. For many new Canadians issues of citizenship and belonging are equally as complicated.

Hardish has BSc (Hons) in Mathematics, an MA in Gender in Development, and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. She has over 25 years of senior management experience in the private, public and NGO sectors, and has worked throughout Europe, Asia, Africa and Central America. Outside of work, Hardish is a writer, Quaker and Sikh.

Our featured musician will be William Beauvais.  William has been teaching, performing, composing, recording and improvising music for over 40 years.  He has written music for harpist Sharlene Wallace, baritone Doug MacNaughton and has performed with New Music Concerts, and Tapestry New Opera.  His seven CD’s are available through the Canadian music centre.  For more information, check out these links: https://www.musiccentre.ca/node/37581/biography  https://soundcloud.com/william-beauvais 

Michael Dorman will do our Community Moment this week.

The Community Moment is a chance for one of our own to share their journey, thoughts about life, or something personal about themselves.  It could be light and silly or it could be emotionally heavy.  Either way, you’ll learn more about a valued person in our community.  Interested in presenting your own Community Moment?  Contact Tania at 416oasis@gmail.com.

You can RSVP for this on our Meetup page at:
https://www.meetup.com/Toronto-Oasis/events/jdmkqqyzgbsb/

Our event starts at 11 am on the 2nd floor of the Koffler House (569 Spadina Avenue).  Social 10:45am – 11:00am.

This week our featured speaker, Clive Hannah, will give a talk inspired by Gary Chapman’s book: The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love that Lasts.  Clive has been addicted to personal development for the last eight years. Gary Chapman’s book is one of the frameworks that he has woven into his life.  A quote from the book: “Everyone experiences love differently, and it’s easy to miss the mark when it comes to showing that you care”. Clive will share his personal experiences with the love languages and how he discovered how to communicate and express himself deeply.

Clive is a Toronto Oasis volunteer, helping us manage our social media.  He has a passion for community building. In addition to his volunteer work with Oasis, Clive is also an organizer for Toronto Adults with ADHD Support Group and volunteers his time with a men’s group called MasterHeart.  Professionally, Clive is an independent software consultant in IT Enterprise Architecture.  All of Clive’s work, professional and volunteer, is driven by wanting to create his life rather than letting life happen to him.

Clive’s talk is an example of one of our own sharing their learning and growth with our community.  If you have a topic you have learned about and could give a talk on, contact Tania at 416oasis@gmail.com.

Our featured musical performers this week will be the Pickle Juice Trio.  The Pickle Juice Trio is an exploration of rhythms, structures and melodies derived from the blues, gospel and swing music of the mid twentieth century by three musicians who crossed paths in the improvised music scene in Toronto.  All three are eclectic musicians who’s playing and influences cross many stylistic boundaries. Arnd Jurgensen has been a prominent contributor to TO’s improvised music scene but here channels influences ranging from Blind Blake to Blood Ulmer with his finger style guitar playing and baritone vocals. Percussionist Bob Vespaziani, also a staple on the improvised music scene, demonstrates his years of experience backing numerous blues and swing performers around town. Last but not least, violinist Cassie Norton with influences from folk, jazz and classical music adds an unusual and intriguing colour to this not so conventional blues trio.  Cassie Norton is also the music director of Toronto Oasis.

You can RSVP for this on our Meetup page at:
https://www.meetup.com/Toronto-Oasis/events/jdmkqqyzgbkb/

Our event starts at 11 am on the 2nd floor of the Koffler House (569 Spadina Avenue).  Social 10:45am – 11:00am.

We know the Periodic Table of elements from secondary school. There are more than 120 elements and more than 500 isotopes discovered to date. But how did this variety of chemical elements originally come to existence? Where does all the material surrounding us on Earth and constituting our bodies come from?

This Sunday, our featured speaker, Alex Beckmann, will answer these intriguing questions.  Alex studied physics in Kharkiv, Ukraine.  He did his Ph.D. in theoretical physics in String and Field Theory.  He taught physics at the high school and university levels in Ukraine and Germany.  Alex currently lives and works in Toronto.  His work in Toronto is in IT and involves cloud-based solutions for markets, investment banking, and research.  However, Alex still enjoys teaching physics!

Our featured musical act will be Amateur.   Amateur is the solo project of self-teaching composer and accordionist Tristan Murphy. The title “Amateur” is both a disclaimer and a mission statement: a confession that he does not have formal training or a depth of cultural lore, nor any professional comprehension of genre or trend; but also a reminder that it does not matter, and that music can be made in a way that is explorative, for its own enjoyment, without striving toward or against existing musical standards.  A link to Amateur: https://www.facebook.com/anamateur/

For this week’s Community Moment we will have Clive Hannah.

