Who are you and what brings you to this work?

Building off of Paul Born's questions from the Sharing Stories chapter in Deepening Community, I'm posing the question in the blog title for myself.

I'm a proud Newfoundlander and Labradorean. The culture and community of this place shapes so much of who I am. I grew up on a large piece of land owned by my Grandfather. On it lived my immediate family and the houses they had built themselves. It's only as an adult I am realizing how much it has shaped me to grow up with my Grandparents and Aunt/Uncle/Cousins as my neighbours surrounded by structures they had all worked together to create. 

The first 12 years of my life were spent immersed in deep community. Beyond our little family cul-de-sac was another street where I knew all of the neighbours and they knew me. I roamed freely throughout our neighbourhood, confidently knowing that if I ever needed someone behind any of these doors was a friendly face who knew my name and family. 

My Grandparents had a cabin that we would spend weekends and holidays at in the summer. It had three or four bedrooms, space to camp and would sleep anywhere between 5 and 20 people on any given weekend. My Grandparent's siblings and their children and Grandchildren were frequent visitors. There were many memories made through food, laughter, song and time spent by and on the bay.  

As a child I spent countless hours in this huge natural playground creating a world of our imagination with my cousins. We formed a bond with the rock and ocean as we fished, raked mussels, caught caplin when it rolled and created imaginary marine biologist habitats.  These formative years were overflowing with opportunities to connect with the people and the natural place around me. 

All of this has brought me to the path I am on today. I crave these kinds of connections with people and place. I also strongly believe in the benefits of both and their ability to foster whole, healthy and happy people and communities. 

This is who I am. My family, especially my Grandfather, brought us up in community and he helped foster it everywhere. That's what brings me to the work of community building. Taking up where he left off and continuing to move his dreams forward of places where people raise children together and honour where they've come from and the physical environment around them.