Musing: Why would you want to interview me?

The most common reaction I get when I contact people and ask to interview them is, “Why would you want to interview me? My life isn’t very interesting.”

Oh, but it is. No one else has experienced exactly what you have. No one else has exactly the same interests and gifts. Every life is important, and every story is worth telling.

As Mahatma Gandhi famously said, “What you do may seem insignificant, but it is very important that you do it.”

Introducing Bev MacWilliams

Bev MacWilliams is a Huntsville native who, after a career in education, translated a love of his hometown into the successful business Muskoka Language International.

To read his profile, click here.

Musing: Life collecting as a practice

What started as a job has become a practice for me.

Each week, no matter what else is going on in my life, I interview a community member and write a profile for the Huntsville Forester. Slowly, this practice is changing me, making me more open and conscious.

I come away from interviews feeling different. Sometimes I’m inspired, sometimes touched, sometimes grateful. Always I’m present. Really listening to someone’s story makes me step outside my own head and recognize how we are all connected.

Writing the profiles deepens and broadens that feeling of connection as I sit quietly, hold the people in my mind and heart and do my best to capture who they are and what they are about in less than 700 words. Condensing the themes and lessons of a life like that makes me focus on what is truly important.

I am grateful to all the people who have shared their lives with me so far for reminding me to keep an eye on the big picture and to appreciate my own moment-by-moment experiences. After all, many moments make a life.

Introducing Martina Schroer

Martina Schroer is passionate about the beautiful things in life: flowers, books, music and children. While she is best known as the president of the Huntsville Assocation for the Performing Arts and the founder of the theatre program Through Children's Eyes, Shroer has volunteered her time for many other causes as well.

To read her profile, click here.

Introducing Dr. Lynn Sargeant

Dr. Lynn Sargeant is a retired physician and talented musician who has been an innovator in Huntsville for the last 50 years.

To read his profile, click here.

Introducing Deena Brock

Deena Brock is the mother of four, a managing business consultant at the Muskoka Small Business Centre and owner of Rose Petals, a shop filled with her homemade natural skin-care products.

To read her profile, click here.