Sarah Lynch, AVC 2019, traveled to Nain and Sheshatshiu in 2018 as one of the student participants on the Chinook Project. As part of the experience, the students craft various pieces of reflective writing.
October 22, 2018
The original photo of this landscape was taken in Nain, from a hill rising over the town. It was nearing the end of our time in this magical place and after a whirlwind few days it was a powerful moment of silence, reflection, and gratitude. The wind was cold and bitter and the landscape at a glance was hard and unforgiving. Pulsing underneath of it all was the heartbeats of the ancestors who carved out a life on the grey rocks. Their strength could be felt in the swirling snow, the hardy plants clinging to the side of rocky crags and the waves crashing tirelessly against the shoreline. It was all at once empowering and humbling.
I thought of the different set of challenges that the people in Nain were facing today and the events that led to them. I felt a yearning to return to a simpler time, uncomplicated by drugs and alcohol and oppression but at the same time I was grateful for the advances we have made that allow me to practice veterinary medicine. In the end, I was reminded to take a step back once in a while and appreciate the uncomplicated beauty of nature and be grateful to be alive to take it all in.
Sarah Lynch made this mixed media piece by using oil paints, gesso, glass beads and sand on a wooden board.
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