I’ve been thinking a lot about boundaries lately. Not so much in the therapy sense, but more in terms of the boundaries we draw between humans and nature, humans and technology.

It’s our second spring living in this apartment in Montreal. On the first day of the year that really feels like spring, we’re finding that nature is trying hard to come inside and we’re constantly reinforcing what is ‘our’ space…

This apartment is especially permeable, much more so than the tightly sealed box-in-the-sky condo we lived in before. Creatures and critters are coming and going much more so than I’m comfortable with. But they don’t know that this is my home! To them, it’s another arbitrary pile of wood/stones that is warm.

I see a parallel in ways we’re talking about technological innovations (esp. generative AI) these days. I talk with other educators and students at work who are on a spectrum of acceptance/skepticism/excitement about it. It’s interesting to see its gradual acceptance, especially when it comes to helping someone do their job better or more efficiently. But suddenly, it’s abhorrent that students would use it for their schoolwork.

It feels like we’re becoming slowly enmeshed but still trying to assert our human-ness in all of this. The same way that humans are not so separate from nature, but we always try to assert our dominance.

I recently learned about the Rhône glacier in Switzerland, which is rapidly retreating due to climate change. Humans have been carving this grotto or ‘path’ into it since 1870 so that tourists can see the inside. This grotto needs to be re-carved every year because of the glacier’s constant change.

What I’m making

In other news, I’ve been quilting over the winter. I made a patch for A Piece of Cloth, a collaborative quilt project organized by the Public Studio to show solidarity and fundraise for the Palestinian Youth Movement. The timing lined up perfectly for me to be in Toronto for helping with the final touches on the quilt. You can see the final piece and buy raffle tickets for a chance to win the quilt here.

I then made this quilt from scraps, to cover up a cluttered area in our kitchen. I’m really enjoying putting together colours & compositions with whatever I have on hand, and I’m starting on another piece for our living room.

Coincidentally, I went to see the Joyce Wieland exhibit at the Musée des Beaux-arts:

Happy spring!