Our community profile this month is John Kerkhoven, a harmonica player and English-speaking community member who resides in Matane. He recently played the opener for Paule-Andree Cassidy at the Leggatt’s Point church concert fundraiser for the CSM Community Hub Project, wowing the audience with his musical talent. Read on to learn a bit more about the man behind the great beard!
Did you know about shrimp before you arrived? Best place to get them if you do know? I knew nothing about Matane’s famous shrimp before I moved here. The stocks are drying up and the processing plant burned down this year, so I don’t know where they’re being sourced any more, but I love them, and a good place to get them is the Poissonnerie Matanaise.
What is your favourite place in the Lower Saint Lawrence, and why? Aside from home, I’d have to say the area around Kamouraska where we just went camping recently. I was impressed by the vastness of the intertidal zone. You really need to stop and spend some time there to appreciate it. It’s a natural environment unlike any other.
What is your idea of perfect happiness? The Japanese have the concept of Ikigai: a reason for being, in which what you love, what you are good at, what you can do that the world needs and what you can be paid for all come together harmoniously. I have found no better conception of a fulfilling life.
What talent would you most like to have? The ease of interaction with others, on stage and off. But speaking just professionally, I admire those who have a facility in their stage presence. It’s something I’ve had to work at and that I keep working at.
What is your greatest achievement? Going back to the first question, and the concept of Ikigai, my greatest achievement is making a meaningful life for myself. Twenty-five years ago, I had a week off from work and returned to reading, writing and playing music, and I realized that these activities that meant so much to me were at the periphery of my life and needed to be at its centre. It took me a long time, and it’s always somewhat precarious, but I achieved this: a life centred around creativity.
What is your motto? There are several. But from Thoreau: to live simply and wisely. The poet Lew Welch affirmed that “if we don’t, actively, make the chores of the day too difficult, there’ll be lots of time left for the play we call art.”
Biggest regret? We work with what we’ve got, so in a sense, I have no regrets. But, without getting too specific, I wish I’d been more patient at times, more determined at others; relatedly, I wish I’d been more understanding of others and kinder to myself. What that means for me today is that I do my best to stay focused on my work and strive to be generous with others and in my artistic practice.