The Community Moment is a chance for one of our own to share their journey, thoughts about life, or something personal about themselves.  It could be light and silly or it could be emotionally heavy.  Either way, you’ll learn more about a valued person in our community.  Interested in presenting your own Community Moment?  Contact Tania at 416oasis@gmail.com.

You can RSVP for this on our Meetup page at:
https://www.meetup.com/Toronto-Oasis/events/jdmkqqyzfbpc/

Our event starts at 11 am on the 2nd floor of the Koffler House (569 Spadina Avenue).  Come early for coffee and conversation at 10:30 am.

Most of us grow up with a limited idea of relationship structures and choices. Monogamy has been the one and only option for a large majority of people, but there’s so much more available to us. This week, we’ll chat about Consensual Non-Monogamy and the variety of structures available to us. We’ll take a look at how to access them, how to do so ethically and honestly, and how to communicate our desires effectively to potential partners.

Our featured speaker on this topic will be Eva Dusome of Polyamory Toronto.  Eva Dusomeis an equity advocate and actively supports concepts surrounding restorative justice and mediation in complex situations. Her education platform, both professionally and community based, focuses on non-monogamy, kink, gender, sexual freedom of expression, essential mental health support, access to basic self-care routines, (dis)ability and accommodation supports, all with a trauma-informed lens. She actively challenges the current dominant paradigm of westernized society by offering perspectives that are rare and unorthodox.  Eva works with individuals and groups to help them uncover and dive deeper into their desires, their boundaries and to push their own limitations when ready and able.

Eva is a mixed race two-spirited queer, genderfluid femme. She experiences her relationships as a solo-relationship anarchist. She lives on the traditional territory of the Anishinaabe known as the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation.  Pronouns: Fluid // They / Them / She / Her / 

Our featured musician will be George Crotty, a crossover cellist from Toronto, Canada. He traces his family lineage to County Clare, Ireland, and a family of Jewish musicians descended from Felix Mendelssohn. A recent graduate of the Berklee College of Music, Crotty aspires to forge a new linguistic path for the cello by integrating elements from Eastern, Celtic, and Jazz traditions. His website is www.georgecrotty.com.

For this week’s Community Moment we will have Margrit Eichler.

The Community Moment is a chance for one of our own to share their journey, thoughts about life, or something personal about themselves.  It could be light and silly or it could be emotionally heavy.  Either way, you’ll learn more about a valued person in our community.  Interested in presenting your own Community Moment?  Contact Tania at 416oasis@gmail.com.

You can RSVP for this on our Meetup page at:
https://www.meetup.com/Toronto-Oasis/events/jdmkqqyzfbgc/

NOTE: This week we will be heading to our Toronto Oasis Book Club for 1:30pm right after our gathering. Register on meetup at: https://www.meetup.com/Toronto-Oasis/events/259126149/

Our event starts at 11 am on the 2nd floor of the Koffler House (569 Spadina Avenue).  Come early for coffee and conversation at 10:30 am.

This Sunday our featured speaker, Catherine Francis, will take a retrospective look at the treatment of sexual assault cases in Canada’s criminal justice system, the Jian Ghomeshi trial and the rise and influence of the “me too” movement.

Catherine Francis holds Bachelor of Arts (1981) and Bachelor of Law (1985) degrees from the University of Toronto and was called to the Ontario Bar in 1987.  Catherine is a long-time partner at Minden Gross LLP, a mid-sized downtown Toronto law firm, practicing principally in the areas of commercial and insolvency litigation.  Catherine was raised in a secular household with a strong belief in equality rights and is keenly interested in legal issues affecting the interests of non-believers and the separation of Church and State.  Her website is: https://www.mindengross.com/our-people/details/catherine-francis 

Our musical guest this Sunday will be Sam Tudor.  Sam’s 2014 album ‘The Modern New Year’ got tucked into the airwaves of campus radio stations across the country, quietly earning him the beginnings of a cult following for his lo-fi pop music. Most recently, Sam released the album Quotidian Dream, a quiet collection of idiosyncratic folk songs which became a critical hit in Western Canada and beyond. Sam’s songs are soft spoken and clear, poignant and thoughtful.  His webpage is https://samtudor.bandcamp.com.

You can RSVP for this on our Meetup page at:
https://www.meetup.com/Toronto-Oasis/events/jdmkqqyzfbwb/

Our event starts at 11 am on the 2nd floor of the Koffler House (569 Spadina Avenue).  Come early for coffee and conversation at 10:30 am.

