Meet Ginger McCoy.
I came to this community in 1976 – I hitchhiked here from Newfoundland, and moved onto Bayswater. All my five daughters and three sons were born here. I went walking with my daughter a while ago and she said ‘Mom, did you notice how many people you know, and say hi to you?’
I have a clay studio and sell my pottery here now. I’m a potter. It’s in the clay I find my true home – it’s where I live. You know what’s really cool? I know I evolved from the clay, and when I die I’m going to go back to the clay. Those are two book ends that I can’t change.
Last June I gathered all these people, these women, together to make a clay quilt project. We all talked around the table about community, our love for community and our need to be more intentional in making it happen. I think community is the sustenance of life. For me, it’s the most important piece in my life. It gives the opportunity to stretch and grow, to be larger, and to be small, all at the same time. And welcoming is the foundation of community – the clay. It’s allowing yourself to be vulnerable to other people and allow them into your life, even for a short moment. An example? If I see an old woman, or an old man, or someone with mental challenges at a bus stop and I’m walking by I feel it’s my duty, as a community member, to stop and talk to them, even if it’s for 60 seconds. I do it all the time – maybe that’s why I know so many people all around! It’s not service, it’s not doing, it’s being, and it comes back to me in that very moment, and in surprises later. You are truly living community when you are truly welcoming. In that there is a synchronicity with life. So it only makes sense that I work in clay, it’s the foundation of the earth, and welcoming is the foundation of community. It’s a very ‘whole’ thing. It’s the journey. Collected by Kate Settle.
Humans of Kitchissippi is a special street photography project designed to introduce readers to some of the people who live, work, and play in Kitchissippi. Each instalment of HOK contains three elements: a photo, a name, and a quote from the subject that reveals a little bit about who they are. View our small, but growing, ongoing collection of humans right here.