I live for magic moments right in the middle of the beautiful chaos in our lives. Those moments when you find an anchor amid the gale – a listening ear, an idea, a sensory moment.

It somehow puts the complex into slow motion and you see simple truths becoming crystal clear, transforming the arc of your future like Quicksilver in the X-Men Days of Future Past kitchen scene.

For me it’s most often the voices of the woods, water and wind that help me slow down enough to find the magic in between. I opened Painted Turtle Lake Retreat on my little acreage in 2018 as a hobby in partnership with my parents, after moving out of West Central Winnipeg and experiencing the gifts of this spot myself. I knew it needed to be shared.

Life has always invited me to these in between moments.

       I grew up as a third-culture kid between southeastern Manitoba and the savannah of Burkina Faso, experiencing belonging, culture and language through a kaleidoscope lens.
       Ten years in the hospitality industry across several provinces as a young adult taught me how to plan ahead for every detail to be just so, in order for my guests to be able to simply relax and enjoy the present sensory moment of bliss.
       Twelve-plus years as a community-based peacebuilder taught me how to co-create brave space for those simple, transformative truths.
       And since 2019, living bedbound with a sudden and severe chronic illness has taught me to live every day in the moment, experiencing my body and my illness as teacher and guide.

I hope to gift you a clear, fresh space for you to fill with your own in between moments.

Every now and then you need to release everything you’ve been carrying and get a fresh perspective, maybe giggle a little and enjoy lightness and delight.

And when you step back into your beautiful, complex everyday world somehow the obstacles aren’t as high anymore. The colours are brighter, you’re that much stronger and you are more deeply rooted in your own purpose.