This winter felt deeply like a retreat of the soul.

Weekend storms, ice covering trees, snow piled up and the air bitter with gusts that cut into the core.

As if everything in nature was pointing to a need to sit down, take cover and hold on.

I have felt as if the snow was covering me. Keeping me warm, yet sometimes the weight of it, confusing.

Ideas have been tucked away, words slow and stilted, my voice tired.

And then I began to see the robins.

One by one, they began to fill the trees around me, reminding me that there was something to remember about this time of year.

Something they were too anxious to wait for,
so they came early.

I can feel the spring air coming and something new and stirring in the soul with it.

Ideas are fluttering around my head again, the words are coming quicker now, and my voice is gaining strength.

Winter is ending.

I am tying up the loose ends of a radio project with CBC Producer Natalie Dobbin, finishing the first draft of script alongside Ian Wilson, pitched with Lynn Matheson at Transmedia Zone’s pitch event, exploring my own personal projects through monthly short videos and wrapping up the second draft of a script.

Spring is arriving.

I am seeing the projects bud up in front of me. An audio project here, a documentary there, and that sweet dear project reminding me it needs more sunlight.

There will be rain, winds and cold snaps, but there will also be warm light, fresh soil, and new connections to be made.

This winter has in many ways gone by so fast.

Looking back, I realize much has happened in these weeks since the Holiday season.

This winter I have finished writing contracts, launched a collaborative platform Brilliansea with Claire Fraser & have begun arranging my necessary work tasks in a way that leaves room for more play and more time for cultivating and curating the work I do.

This winter I have learned that my work will sometimes be seasonal. Busy some months , where other months a bit more wide open.

I have learned that spending more time staring and browsing through social media is not the answer for me.

I have also learned that I thrive with variety and in doing so, need to level up on my administrative tasks so that I am not bouncing around from thing to thing with no direction and yet a lot on my mind. (a.k.a. mental load)

Leaving Winter, I leave satisfied and more than a bit proud at the shifts and changes I have found along with what I have accomplished. There is so much to be thankful for and so much more to explore.