Canadians are among the top producers of waste in the world, generating about 720 kg per capita of waste per year, which is 7% higher than that of the U.S.  With the Greater Toronto Area’s population set to grow to 9.7 million people by 2041 and Toronto’s current landfill predicted to close by 2040, there is a need for all of us to reduce the amount of waste sent to the landfill.  This week our guest speaker, Ryan Zhang, will talk about the importance of proper waste management, give an overview of what the City of Toronto’s waste management policy and rules are like, and will also provide a demonstration of how to properly sort waste.

Ryan Zhang is currently a second-year student of the Environmental Technology Program at Georgian College.  He aspires to become a professional in the environmental field when he graduates and enjoys keeping fish, learning about nature, listening to history podcasts, and obsessively reading Wikipedia articles for fun.  

Our musical guests will be Smythe and Taylor (http://www.facebook.com/ smytheandtaylormusic). Smythe and Taylor started their musical journey playing at open mic nights in Houston, Texas.  After they both retired from the oil and gas business, they began playing professionally, and have since won several national awards for both performance and original song-writing.  Over the last 20 years, they’ve performed for audiences across the USA, Poland, England, France, and the Netherlands.   They are currently based in the tiny town of Silver Cliff, Colorado where they volunteer for their local community radio station, and continue to produce symbiotic harmonies, humorous lyrics, and a ‘3-D’ brand of guitar playing. 

For this week’s Community Moment we will have Katelyn Strauss.

The Community Moment is a chance for one of our own to share their journey, thoughts about life, or something personal about themselves.  It could be light and silly or it could be emotionally heavy.  Either way, you’ll learn more about a valued person in our community.  Interested in presenting your own Community Moment?  Contact Tania at 416oasis@gmail.com.

You can RSVP for this on our Meetup page at:
https://www.meetup.com/Toronto-Oasis/events/jdmkqqyzfbnb/

Our event starts at 11 am on the 2nd floor of the Koffler House (569 Spadina Avenue).  Come early for coffee and conversation at 10:30 am.

Our featured speaker this Sunday will be Phil Cheney.  Phil ‘Philosofree’ Cheney is awed by the Cosmos, and excited about human potential. He is a renaissance man who appreciates life, having worked in over 55 countries, including as a university lecturer in his native Australia, Trade leader in Thailand, Government budget consultant in Papua New Guinea, software distributor in Zimbabwe, marketer in Germany, Building Construction in China, farm exporting in Japan and author in his current home in Toronto.

Philosofree is a mystic who is curious about integrating science and the metaphysical. He has published 8 books, 5 CDs of original music and won awards for software design and clinical practice in medicine.  His education background includes degrees in Economics, Business Administration and Information Technology.  Phil prioritizes his wife, daughters and grandchildren, and loves to sing and dance with them.

Phil’s talk at Toronto Oasis will be a personal recounting of his own journey both with pride and humility.  He will talk about how authenticity is acting consistently with who we are, but who we are is balancing between YIN and YANG.  Phil will talk about how our spiritual journey requires an understanding of energy and its role in our life.  He will also touch upon the mystery of mind, some questions and ideas, all pointing towards holistic unity.  This should make for an interesting Q&A session with our community comprising of many atheists, naturalists and skeptics!  We look forward to a respectful dialogue and discussion that promotes mutual understanding between skeptics and the more spiritually inclined.

Our featured musicians will be Steven Karst and Cassie Norton.  They will be leading us in secular sing-alongs!  Steven comes from a musical family and was classically trained in piano and bass trombone. He learned guitar from his dad and picked up bass guitar at age 35.  His tastes and musical experience cover a wide spectrum of genres from classical and opera to heavy metal and classic rock.  His varied tastes have given him the opportunity to tour internationally and play in a variety of venues from churches to dive bars.

Having led congregational singing in a religious space, Steven began to wonder how it would work in a secular environment. With the support of Cassie Norton and the Oasis leadership team and those who made song requests, Steven has put together a few enjoyable songs that are easy to sing and hopefully create a memorable experience.

Steven will be joined by Cassie Norton, the music director of Toronto Oasis and a Toronto-based singer-songwriter. She is a classically trained violinist/folk leaning tunesmith with a punk rock heart. She has recorded two full length albums, Little Strength (2009) and Quiet Wilderness (2010).  She teaches a variety of private and ensemble classes at Regent Park School of Music, and at her private studio. Check out her website: www.cassienorton.com

You can RSVP for this on our Meetup page at https://www.meetup.com/Toronto-Oasis/events/jdmkqqyzfbfb/