About “Dream Big Cape Breton”

Life here is awesome!!

And in January 2012 I started a blog to write about it.

(In case you don’t know where “here” is, Cape Breton is an island on the eastern coast of Canada. It’s part of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia.)

And I’m Leah, the author and editor of the blog. You can read more about me, like where I come from and where I grew up, on the “About Leah” page.

Basically, Cape Breton is experiencing hard economic times and a lot of the young people are leaving to make a living elsewhere. A lot of people believe that life here isn’t awesome, and it’s hard to blame them, because it’s hard to find:

• affordable housing
• good jobs
• an affordable way to get educated
• adequate childcare
• affordable transportation
• health-care resources for battling mental health issues such as depression and addiction, which continue to rage
• positive attitudes about Cape Breton’s future – a lot of the talk is about how you have to leave to get a job.

I write this blog because I know that we can solve these problems, and that we can make our communities truly vibrant and strong, by connecting with each other, sharing resources + ideas, and working towards common goals. By building on the community we already DO have.

So, to that end, I write about … my own life, about seeking inspiration all around me, and about getting excited by the world I experience. (Like these posts about visiting 10 different beaches over the summer of 2012, or this one about everyday inspiration.)

I also do interviews with other Cape Bretoners, as well as commission guest posts from other people, on a wide range of topics, so that together, we can get inspired and empowered to rebuild our communities as strong, thriving, year-round, awesome places to live!

I’m so excited to have you here as a reader! You can connect with me by email (leahcnoble@gmail.com) or by joining the Facebook group.

Want more? Here are some of my favorite posts from the last year, that talk a little more about the Dream Big Cape Breton project and what it means to me personally:

• “Here we go” – the very first post (January 2012).
• “Moonlit mornings, and the project so far” – my thoughts on silence and balance, and how Cape Breton’s history and wilderness can soothe my tired mind (Feb 2012).
• “On Intuition, Creativity and Following a Hunch” – (March 2012) How this blog evolved from a letter to the editor.
• My speech for the Youth Social Enterprise Boot Camp, given in late March 2012, in which I talk about self-confidence, calling myself a “writer” in public, and the positivity I see all around me, on this island.
• This post is my “first quarter report” – some things I’ve learned in the first four months of this project.
• This post includes a video of me giving a short talk for the “Ideas Powered by Passion” series in Sydney, about this blog.
• This is a radio interview with me that was broadcast on CBC Cape Breton’s Information Morning show in June 2012.
• This post is from December 2012, almost a year after starting the blog. Some thoughts on patience, creating change, and the evolution a creative project has to go through.

You can email me with questions, comments, input, ideas and other bright words at leahcnoble@gmail.com. I always love hearing from readers!