What I have learned so far...

It has been a more productive week than I had expected or least as good as I hoped it would be. I am a broad thinker who sees connections and parallels that others may not. What was so productive was the number of similar thinkers I encountered here this week. And in addition there were others who were willing to be drawn into a broader perspective for their own work, even when my questions did not fit into their specific focus.

I was quite eclectic in my choice of sessions, sometimes choosing at the last minute, randomly wandering into the nearest room, drawn by the slightest interest. At other times I was more deliberately strategic. The two sessions on social economy came out of a conversation in a shared taxi from the airport. The development studies keynote was one I chose strategically. Ironically, the former gave me greater insights; the latter being a revisit of ideas I had already engaged with some time ago in my teaching. Affirmation is good but insight is better.

Other than the sessions sponsored by my organization the Canadian Communications Association (CCA), my most productive session was on Tuesday when I attended a roundtable on Decolonizing The Academy. The focus this year was on Indigenous scholarship and the panel had two Indigenous academics present. That did not necessarily mean that I was encouraged by their experiences but heartened because the discourse being held in public is important. In the end everything has to be spoken into being and when voices are silenced possible worlds disappear or never emerge.

How much all of this remains with me is of course uncertain. Over the coming months and years we all return to our own work, our own worlds and the temporary space we shared here at the Congress dissipates and fades even in our memories. Yet, we do leave slightly altered by our experiences and chance encounters. Some may even be profoundly transformed by connections they have made or friendships they have initiated. It really is all a part of living our lives purposefully, knowing that the ordinary can become extraordinary through our openesss to the moments of possibility.