Shala Monroque
Has Mercy On Herself
A Spiritual, Emotional, & Mental Expedition Into St. Lucia Through Agricultural
Devotion.
By: Sajae Elder
Saint Heron - Shala Monroque

Tucked deep in a rural Caribbean village, Shala Monroque seems to have found peace. After years in fast-paced New York City, the St. Lucian native returned to Saltibus—a fertile settlement that felt familiar with a slowed-down pace. Here, Monroque runs and maintains Nicey Farms with her mother, welcoming guests from all over the world to her piece of home. Shala’s return to her roots were hard-fought and between bouts of depression. While attempting to run Nicey Farms remotely from New York, periodic trips back to St. Lucia would only pull her closer to home permanently.

Saint Heron - Shala Monroque
I remember thinking, how
am I going to survive this?
I
think I found courage at
the bottom of myself.
Saint Heron - Shala Monroque
Aug 21 2019 11:40 AM

It’s vastly different from the daily hustle of the East Coast. But for Monroque, rebuilding a life in St. Lucia after leaving at 19 required some initial levelling. “You’re seen as successful in doing something. I was basically just dismantling everything I had done,” she explained. “I remember the first day when I landed here. It was a Sunday, which in the Caribbean can be really quiet, especially if you’re coming from New York. I remember thinking, ‘how am I going to survive this?’ I think I found courage at the bottom of myself.”

In this quiet, Shala saw the value in unplugging from the outside world, ditching her smart phone to fully immerse herself in the familiar sense of security her surroundings offered her. “In the village itself, it’s a bit like a long and winding road to get beyond the villages just before us; so that everybody here knows everybody and everybody’s related,” Monroque explained. “And that was nice coming back to as well, in terms of connecting with family and ancestors, and also learning and re-learning and remembering about myself - because everybody knows a story about your grandmother or great grandmother.”

Shala’s relationship with farming is something else she sees as being rooted in family ties, recalling days spent helping her grandmother who was a subsistence farmer as a child. “She, for sure, is who instilled this in me,” she explained. “When I would visit her on holidays and weekends, like, you didn’t just sit down. You had to go help in the yard! But I realized that it’s just so innate since a big part of my ancestors’ livelihood was farming.”

Through farming, patience is a natural lesson, according to Shala. Planting is much like setting goals, and watering, nurturing, tilling and turning are all imperative (though often slow-moving) stops along the way. “Nature will teach you so much when you live in a rainforest,” she explained. “It’s good to make plans, but to also allow for plans to change. Coming from New York, everything has to be done yesterday. But there’s a time for rain as the time for sun; a time to plant certain things, a time to reap, and a time to rest. In resting, we do so much too.”

“It’s important to have your own thoughts and to make [up] your own mind, and to be able to decipher that.”

This idea for rest, despite how elusive it might seem for many, was an important point of growth for Shala. Where corporate and creative spaces define people mainly by what they do for a living, St. Lucia allowed Shala to grow far beyond that.

Saint Heron - Shala Monroque
Oct 24 2020 10:44 AM
Saint Heron - Shala Monroque
Aug 13 2019 11:05 AM

“I think a big takeaway for me is the importance of cleaning your mind. There's so much distraction out there,” she explained. Her plans for Nicey Farms initially included not having internet access made available to guests. Now, specific rooms can be booked for this exact reason. “I think that's becoming really clear 2020 it is important to not feed into what's going through the phones and the computers. It's important to have your own thoughts and to make your own mind and to be able to decipher that.”

Saint Heron - Shala Monroque
Saint Heron - Shala Monroque
Oct 02 2020 07:10 AM

With Nicey Farms, Shala has been able to carve a space out for herself, and in pre-pandemic days, her guests to explore the island’s lush landscape. Still, she has further plans for growth. “We have this other plot of land by the river and my vision is to have a meditation retreat, almost like the garden of eden there,” she shared. “It just has this sense of peace and calm, so I want to create a space where other people can come in and enjoy that.”

“I wanted to know that I could create something for myself by myself.”

For Monroque, holding space for her wants and needs was the key to finding herself, staying in tune with her own goals in a way that fortifies. “I wanted to know that I could create something for myself by myself,” she explained. “And I've done that, and I did it the hard way deliberately. That has given me a lot more confidence.”

WRITTEN BY
Sajae Elder

PHOTOGRAPHY BY
Shala Monroque

DOSSIER DESIGN & ILLUSTRATIONS BY
Angela Adesuwa

WEB DEVELOPMENT BY
Studio 24/24
arrow down

Saint Heron is a multidisciplinary platform and institution that seeks to amplify vital voices and works in art, design, music & literature.

Saint Heron remains dedicated to empowering future practitioners of art by reverencing the spiritual act of creating and spotlighting artists’ unwavering devotion to the intergenerational language of expression.

