Crossroads....

This time home has been transformative for me. Most of that has come indirectly from my work on my dissertation. I have been spending much my time on a journey with the Mi'kmaq and they have welcomed me with open arms.

I have been attending a cultural circle on Tuesday and recently I was invited to participate in a workshop designed to train men to act as facilitators in a program to end all forms of violence in local communities. That experience opened up something in me and brought me closer to my participants than I had ever been before. For a day I became one with them.

It does not end there. I had been working on a paper that I was to present at an Urban Aboriginal conference in Toronto last week. I sought feedback from my friend Gertie Mae Muise who is a Mi'kmaq elder and a founder of the Newfoundland Aboriginal Women's Network. She helped me to reshape my language to speak more clearly from the voices of my participants.

I presented that paper and it was received very well. But my experiences at the conference did not end there. I attended several workshops and gained new insights into my larger work. I know now that there is much I must learn and experience if I am to complete this work appropriately. I have to reflect on my life and be willing and prepared to transform it further if I am to move ahead.

That brings an intense feeling of being at a crossroads. I need to earn a living and I may have an opportunity to do that through consulting work but once I have built up some financial reserves I have to seek out an elder to help guide me on a new path, one that will properly prepare me to carry on with my dissertation in a way that shows honour and respect for the Mi'kmaq.