Reinventing
Change can be tough, especially as we get older, but it can also inspire growth and sometimes even reinvention. Many of us have been through a lot of change these last few winters and some of us have reinvented ourselves several times. New jobs, new homes, shifts in relationships - new babies! Each time a major shift happens in our lives we have a choice - replicate the patterns we’ve had going or forge a whole new path.
LifeSchoolHouse hasn’t been immune to change. Our home on Portland St was the original LifeSchoolHouse location and the spot for classes, concerts, birthday parties, swaps, meals and so many laughs. This fall, our family decided to leave the city, to homeschool and build a smaller more sustainable lifestyle in rural Nova Scotia. When we first started thinking about leaving our community behind it was sad, confusing, scary. It raised more questions than answers: “how can we leave this wonderful community,” “what will happen to everything we have built up if we leave?”.
One of the biggest gifts and challenges of volunteering in a project like LifeSchoolHouse is that you get quite deeply connected and the work takes on a bit of a routine as it weaves its way into your everyday way of being in community. Leading up to this big move we got lost in fear of what might be because we really loved how our lives were linked with the LifeSchoolHouse community in such an active way. We pondered and debated, got nowhere, and then just waited for the universe to point out the right next step rather than making the decision for ourselves. We were stuck until we finally realized that the confusion came from spending too much time looking backward rather than thinking about what potential the future held.
As soon as we announced our intention to move, the solutions started presenting themselves. The community pantry that was such a big part of our work in the world became a gift to the Center for Early Childhood Development who immediately put it to use in supporting their program’s families and surrounding neighbourhood. Two new hosts popped into our last few workshops and offered up their own space so that our programming could continue close to home in Dartmouth. The icing on the cake was when a long standing community member offered to take on the role of coordinating our work in the city. Serving as the glue to hold this all together, the LifeSchoolHouse community in Dartmouth has become bigger than our original space, bigger than the original vision of our family, and a space for new ideas to grow.
A similar story is playing out in New Brunswick as LSH Host Elaine Mandrona is chasing a long standing dream to move further east and will be leaving the LifeSchoolHouse in Moncton behind in the care of two new coordinators. This new partnership means Moncton will see new classes on the schedule that will build immediately on the programming that has been happening thanks to Elaine’s efforts in 2021.
Over the last few weeks we’ve watched as new program venues and new coordinators have invited in greater diversity, how new leaders have stepped up confidently, and how long standing members have taken charge of inviting people and ideas into the community. I’m so pleased when I see things that don’t look quite the same as they’ve been for the last few years. I love when I realize that things the original hosts never thought about are now the community’s new normal. A project of this nature survives by constantly reinventing itself and is best served by hosts who know they can pass the baton and be confident that in doing so, new patterns can emerge.
Change can indeed be tough, but once you find a way through the fear of the unknown, the potential for beauty can emerge. What a perfect season for these shifts - fall has a wonderful way of how important it is to let things go!
Written by Jennifer DeCoste