Barb Gillespie, founder of Calm Unity Practices, has always been curious about what makes people tick. She has particularly struggled to understand why people commit acts with the intent to harm or hurt others, which motivated her to study Criminology at Simon Fraser University, where she earned her degree in 1984.
Like many people, Barb followed a winding career path, including 20 years as a training and development consultant. Her primary client was the Vancouver branch of the Canadian School of Public Service, where she focused on people skills, leadership, time and stress management, personality preferences (MBTI and True Colors), teamwork, conflict resolution and negotiating. In 2006, she joined forces with her husband to grow their importing business Toplight Building Materials Ltd (TBML) – that is, until COVID-19 took the world by a storm.
During the summer of 2020, when pandemic restrictions forced many businesses to shut down or reduce operations, TBML likewise slowed. Barb had newfound time and energy to re-engage with her prior practices, including early morning journalling, applying feng shui principles to her home, walking in nature, balancing her internal energy systems (chakras), and exploring mixed media art… her personal heaven on earth!
It was during this period of playing with art that Barb found LorriMarie Jenkins’ You Tube library: a collection of over 500 tutorials of LorriMarie’s mixed media techniques. Barb signed up for one of LorriMarie’s four-week workshops, called Succulent Mondays.
During that month, the world was witness to increasing polarity and divisiveness on multiple fronts: social unrest and racial tensions were escalating, and people and businesses were reeling from the impacts of COVID-19. Barb reached out to her extended family to ask if they would join her in prayer to the universe. From this practice emerged two revelations.
The first she called “The Way”, or how to rebuild a sense of unity by bridging polarity and divisiveness. The second was “Prayer for Unity”, where Barb sent her wishes to the universe for ways to bridge the great divide. Barb also felt compelled to act in support of positive change. She wondered what it would be like if artists collaborated as they worked towards unity. So, she reached out to her mentor/teacher LorriMarie Jenkins, who agreed to collaborate with Barb on her journey of discovery. Together, Barb and LorriMarie developed a vision of unity that encompasses three angles, which they labelled intrapersonal (aligned within self), interpersonal (aligned behaviours with others) and global (aligned with worldwide needs).
Fueled by a desire to share what she was learning with others, Barb created Calm Unity Practices. And the rest, as they say, is history.