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October 19, 2007
In Celebration of New Beginnings
This posting has been a difficult one for me to write. I am tempted to say this journey is over, for the purpose of closure and convenience, but we all know life is much more fluid than that. The stories we have heard on this trip, and the lessons that they convey, are the type that reappear throughout one's lifetime. I know that the search for community is not just a 3-month phase, but an ongoing theme to be
explored from various perspectives throughout my lifetime.
This journey has surrounded us with such a diversity of people, all seeking out community in their own unique ways. As I write this, I remember Herald in Newfoundland, the philosophy major who was thinking about starting up a conscious living community in Saint John's with his partner Amy. Herald discussed communities of thought -- in other words, looking at the thoughts that inhabit our minds as communities in themselves.
From this perspective, our thoughts are inevitably influenced by the 
people and environment with which we surround ourselves. In other words, the people with whom we choose to interact and exchange ideas have a substantial impact on our own thoughts. I feel like this journey has expanded the realm of possibilities that exists within my community of thoughts.
It was Ed Belzer in Nova Scotia who talked about "surrounding ourselves with people that enable us to be who we want to be," and Bonnie in Pic River, Ontario, who was so proactive in utilizing this perspective in her own life, attracting other musicians to her home who could help her to fulfill her musical dreams.
In Victoria-by-the-Sea in P.E.I., we saw how community can develop around a special geographic location. This small town, perched on the ocean's shore, is bound together by a shared entrepreneurial spirit
and a common vested interest in keeping their place beautiful.
One of the most important lessons I will take away from this 
experience is the multitude of plausible alternatives to mainstream society. The people at the Waldegrave Farm in Nova Scotia, and Prairie's Edge and the Northern Sun Farm in Manitoba, showed us how fulfilling a life lived largely outside of our society's oppressive economic system can be.
The time we spent at l'Arche St. John in New Brunswick, and Maison Emmanuel in Quebec, taught us how living in community, especially with people with disabilities, challenges us to confront those aspects of ourselves that we don't like. Dealing with these characteristics of ourselves through our interactions with other individuals can lead us
on a path toward personal liberation.
Paul and Loralee, through their boulevard garden in Lethbridge Alberta, proved to us that community can be built within our pre-existing neighbourhoods.
And in Kaslo, B.C., at the Lofstedt Farm, we learned the importance of maintaining space for individual development within community. By this 
time in our trip, Dom and I also felt the need for our own individual space. Our minds and hearts full of life lessons and gratitude to all our teachers along the way, we are both stronger now than we have ever been.
If this is an ending, it is also a beginning. Dom and I are heading in our own separate directions. My path leads toward Regina, to become the new Publisher of Briarpatch Magazine; and Dom will stay in Victoria, where I am sure his dreams will flourish as he immerses himself in the healing arts community there.
Posted by shayna at 01:55 PM | Comments (0)
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