Shala Monroque Has Mercy On Herself
A Spiritual, Emotional, &
Mental Expedition Into
St. Lucia Through
Agricultural
Devotion.
By: Sajae Elder
Tucked deep in a rural Caribbean village, Shala Monroque seems to have found peace. After years in fast-paced New York City, the St. Lucian native returned to Saltibus—a fertile settlement that felt familiar with a slowed-down pace. Here, Monroque runs and maintains Nicey Farms with her mother, welcoming guests from all over the world to her piece of home. Shala’s return to her roots were hard-fought and between bouts of depression. While attempting to run Nicey Farms remotely from New York, periodic trips back to St. Lucia would only pull her closer to home permanently.
Saint Heron - Shala Monroque
Aug 21 2019 11:40 AM
Dec 05 2019 12:49 PM
Saint Heron - Shala Monroque
Saint Heron - Shala Monroque
I remember thinking, how am I going to
survive this?
I think I found courage at
the bottom of myself.”

It’s vastly different from the daily hustle of the East Coast. But for Monroque, rebuilding a life in St. Lucia after leaving at 19 required some initial levelling. “You’re seen as successful in doing something. I was basically just dismantling everything I had done,” she explained. “I remember the first day when I landed here. It was a Sunday, which in the Caribbean can be really quiet, especially if you’re coming from New York. I remember thinking, ‘how am I going to survive this?’ I think I found courage at the bottom of myself.”

In this quiet, Shala saw the value in unplugging from the outside world, ditching her smart phone to fully immerse herself in the familiar sense of security her surroundings offered her. “In the village itself, it’s a bit like a long and winding road to get beyond the villages just before us; so that everybody here knows everybody and everybody’s related,” Monroque explained. “And that was nice coming back to as well, in terms of connecting with family and ancestors, and also learning and re-learning and remembering about myself - because everybody knows a story about your grandmother or great grandmother.”

Saint Heron - Shala Monroque
Oct 03 2020 10:54 AM
Saint Heron - Shala Monroque
Apr 27 2019 6:49 PM
Saint Heron - Shala Monroque
Aug 23 2020 12:43 PM
Saint Heron - Shala Monroque

Shala’s relationship with farming is something else she sees as being rooted in family ties, recalling days spent helping her grandmother who was a subsistence farmer as a child. “She, for sure, is who instilled this in me,” she explained. “When I would visit her on holidays and weekends, like, you didn’t just sit down. You had to go help in the yard! But I realized that it’s just so innate since a big part of my ancestors’ livelihood was farming.”

Through farming, patience is a natural lesson, according to Shala. Planting is much like setting goals, and watering, nurturing, tilling and turning are all imperative (though often slow-moving) stops along the way. “Nature will teach you so much when you live in a rainforest,” she explained. “It’s good to make plans, but to also allow for plans to change. Coming from New York, everything has to be done yesterday. But there’s a time for rain as the time for sun; a time to plant certain things, a time to reap, and a time to rest. In resting, we do so much too.”

Saint Heron - Shala Monroque
Jan 09 2020 10:24 AM
Saint Heron - Shala Monroque
Oct 24 2020 10:44 AM
“It’s important to have your own thoughts and
to make [up] your own mind, and to be able to
decipher that.”
Saint Heron - Shala Monroque
Saint Heron - Shala Monroque
Aug 13 2019 11:05 AM
Saint Heron - Shala Monroque
Oct 02 2020 07:10 AM
Saint Heron - Shala Monroque
Nov 24 2018 11:42 AM
“I wanted to know that I could create
something for myself by myself.”

This idea for rest, despite how elusive it might seem for many, was an important point of growth for Shala. Where corporate and creative spaces define people mainly by what they do for a living, St. Lucia allowed Shala to grow far beyond that.

“I think a big takeaway for me is the importance of cleaning your mind. There's so much distraction out there,” she explained. Her plans for Nicey Farms initially included not having internet access made available to guests. Now, specific rooms can be booked for this exact reason. “I think that's becoming really clear 2020 it is important to not feed into what's going through the phones and the computers. It's important to have your own thoughts and to make your own mind and to be able to decipher that.”

With Nicey Farms, Shala has been able to carve a space out for herself, and in pre-pandemic days, her guests to explore the island’s lush landscape. Still, she has further plans for growth. “We have this other plot of land by the river and my vision is to have a meditation retreat, almost like the garden of eden there,” she shared. “It just has this sense of peace and calm, so I want to create a space where other people can come in and enjoy that.”

For Monroque, holding space for her wants and needs was the key to finding herself, staying in tune with her own goals in a way that fortifies. “I wanted to know that I could create something for myself by myself,” she explained. “And I've done that, and I did it the hard way deliberately. That has given me a lot more confidence.”

WRITTEN BY
Sajae Elder


PHOTOGRAPHY BY
Shala Monroque


DOSSIER DESIGN & ILLUSTRATIONS BY
Angela Adesuwa


WEB DEVELOPMENT BY
Studio 24/24
arrow down
Saint Heron is a multidisciplinary platform and institution that seeks to amplify vital voices and works in art, design, music & literature.

Saint Heron remains dedicated to empowering future practitioners of art by reverencing the spiritual act of creating and spotlighting artists’ unwavering devotion to the intergenerational language of expression.