Being at the lake in Ontario’s cottage country is particularly special for me. My summer cannot go by without a visit to the woods and rock of Ontario, particularly my family’s spot near Haliburton. It’s a home base for us, though visits to friends’ homes in Muskoka, near Georgian Bay and at Lake Joseph, are inevitable, too.
As a kid, going to Kenora and the surrounding lake areas was an incredible treat, and I’ve never lost my love of wildlife, from moose to herons, which developed there. I used to go up north with my husband, but now it’s a tradition we share with our kids, and our place near Haliburton is similar. I hear the loons. I see the path lined with trees out to the road from the front door. The kids fish and kayak and run around free and hunt for lizards and insects. They get to be kids in their wonderment.
It’s really important to me to visit every year. Being there helps me completely shut down my busy life, and I become still. It makes me feel truly alive and present. Any yearning for material things seems to stop, and I’m at peace. I gain perspective and can jump back into my hectic life with gratitude and renewed inspiration after my visit.
As an artist, I need to shed the layers of projection and expectation that build up over time, and see what presents itself … what truly inspires me. This place allows that to happen. I get back to a simple me that can get lost in the chaos of travel and performing. I am transformed by the isolation and privacy, the beauty of nature. That’s what always brings me back home to the lake.