Lena Recollet

IM BACK IN ACTION training for these 5k & 10k. Dropped Ricky my son off at his Business Bootcamp at George Brown then had a walk/jog by the Redpath Sugar Factory Waterfront. Afterwards I went to Starbucks and got egg whites bites and a protein matcha no sugar drink. I can’t believe it’s been 2 years since I ran tracking my meals in Bite Pal

I took the day off yesterday but I still showed up to hear speak. The mayor showed up. One of the most healing things is being in community in times of heaviness. NCCT had James Carpenter onsite to provide cultural counseling if anyone was triggered and I needed it, so glad he was onsite. Some of what was shared made me cry, some of her story gave me anxiety and was triggering but it was also so important to hear a survivor’s experience. It was a healing moment and a day to sit in awareness. As Danny Beaton called NCCT the Urban Indigenous Headquarters I’m so happy our community holds each other up in this way…and this must’ve been my 4th time personally meeting Olivia Chow.

You have a choice do you accept the offer?
I did.
I feel like a late bloomer when it comes to “going back to school” to pursue my Masters degree. Yet, at the same time I feel like this is a very appropriate time to do this, while I’m working a position as an Anishinaabemowin Program Manager in my Urban Indigenous community. I spent three years before my current position as a self employed Cultural Awareness Trainer, Comedian / Poet and Body Positivity Model. Back in 2022 I took an unpaid leave of absence from teaching after spending 6 years full time teaching secondary and 1 year itinerant. You see… before all that I was a guest arts facilitator on a roster through Ontario Arts Council. This is what led me to combining my arts practices with Anishinaabemowin. Back then I never seen myself becoming an employee of the education system. As a matter of fact, I identified so much as a self employed artist, that it was my goal to succeed on my arts alone (and I did. I financed my own vehicle with no full-time job because I had amazing credit and some small investments). However, I’ll admit financing a car was scary especially while I was studying and living off gigs. I was offered a job in education while on a transitional OCT and back then I accepted the offer. So long story long is… now that I find myself back to doing Indigenous Language Programming here in my Urban Indigenous community, I figured that I might as pursue my Masters. It’s now or never and I have a feeling that when my contract is done I might need this degree to support the years of experience I have. I have a feeling that one day I will have a much larger responsibility and I will need this. Who knows maybe after this I’ll level it up even higher and go for PhD. I’m 46 so I figure it’s now or never and accepted the offer and I’ll be studying part time in the fall. My employer supports my decision while I work. I am so blessed that I can continue to work while I do this 🫶🏽