Living on the Edge — Michelle Brown
The Strathcona Circle is made up of six core values: More with less, Environmental Stewardship, Challenge by Choice, Living on the Edge, Generosity of Spirit and Happy Warrior. Today, we celebrate an individual with the willingness to try new things and live on the edge…
Words by Lynsey Burke
Her open mind has led her to enriching experiences, and landed her in places where lifelong relationships and lasting impressions have been made.
Former Lodgie, mother of two, Comox local and Business Support Coordinator for Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada Michelle Brown is feeling both nostalgia and present day pride.
Her eldest child, 12-year-old daughter Audrey, recently completed an SPL WYLD program and mom was beaming because she too remembers all the feels of being a part of something so meaningful and profound.
Michelle’s daughter Audrey completed her first WYLD camp this summer, bringing Michelle back to a time in her early days when she was a child at the Lodge
Michelle recounts her time at the Lodge as an elementary school kid … and again as a young adult where she worked for two seasons and met her now husband Mike … and a third time as a young family of three.
When life comes full circle, it feels a bit serendipitous.
Sending her off to carry her own gear, hike up to impressive elevations and forge into the WYLD with a group of fellow youth, that is enough to evoke a proud tear or two in a family of former Lodgies.
“After a week of exploring the wild, she’s home again and it feels like life has come full circle,” says Michelle. “When I was Audrey’s age, I too ventured to SPL with my elementary school, a place that later became a backdrop of some other formative years of my life.”
Living on the edge — an openness to new experiences
To live outside of your comfort zone and try new things, that is the core value that is Living on the Edge and is one that speaks out loud to Michelle.
“I was never in the extreme outdoor world but was surrounded by people who were very extreme in their endeavours,” she says. “You can get wrapped up in that mentality and it attracts like-minded people that want to go on those big adventures, but I think there is space for all mindsets at the Lodge.”
Living on the edge can mean different things to certain individuals, to Michelle it means being open to trying new things
During her days spent working and living at the Lodge, it was the sense of community, a feeling of belonging and connectivity that appeals to human beings at the core — that was Michelle’s biggest takeaway. The moments spent with down-to-earth and like minded individuals and the culture of support was what made that time of her life most impactful.
She can recall moments of going up to the climbing crags on a day off, sitting up there and revelling in the fact that she was having these simple but meaningful adventures. “It was the feeling of being out in the wilderness and enjoying that beauty,” she says of those small, but beautiful moments.
The shared experience
It’s the peeling back of layers to really get to know a person beyond first, second or third impressions that create lasting lodge-formulated relationships.
Proof is in the pudding for Michelle, who married the handsome instructor Mike, who she met at the Lodge 15 years ago. The couple are now parents to two wonderful and outdoor-loving children, Audrey (12) and Casey (9) who live and play in the Comox Valley.
Upon their return to the Lodge 11 years ago when Audrey was six months old, Michelle and Mike did the brave thing and brought their young family into a group of people that they quickly found to be wonderful parental shoulders to lean on. 
It takes a village, and luckily enough, Michelle and Mike landed in the most supportive village. It was the stage of her life that she was a new mom and her sweet baby girl was that of a centrepiece sitting table-top in her Bumbo or being paced around the dining hall by fellow employees.
“It was a really neat place to have a kid because she was learning to crawl in Crowsnest Cabin, and everybody knew her around the lodge,” she recalls. “I knew it was a great place for community, where living and working together creates close-knit bonds with the people around you.”
Looking back, being in the now and taking a glance into the future
To connect with people and to find out what is important to them is what Michelle refers to as ‘connecting hearts first.’ Learning about who a person is and what is important to them has been a cornerstone to both career and day-to-day life.
Having worked and lived at SPL and , as well as at Spirit Bear Lodge in Klemtu, within the Great Bear Rainforest and home to the Kitasoo/Xai’xais First Nation on BC’s central coast, she now resides in Comox. Working remotely, she connects with Indigenous tourism businesses from across Canada has gained a broader understanding of what’s important.
Audrey, now 13 and Casey 9 are a pair of lucky kids with parents who introduce them to the great outdoors
Through all of these experiences, the core value has remained the same. To do what feeds your soul, to remain connected and to try new things that push you out of the comfortable and familiar.
“When you doing things for the right reasons it’s very meaningful,” she says.
With a pair of lucky kids who have the path of opportunity laid out in front of them, to have the same thirst for adventure being served up and by parents who are there to guide them to greater heights, the potential for big adventure is vast.
No matter your definition of living on the edge, be it sitting up on the crags for an early morning coffee or toting your rolly polly one-year-old around to forage for berries at an off-grid lodge, getting outside of your comfort zone comes with a great view and an even greater perspective.
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