Meet Erica Bennett "The Raven"
I have never believed that a life has to follow a straight road to become something meaningful.
Mine certainly hasn’t.
Aurora Haven, Raven & Wolfsbane, the gardens, the animals, the old buildings, and everything growing here came from years of learning, rebuilding, changing direction, and figuring things out along the way.
This is not really the story of what I have built.
It is the story of what I am still becoming.
LEARNING BECAUSE LIFE REQUIRED IT
I didn't arrive here knowing how to do everything.
I learned because something needed planting, repairing, preserving, feeding, building, researching, or figuring out.
I read. I asked questions. I watched people who knew more than I did. Then I rolled up my sleeves and tried.
There were mistakes. Plenty of them.
But somewhere between the gardens, barns, kitchen, animals, books, tools, and muddy boots, life became one enormous classroom.
Sometimes the best education begins with,
“Well... I guess I need to learn how to do this.”
I could finish this page with a polished biography and make everything sound neatly resolved.
But that wouldn't be true. There are still buildings to restore. Gardens to grow.
Things to learn. Ideas scribbled in notebooks. Animals waiting to be fed.
Mistakes I haven't made yet. And probably at least one project I have wildly underestimated.
So this isn't the ending of my story. I am still becoming.
The story is still being written.
And somewhere nearby, there is probably a raven watching the whole thing unfold.
THE PARTS THAT DID NOT GO TO PLAN
Not every chapter of this story is beautiful.
There have been failed plans, financial setbacks, projects that stalled, things that broke, seasons of loss, and days when starting over felt suspiciously like the only thing on the schedule.
I have had to let go of what I thought certain parts of my life would look like.
But failure has never been the end of the story here.
Sometimes it is simply the place where the story changes direction.
WHO IS THE RAVEN?
The raven has followed this story for a reason.
Ravens are intelligent, observant, curious creatures. They notice things. They remember. They communicate. They adapt.
That feels rather appropriate around here.
To me, the raven represents paying attention to what others overlook, asking questions, protecting the stories worth keeping, and remaining curious enough to wander through the occasional unexpected door. Perhaps that is why one keeps appearing throughout Aurora Haven. Consider her your guide.
BRINGING MY HOME BACK TO LIFE
When I returned to Northern Maine, I came back to a place that needed more than maintenance. The land was overgrown, the buildings were tired, and there was work everywhere I looked.
So I started where I could.
One board. One window. One garden bed. One stubborn project at a time.
Somewhere in the middle of repairing buildings and reclaiming forgotten corners of the property, I realized I wasn't simply fixing an old place.
I was bringing my home back to life.
And little by little, it was doing the same for me.
MORE THAN A JOB TITLE
I am a farmer, maker, builder, researcher, business owner, teacher, student, caretaker, and whatever else the day requires before breakfast.
But none of those titles completely explain why I do this.
The work connects everything I care about: caring for land, keeping useful knowledge alive, making things with intention, creating opportunities to learn, building community, and leaving something worthwhile behind.
This isn't a performance of a simpler life.
It is a real one.
Messy. Useful. Imperfect. Still growing
“I followed no map, only curiosity. I opened the doors that appeared, wandered down paths I did not understand, and discovered that becoming yourself is the strangest adventure of all.”