From Antarctica to the Arctic
Notes from the Heart & New Video Journals
Hello beautiful souls!
How are you all doing? I hope Spring and all its freshness and feelings of bursting new life are finding you, as it’s finally finding me here, back in the Canadian Rockies! It’s been quite a long while since my last newsletter… but not for lack of anything interesting. To be honest, in a way it’s felt like the longest winter ever. But also… by far the most intriguing and beautiful, because somehow I’ve been fortunate enough to experience winter in 3 very different places in the world, all just since December.
The first place was Antarctica. What?! I’m still pinching myself that I got to go to the bottom of the world and find myself existing among the penguins and icebergs (and okay, it was technically summer down there, but still wintery conditions). This was such a dream come true for me! I almost had the chance to visit Antarctica 6 years ago, but when circumstances got sidetracked, I had been dreaming of going ever since. Fast forward several years… last summer we found out that my partner Kris (photo guide of OFFBEAT workshops) would be co-leading a group onboard the Ocean Endeavor ship for a 12 day voyage around the Antarctic Peninsula and the Weddell Sea. Later that fall, in a nearly last-minute turn of events, there ended up being enough room on the ship for me to join him! Although the experience still broke my bank account, haha, it was an opportunity I wasn’t willing to pass up a second time… and wow, was it ever worth it.
I could go on and on forever about this trip, but I’m going to keep your reading shorter today, and leave you with a video journal from the adventure. Filmed by both Kris and myself, in this video we witness pristine landscapes, incredible wildlife sightings, and concerning realities... while also having conversations about coming from internal dark places, finding beauty, and about how life brings us full-circle.
After this mind-altering trip to Antarctica, I found myself back home in the Canadian Rockies for January and February - the coldest time of year. I spent most of these -20° to -30°Celsius days hibernating, working on the behind-the-scenes business side of life, and slowly piecing together the above video. Somehow those two months absolutely flew by, and then March was upon us… bringing thoughts of Spring? Well, apparently not for us, for we were about to embark on a new journey somewhere even colder. We were going to the Arctic.
It’s strange to think about how I had dreamed for years of visiting both Antarctica and the Arctic… and yet, somehow completely unplanned, I got to visit both polar opposite ends of this earth within the span of 3 months. Sometimes it blows me away to think about how every action we take causes a ripple effect… eventually rippling back to us, coming full circle once again. In this case, it started when Melissa, the creator of MOTHER magazine, reached out a couple of years ago, asking if I would write an article for her next issue. I didn’t imagine where this would lead, but I agreed, and somehow half a year later, Kris and I ended up crossing paths with Melissa in person in Copenhagen (where I received my first copy of the magazine, with my image on the cover - wow!). Spending the day with Melissa and her partner Fredrik, we soon learned about their passion for the wild world of the Arctic, particularly the polar bears living in Svalbard (a Norwegian archipelago between mainland Norway and the North Pole).
I guess our worlds were meant to align, because it felt like we had already been friends for ages while we hung out with Melissa and Fred for just that one day. They told us about their company, Motherbear Expeditions, where they run a couple of tours around Svalbard each year from a small Swedish ship, the M/S Freya. Hearing about their passion for sharing their love and concern for the Arctic, as well as their ethical approach to these tours, won my heart over. And apparently we won their hearts too, because another year later we were invited to join them as special crew members on one of the first Arctic sailings of the year.
Needless to say… it was an incredible expedition. I think my heart grew three times bigger than I thought it could, seeing the landscapes, the wildlife, and getting to know everyone onboard the ship. As with Antarctica, I won’t go too much into detail, because I share it all in another video journal, here below:
Finally, by the end of April (and after some visits with friends in the UK and family in BC), we made it back home to the Rocky Mountains… just in time for some late Spring snow blizzards. But even after 7 months of snow and ice around the world, I feel more gratitude towards the cold weather than I have in a long time. Seeing the beauty of the polar regions, along with the warming dangers they face, has only made me more appreciative of the ice and snow. Now, as the trees are finally budding with their first green leaves (ahhhhh so pretty!!), I’m reminded to not take each season for granted. There is so much beauty and necessity to all of them.
Well, there it is - this pretty much wraps up a long overdue Newsletter update from me! I hope you enjoy the videos and the beauty shared through them, perhaps feeling your own heart expand like mine did while witnessing and capturing these moments.
Now, I’ll be sitting back this month to reflect and embrace the warmth of Spring, while also emotionally gearing up for the next adventures and a beautiful summer ahead… which, inevitably, will bring new images and videos to share soon.
I wish you an absolutely beautiful day full of joy and love,
Lizzy ❤️
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