Remembering Roots; Growing Shoots

I love an Edmonton sunrise. I love a return to roots. In this case, a geography in which I grew up. My first 21 years of life, all of that formation, is inextricably linked to Edmonton.

I’m here this week to say hello to some sunrise people in my life. Mom. Dave. Auntie Di. Uncle John. Nephew Michael. Auntie Ann (she’s now 94). A phone call with Auntie Cindy. All of these people shed light many times in my life. Guiding. Growing. Being patient. Encouraging. Loving the bejeebers out of me in the way that families do. It’s important to me to remember these roots. I don’t forget them. But there’s something special about feeling it live, topped up in person. It’s meals together. Conversations. Old jokes. Cards. Watching a little curling on TV. And every now and then, a drop-down conversation that usually checks in on the heart of what matters now.

I’m here this week to work with my friends Chris and Caitlin, who are also a kind of root system to me. We’re working with MacEwan University this week. Bringing the Art of Participatory Leadership to a learning cohort that journeys together over the next year. I love the years of friendship with C & C, that we’ve fed together over a few eras of life. There too is meals, conversation, jokes, and often, drop down conversations as we top up our love of learning together, and as we inspire our week of guiding the group in their leadership paths.

Roots matter. Coming home. Shoots matter too. How we bring what formed us into the new of what we grow together.

Here we go.