Hi, I’m Jani and Fringe of the Forest is my digital domain.
Since 2011, I have been deepening my roots here in Nipawin, Saskatchewan at the fringe of the Boreal Forest. I have gotten to know many of the folks in my community while working the various jobs I have held here, in typical customer-service-type roles.
In this webspace you will find all of the things that I offer to the world, my gifts and talents compiled in a virtual resume of sorts.
First and foremost, I am a creative muse. I am like a fountain of ideas, available to be scooped up at anytime or left to flow abundantly.
Those who know me well, know that I pay great attention to the details, especially when it is preferences that I can attend to. This knack has led me into custom work. Mainly in the jewelry that I create, but I have been known to customize other things for people as well. See also, *Creative Muse.
The past couple of decades has seen us swiftly swept away in a technological maelstrom. I was born at the exact correct time to be old enough to have used an 8-track, an mp3 player and everything in between. At the office, I am the one who helps you compose the perfect email, format your spreadsheets, get your document to fit on one page, and on the weekend I’ll make a poster for your craft sale or help you design a dynamic new resume.
If you have ever worked closely with me, I don’t have to tell you that I can really project my voice, even when I’m not trying. Not only has this literally served me well in the performance arts, but also figuratively in advocacy. When it is time to speak up, you can invariably count on me to do it, however imperfectly. I am not afraid to stumble and fall. I will brush myself off and get right back up again for another round.
While attending school to learn about office administration, I was invited to offer tutoring to fellow classmates and found I have an aptitude for providing guidance. Several years later I would host a couple workshops for people in my community to assist them in using their social media to better effect. Today as I write this, I offer workshops for resume writing, crafting and social media management. Possibly more to come (I have tossed around the idea of a photo organizing/scrapbooking event…we’ll see.)
Until recently, social media has been a place for leisure and free time, but lately I have noticed a sharp uptick in business/professional activity in places that were formerly for just fun and games. Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, et al have become as viable a business tool as the debit machine. This has presented a unique challenge for many business owners requiring them to spend much of their free time learning how to keep up pace in this super-cyber-space. This unique challenge presents as a unique opportunity to me. I never dreamed that my aptitude with social media, which I had prejudged as frivolous, could become a potential to help others do better business for themselves.
Now even as technology hurtles along, rivalling lightspeed, I have found my way to slow it all down. In my garden time does not exist, only seasons. Growth takes place when it is opportune and so it also goes for rest. Mine is not your typical garden structured in rows. Nature shows me how to align and so the garden is planted in alignment with Nature. When I wonder how to be, I look to the plants and trees, they have yet to disappoint me. Stay tuned for more updates on our Urban Homestead and the Fringe Forest Garden.
This is me trying something new. This is a journal. This is a canvas. This is a box of craft supplies. This is a cutting room floor. This is a market for traders of goods and services. This is a place to learn new skills. This is a small town family. This is a village. This is a soap box. This is the grapevine. This is a gathering place. This is an urban homestead. This is a forest garden.
This is my home.