I found this in the drafts section. Written two years ago. If this dream had come true I would be a published author of a new book. But it didn’t. It’s ironic that I should find this now. The world has changed so much and so little. COVID-19 changed our lives for sure but I am once again leaving Parks and heading out into the world of writing and publishing. The possibilities I dreamt of then still lay before me. The world is awakening from the deep sleep of Covid. Let’s see if I can catch them this time.

Written but not published April 1st, 2019 ….

April 1st 2019 will be the beginning of a new adventure for me.  For a week or so I will no longer be a public servant.  I will become a member of the public.  Two years and three months of working full time with Parks Canada will come to an end.  I have enjoyed it so much, learned so much and have appreciated the people I worked with so much for the work they do maintaining our national park system.  The honour it has been to travel to remote areas and view our country, my country, in a glorious light and the awe that has been inspired by the scientist and archeologists and highwaymen and accountants who preserve and protect out natural and historic treasures has left me richer and wiser and for that I am extremely grateful.

April 1 will be no joke for me this year.  I step out into the a new world with a swirl of possibilities.  I have been a full time employee since my dad passed away and I am grateful for the opportunity of steady work while I processed loss. Now I will likely continue to teach and learn through conflict interventions with the friends and colleagues I knew and worked along side before the Parks contract but at a slower pace and with spaces set aside to write again.

So many projects dance in my head.  I can complete the manuscript for the Mapping the Space book and get back to regular blogging.  I can go for a walk by the river everyday at noon and make coffee and lunch dates.  I can read the text books that have arrived for my latest adventure.  I have been accepted into a program at Kings College at Dalhousie University.  I will be working toward an MFA in Creative Non-Fiction.  Over the next two years I will be learning to write and publish true stories well told.  I am extremely excited and just a little worried.  My classmates will likely be journalists and storytellers. I am only a teacher.  I want to learn to use the good story to teach the lessons that people need to find their way to common ground.  My goal remains peaceful and productive relationships and organizations … one conversation after another.

I look forward to the challenges and to the opportunities ahead.  I will continue to work as an intervener in conflict situations and to take the lessons life gives me with the grain of salt that lets me laugh at myself and with others.  My hope is that with the right mix of good humour and real situations something good will come of this.

Wish me luck.