Who are you?
Who am I? Ian Ashley Abbott. I’m a believer in the value of alternative health care and how it can build community. Physical health care comes down to lifestyle and diet and mental health comes down to support from family and friends. [Editor’s note: Ian has the kind of body and soul that turns heads (even mine) and his favourite colour is West Coast Forest Green.]
I’ll add that my passion is trying to change peoples perception about ‘alternative medicine’. Empowering people, by making them realize that the keys to better health are within their grasp, and giving them the tools to make it happen. It’s WAY more cost effective and when you understand better how your body works you might just appreciate it a bit more.
What do you do for fun?
I ride my bicycle and spend many hours exploring the back roads and trails of Victoria. From time to time, I like to read articles from your wife [Editor’s note: my wife is the lovely and talented Michelle Horn] that discredit the medical establishment.
What is your favourite community and why?
(Editor’s Note: Ian’s favourite community might be the I-Phone community, because he’s not listening to this question.)
That’s a very big question. I osscilate between the people that quietly do things in the trenches and the jerky people who shout and spit on hummers. The best place is somewhere in between, where people combine humility, diligence and commitment to make communities better. Spitting on hummers might be “the right thing to do,” but it doesn’t build community. It divides it.
I like these two poles because it was how I was brought up – one of my parents was quiet
I also love the community of musicians and artists who use their public profile to initiate change.
What is your superpower?
Acupuncture. And active listening (sans I-phone).
[Editor’s note: my sister – Ian’s special lady – just said he has “magic hands” and I stopped this conversation before it happened].
My other other superpower is building bikes out of as much carbon fibre as possible.
How do you use it to build community?
I once turned a breach baby with one needle. His magic hands help people get rid of aches and pains – therapeutic use only.
My Three Favourite Things About Ian Abbott Are…
1. Conversational Currency. Mr. Abbott is not a one-dimensional man. His informed contributions to any discussion run the gamut of sensation; from international development to back pain to food to carbon fibre…mostly as part of bicycles…sometimes in food.
2. He likes my mom! Well, everyone likes Janet Horn, really. But Ian’s affection for her tangential giggling is just pretty darn nice.
3. Holistic Wellness. Our health and well being has more to do with the communities that support our lives and the things we put in our bodies and the way our bodies move from place to place than it does with reactively curing things that we did to ourselves by behaving unsustainably. In order to get my holistic-point across, I wrote the previous ideas in one, big, run-on, holistic sentence.
– As told by John Horn