“I think my relationship to the earth has shifted quite a bit with traveling. I was very lucky growing up to be in a family that kind of used all of its disposable income on visiting new places. That being said, I grew up in a city and so I always feel like my connection to the earth can't be really dissociated from what humans have done to the earth. Whether that be through public transit and organising all these systems and that kind of stuff.

But it definitely does fluctuate a lot with shifts in my life and shifts in the earth's systems and shifts in seasons, even in weather patterns throughout the day. I think my mood is indissociable from the earth and I find a lot of pleasure in discovering new places.

I'm also very aware of the politics of the earth, the politics of relationships to the earth and the relationships between communities that have different relationships to the earth. And so, it's really a multifaceted relationship that has definitely shifted since moving to Aotearoa.

Growing up, my main connection to the earth was probably through swimming. And I grew up doing competitive swimming. I would spend about 20 hours a week in a swimming pool. And so getting to swim in a natural body of water just was so different. The feeling on my skin was different in a lake or in the ocean or in a stream compared to a man-made body of water. And so I'm aware of that in the way that we've shifted our relationship to the elements of the earth.

Since moving to Aotearoa, I feel like I've been more in the outdoors, and have learned about the intensity of the sun, which is interesting because Montreal is one of the most seasonal places that I know. So noticing those things here is interesting. But I guess my relationship to the earth is really in constant flux. And that reflects the constant fluxes happening in the earth and the constant movement that keeps me balanced in a way.”

Neighbour Zine x Generation Zero: A series of conversations with friends