So why would a Treatment and Personal Wellness group choose a "bug" as a logo? And if a bug, why the dragonfly?

Some History

Acadia's "three stick guys" were developed when Arne first qualified as a Feldenkrais Practitioner and were intended to represent moving from "thought into action". A few people saw the middle guy as "gibbled", and many suggested there should be a fourth guy "jumping in the air and clicking his heels together" - because he feels so good when he leaves!

BodyHelp had three "waves" derived from Northwest Coast native form-lines, coupled with "breathe...move...sleep...BETTER" reflecting the core courses of our Personal Wellness curriculum.

Now we have dragonflies.

Dragonflies are flying fossils of ephemeral beauty, described as "a living flash of light" by the poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

325 - 250 million years ago, significantly pre-dating the dinosaurs, there were foot-long, or according to some sources even larger, dragonflies.

Dragonflies are ubiquitous in human mythology and regularly turn up in art. Directly above my computer monitor at home is Haku Maki's "cement block" print, simply titled "Poem 8" - it's a stylized dragonfly.

Symbolically, and in mythology, they are deemed to represent: transformation / metamorphosis / constant change; healing energy; transcending time / living through change; renewal after hardship. For the Zuni they are the "guardian of the seeds". In Japanese art and literature they represent courage, strength, and happiness, and an emblem of strength for Japanese warriors.

If survival is victory, then the Japanese word, Katsumushi, which apparently translates as "Victory Bug" or "invincible insect", is apt.

Some years ago I started using a dragonfly image on my Feldenkrais Movement Improvement brochure because of their apparent ability to effortlessly move in any direction.

Marge's jewelry box is full of dragonflies.

Dragonflies, from knick-knacks to fine art, are arranged - not scattered - around the house, and outside as garden decor.

There is a great photo of Marge from early in our time together with a paper kite dragonfly we bought in Vancouver's Chinatown looking over her shoulder.

While re-grouping after Marge's death and the ensuing / surrounding turmoil in home and clinic, we were looking for an enduring, calm, healing, peaceful image, yet still with a definite spirit of movement within it, which could symbolically represent both our treatment and education services, which of course commingle.

Every natural motif we found, or came up with - bamboo, trees, streams, ponds, rocks, sun, moon, clouds - either had a dragonfly in the middle of it somewhere, or really seemed to need a dragonfly to complete it.

So, we have dragonflies.