Sunday, October 4, 2009

Coda

September 2009 marked the end of an era for the justice system in Nunavut. Judge Beverly Browne, Nunavut's Senior Judge, has been called to the Queen's Bench in Alberta. So ends her time as the chief justice of the Nunavut Court of Justice. While she will no doubt return to preside as a deputy judge, she will no longer be a daily part of life in Iqaluit. Not just a jurist, Judge Browne was also involved in the community. Her energy drove more than one organization. Committed equally to the community and her profession, she encouraged new lawyers to get up out of their office chairs and get involved.

This month, it will also be two years since I came to Nunavut. I feel like the time has flown by, but at the same time I have trouble remembering a time I did not live here. My life in Toronto seems very far away now. I spend a lot more time experiencing than writing about experiences these days. Maybe the novelty has worn off. Or maybe as my long to-do lists get longer, I have less time for reflection. Or maybe I am no longer looking at this as an observer. Maybe I have decided to get out of that office chair and get involved.

For whatever reason, dear friends, this is the last post on Habeus Corpus under Aurora Borealis. I am still here, still working away, and still watching aurora borealis burn more brightly as the nights get longer.

I have so much more to learn and I am getting up out of my chair to do that now.

5 comments:

Megan said...

Oh, that's too bad. I really enjoyed reading your posts.

We really should meet the next time you come to Yellowknife.

Megan (Karen's friend)

Clare said...

Sorry to hear that, as infrequent as they were I enjoyed your posts.

You know, it is possible to be a part of Nunavut, not apart from it as an observer, and still have things to say.

Karen said...

Good for you J - you're one of us now :)

kathleen said...

Ok, but now you have to actually email, or use Facebook more :-P

Blogging/writing does require stepping outside to observe, which takes you away from the experience itself, even after the fact when the event is a memory. Something about the act of writing about it, formally as an article or blog post, removes you from it. It becomes like a photograph instead of a part of your experience.

That's atually why I prefer Facebook these days - Facebook is about moments, not entire events, so I can post a sentence about how I feel at that moment without having to step outside and tell the whole event as a story.

I wonder why telling a story in person doesn't require the same remove that writing does. When you tell a story in person, you tell it from inside the story/memory. Interesting.

Unknown said...

Ciao from Italy
=^.^=