Medium Short: Understanding & Changing

Individual and shared action on the path to Truth and Reconciliation (aka not a day off)

B. Lorraine Smith
5 min readSep 30, 2022
This is me holding myself to account on our Truth & Reconciliation journey. I feel weird posting a selfie but it feels wrong to post something “Indigenous-looking” — settlers have co-opted enough Indigenous art for one lifetime. It feels like time to show up with what I have to offer: openness to understanding and changing.

Welcome to the latest weekly Medium Short, an accountability practice to keep me semi-tethered along the unmarked trail of industrial healing. I make all of my articles (including those linked here) available for free with this unglamorous searchable table of contents.

I say these Friday updates are my “accountability practice”. What does it mean to be accountable on Canada’s national day for Truth & Reconciliation — a statutory holiday, no less? I do not feel capable of answering this question well, yet I do feel committed to holding myself to account in my role as a Canadian, and as a person working in collaboration with global industry.

To paraphrase Christine McDougall, this is me owning being slightly unqualified and doing my best to step up. Since you’re here, I invite you to walk alongside. I welcome feedback, criticism, and guidance from all quarters.

Walking the path

We are on a journey towards truth and reconciliation and we have a long way to go. This is true here where I live, and far beyond. I’ll comment on two stepping stones I find my feet feeling their way along on this long and winding path.

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B. Lorraine Smith

Former sustainability consultant replacing ESG with reality-based insights about corporate purpose and impact. https://www.blorrainesmith.com/