The sun is warm on the terrace at Lakefront as I write this, on the autumn equinox here in the northern hemisphere, a week since I arrived. A day of balance, light and dark, inner and outer. After spending so many years not really paying attention to the cycle of the year and the gifts (and challenges) each one brings, I now relish these points of pause and calibration.
Now I’ve just about landed, it feels a good moment to share a little of the journey with you.
Lakefront describes itself as a home for changemakers and visionaries who are actively working toward systemic transformation. One part of me felt a huge “hell yes” in that description, another part doesn’t quite see myself in such labels, as a human with both struggles and strengths, sometimes walking consciously through life, other times stumbling through it. Still, those words point to an energy I aspire to and enjoy being around – and that’s what drew me here, on a five-week residency, curious about what may emerge when I step into a place that holds such clear intent, alongside others carrying their own visions.
Life here blends solitude and community, purpose and play. Each day brings shared practices, from morning movement to conversations about the rights of nature, offered by whoever feels called. I’m appreciating the lived experience of care and co-creation, and I’m excited by the possibilities that may arise within me while being bathed in this environment. It feels like a breath of fresh air from the more extractive, consumerist culture of the wider world.
Truth be told, my head is still catching up with the ‘why’ I’m here. A dear friend from a regenerative leadership group shared her experience of Lakefront, and as she spoke I felt a deep inner knowing that I too would come. A handful of weeks later, here I am. It’s taken my head a while to catch up…the application, the practicalities, the family responsibilities. My children now have one foot in the home and another outside, and I’m figuring out how to support them in their first flights while also tending to this new phase of my own life. As with many of life’s transitions, there are no clear lines of starting and finishing. There’s much more nuance and complexity. One thing I know for sure is my centre of gravity is shifting, and I want to actively experiment. Alongside that, I feel a strong pull to co-create with others, for inspiration, growth, accountability, and also to amplify the impact that is possible. Lakefront feels like a perfect place to do all that.
As I build my work in the world, one of the threads I’m weaving in is the Inner Development Goals. Not as theory or yet another framework, but as a way for people to calibrate their own inner journey and connect it to the impact they want to have. I’ll share more about this in future notes as I dive deeper into them here, but for now, what feels most alive is the invitation to arrive, to settle, and to see what emerges when inner and outer paths are walked together – what I refer to as the Twin Trail.
