Lorna McIlroy | President , ARTA

— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Making connections made money for me almost sixty years ago as a telephone operator . The simple act of connecting two phone plugs into the appropriate jacks facilitated conversations between two people who had no other immediate means of communication .

We are now digitally connected around the clock . Social media connectivity has become a competitive exercise as some brag about their number of friends on Facebook or the number of retweets on a Twitter post . This is , however , a very superficial connection . It serves a purpose . It conveys information . Meetings can be held electronically , the tasks are accomplished , but the social connections are sorely missed .

Over the past twenty months , our physical connections have been severely restricted . We have been isolated from family , friends , and colleagues . We have had to cancel social , religious , volunteer , and travel experiences . Uncertainty has surrounded the resumption of those activities that provide valuable connections .

Many of us seek out connections with the past by researching our family histories . Using genealogy records , census papers , ships ’ passenger lists , military service records , cemetery gravestones , and DNA tests , we piece together our family trees and treasure that connection with the past . Others try to connect to their past by recovering memories from a previous existence through past

life psychic readings or past life regression therapy . Similarly , some try to connect with the future via psychics or clairvoyants who promise to predict the future using tea leaves , astrology , tarot cards , numerology , or dream interpretations . A very real way for us to connect with the future is to leave a legacy gift of a charitable donation , perhaps to the Alberta Retired Teachers Charitable Foundation ( ARTCF ), where it will outlast us and provide future benefit .

Our need for a spiritual connection can be satisfied in many ways . Those who regularly meet with a large congregation have suffered during the past restrictions . For others , that spiritual connection is best felt in nature where everything is connected and interdependent . In nature , we comfortably find our place within the complexities of life , death , and renewal .

The past two pandemic years have seriously endangered our connections . Isolation has become a real issue . Our need for connection and community has been severely compromised . As members of ARTA , and quoting from our vision statement , “ We are all part of something special , a bond that unites us and our community .” We have that connection ; we cherish it , and we are looking ahead and moving forward to the time when we can meet and greet our colleagues and work together again in person .

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