Carol Adair, who came up with the idea for the Labyrinth and presented it to Moosomin town council, says that the labyrinth provides an opportunity to take time and reflect while walking through it.
“It felt good. I was happy, really happy to see it open. I was amazed to be completely honest. I think a lot of people came out of curiosity because a lot of people don’t know what a labyrinth is. I know a lot of them also came because they wanted to see the community gardens too. I think a lot of them are opening themselves up to something new and they’re willing to see what it was anyways. Now we just have to take the time to go walk it and take the time and the pause to put that into our life,” said Adair.
“It’s a chance to reset sometimes. If you’re going through a bad low or you want to rethink something, you can walk into the labyrinth centre and then walk out and use it as a reset. You can do a reset of your life.”
The pattern and path of the Chartres Cathedral Labyrinth are what inspired the design of the newly established labyrinth in Moosomin, according to Adair.
She says that the community’s support in the project was something she did not expect.
“I’m just happy. I’m grateful that everybody is open to it. First, it was the town, I’m still impressed that they said yes. Without them, it wouldn’t have happened and so I’m just grateful. I hope it is a good thing for Moosomin, just like a new building on the corner of Main Street, it’s just another option for people to use and something that makes Moosomin more interesting, more viable, more diverse. It’s something different and it’s something useful for the community.”
During the opening of the labyrinth, both Adair and Carolyn Woodall took time to thank the Town of Moosomin for their support as well as Mike Stein of the Public Works Department for helping acquire and pile the rocks needed to establish the labyrinth.
Adair says that the labyrinth will benefit the community and notes that students from MacLeod Elementary School will soon be able to add their own creative touch to the labyrinth.
“I thought it would just be neat for the people of Moosomin to have a place where they could go and spend some time and go for a walk if they need to. I think it’s really neat and I think the children are going to like it too. I spoke with Tammy Cole and she said that it will be one of the first projects they do in the fall when the kids get back to class, go to the labyrinth. They’ll use it as a mindfulness walk. They do love rock painting too, so they’re going to paint some rocks and bring their special rocks to the labyrinth, and then they can bring their family down and show them their painted rocks,” said Adair.
“Everyone has to experience it themselves and give it a try to see if it’s something they can use, something they can fit into their day and life.”
The labyrinth can be accessed through the South Cemetery beside the community gardens.