How much does the person choose Lasqueti and how much does

Lasqueti choose the person? How much is intention and how much is chance?

   

When Heather was traveling up the coast from California, she met someone who had been to a contact improv dance workshop at Leviathan, and suggested she come here. Intrigued by what he shared with her, and her own online research, Heather found a host through couchsurfing.com and stayed a week. She thought, “This feels more like home than anywhere I’ve ever been.” But the climate…  “If I moved, it would be further south!”

   

She visited Lasqueti again 3 years later, staying twice as long. In another three years, she randomly met Cedar and Ayrie from the Shumack at a gathering in Costa Rica. She had by then moved to an intentional community in Costa Rica with lovely ocean breezes. That meeting cemented her intention to return to Lasqueti.  She stayed over 4 months on that visit, having been drawn towards Ty & Ginja's vision of a small co-op. Heather went on to split her time between Costa Rica and Lasqueti, hunkering down here on the island for over a full year during the pandemic. Eventually Ty & Ginja sold their land, and the Costa Rica community dissolved suddenly due to divorce.

   

Heather is now ensconced in Gordon & Izzy’s cabin near Boat Cove. Living on your own can feel isolating. She’d love to find a small community living co-operatively. “The community is why I’m here, despite the weather. I like the scale of life, the feeling here in general, although it's not a utopia! I like the safety that I feel here, the level of trust, the sharing, the gifting...” 

   

What would you change if you had a magic wand? “I’d get rid of the dust on the roads!” What would you never change? “Naked swimming!”

   

I’ve been told that if the island wants you here, things become possible. I’ve also been told how much a person has to make it so. How far into the future Heather - or anyone else - invests their time and time and energy here is a result of coincidence, connections and commitment: what life offers or throws at you, and your own vision. I hope you stick around, Heather! – Suzanne Heron