Lights to Guide Me Home
An Interview with Meghan J. Ward
The forces in our lives are constantly colliding—sometimes in ways that work out well and sometimes in ways that don’t. This interview series is an exploration of what it can look like to work with the collisions, rather than against them. By digging into how humans and nature interact–from our relationships with other humans, to those with our non-human neighbors, to our relationship with ourselves to our relationship with the landbase–we can uncover how to best step fully into our role in the story of the world.
Welcome to another installment of the Ordinary Collisions interview series. Today’s guest is Meghan J. Ward, a fellow writer and mother who I met thanks to the [positive aspects of] the internet and social media. Someday I hope to travel to where she makes her home to chat with her in person. And have her lead me to her favorite trail spots and lakes and streams…. Once you read where she’s based, you’ll probably want to do that also.
Meghan J. Ward is an outdoor, adventure and travel writer based in Banff, Canada, (See?! Banff. I just got distracted by looking up driving routes to get there. It’s a long way from Minnesota, but my local friend, Leah, just made the trek this past summer so I know it’s possible….) Meghan is the author of the travel memoir, Lights to Guide Me Home, that’s due out NEXT WEEK! (more on that at the end of the interview) A Fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, she’s also written several other books, as well as content for magazines, anthologies, and films. She is passionate about travel and backcountry adventures, and she and her husband often take their two young kids along for the ride.
Heidi: Meghan, thanks for being here with us today. It’s been such a joy to get to know you through your writing. I can’t wait to spend more time with your new book! To start us off today, I want to begin with the same question I ask all my guests: What are two forces that are colliding in your life right now (or that have in the not too distant past)?
Meghan: Can I mention more than two? For the past ten years, ever since I became a mother, my life has felt like a massive collision of forces. But to simplify my answer, right now I am solo parenting for a month while my husband is teaching photography in Greenland, which requires me to output a high level of energy for my kids. On the flipside I am running our family photography business, working freelance in marketing and content creation, and also launching my latest book. So these outward forces collide with my ‘inner’ efforts to remain calm, reduce stress, take care of myself, and get enough sleep. Each day presents me with a kind of battlefield where I must fight on behalf of peace and calm amidst what feels like a hurricane of responsibilities.
Heidi: That’s a lot! Solo parenting is so tough, on so many different levels. How are you navigating the conditions this collision is creating? How does the dissonance created impact your choices?
Meghan: I have a note posted above my computer that says, “No hard things after 5 PM.” With a smiley face. Navigating this collision requires me to uphold the boundaries that I create for myself so that I don’t burn out. The dissonance requires me to listen carefully to what my own voice is telling me: You’re tired. You don’t need to do that right now. Go for a hike. Go relax. This sometimes makes me out to feel like the most boring person on the planet! But I know that this is the operating mode I need to be in in order to get through these stints of solo parenting, which I do several times a year.
Heidi: I love that note to self. No hard things after 5—I’m here for that. Boundaries and knowing our own limits are so essential to keeping the ship sailing. (In my opinion, being “boring” is highly underrated.)
What has this collision taught you about yourself? The world?
Meghan: I’ve learned the hard way that I can only handle so much. I’ve lived the definition of overwhelm. But I’ve also learned I can really be my own best friend, and that I actually feel proud when I take good care of myself. What I’ve learned about the world is that it’s up to us, and only us, to do what’s best for us and uphold our own boundaries. The world can keep knocking, but we don’t always have to open the door.
Heidi: Not all knocks need acknowledgment. So true.
Now…..tell us about a collision you explore in your latest book!
Meghan: Lights to Guide Me Home is an exploration of a collision between identities and expectations — those I had for myself, or that I felt in my past, and how those collided with new things I was discovering about myself and how I wanted to move through the world. More specifically, I needed to disentangle myself from a belief system that had been ingrained in me since childhood while I was simultaneously stepping excitedly into a lifestyle and set of experiences I had never before envisioned for myself, such as outdoor adventures and world travel. Later in the book, I explore the collision that is my identity before and after having kids, and what remains of me underneath these many layers of responsibility.
Heidi: I love a good exploration of collisions—so excited to dig into this book when my hard copy arrives. What else would you like to share about your current projects?
Meghan: The official release of Lights to Guide Me Home is September 27! Otherwise, keep an eye on my website and social media, specifically Instagram (@meghanjward) for news on articles I’m writing and other things I’m working on. Finally, check out my Substack called Field Notes, where I’m writing about navigating a life lived off the beaten track in the outdoors, travelling, parenting and passion-fuelled projects.
“For a year now I had been navigating the shoreline that is parenthood. For many years longer, I had been navigating the shoreline that is a life I never thought I’d be living. But even with land in sight, mariners face a danger: get too close and you’ll crash. Sailing along a coastline requires a delicate balance of remaining close enough to familiar features and keeping a safe distance from the comforts. Because you can’t have adventure without setting out to sea in the first place. Now we were out at sea and everything looked unfamiliar, even the constellations.”
-from LIGHTS TO GUIDE ME HOME
If you want to read a book about collisions and how to navigate them (in addition to Collisions of Earth and Sky) this is it.
Have a collision you’d like to explore in this space? Send me an email at heidi@heidibarr.com.