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passionate about the center’s mission, she debated whether to apply for the leadership position because she thought it might take too much time away from her family. One night while talking with her husband, he pointed out that she had been working for 15 years trying to help adults rewrite their childhood stories and here was an incredible opportunity for her to make an impact with a younger wage group.

That’s just what Fields is doing at Trackside. With a fresh look, a new motto, “You Belong Here,” and a fabulous staff of three – John Priest

(Head of Programming), Marie Demasi (Executive and Program Assistant), and Lori – Fields hopes Trackside can help its members reframe their experiences, define who they are, and craft their narratives so they are compelled by their convictions and proud of who they are.

“There’s an urgency to figuring out how you want to live,” Fields said. “Knowing who you are is the only path to being at ease and living a healthy life for yourself.”

She credits her high school English teacher with helping her find her truth by exposing her to the transcendentalist movement and the idea of carpe diem, or seizing the day. Around the same time she was reading Thoreau, Fields had her own experience of feeling like an outcast, losing friends in high school after speaking out about something she cared deeply about. “My dad told me that when you stand up for what you believe in, you are never wrong. I would one thousand percent make the same move over again,” Fields says.

Fields finds her own place of belonging inside herself. “I have always felt like I belong next to and with anyone who needs a little help giving themselves permission to live their life the way they want to,” she says.

All of this happiness and soul work can come with a downside, but Fields takes care of herself as well. “Because most of the time I am the optimistic, glass half-full person, people never think I have a bad day,” she said. To recover and rejuvenate, Fields goes back to her Thoreau inspiration, “solitude, solitude, solitude. I am extroverted introvert and need alone time to replenish my soul.”

Trackside relies on fundraising and donations to provide programs for their members. For more information and to donate, please visit the Trackside website at www.trackside.org. •