No matter where you live, everyone, at some point during the growing up process learns to adapt to their environment: what is around where they live, and the best ways to live according to those surroundings. Well me, I grew up in BC, and from an early age I have been adapting to - and indeed loving - that my surroundings include forest, ocean, mountains, hills, and long curvy highways built off the sides of those mountains, snaking through the endless forest.
But it's not enough to know what's there; you have to know how to properly live in it. And if I'm being perfectly honest here, when it comes to those long curvy highways, people as a whole in general are absolute freaking idiots. There are a few highways around the south coast where city people get outside the city, but don't lose the aggressive city driving habits: the Sea-to-Sky outside Vancouver, the Malahat north of Victoria.
The Malahat is a section of the Trans-Canada highway that runs from just outside Victoria to Duncan, about 45 minutes north, and it is an incredibly busy road. A lot of people live in the areas outside Victoria, or further up island in the little communities between there and Duncan, and commute down every day.
But by all accounts, it shouldn't be dangerous. There is one lane up, one lane down, and for a large chunk of the way, a concrete meridian down the middle.But there are corners, sharp corners around the side of a mountain and though the posted speed limit may be 80, occasionally 90 km/h, people routine roar up at over 100. And when it rains - which is most of the year - or gets icy - most of the winter - and people are going too fast they lose control, resulting in these catastrophic crashes.
People die unnecessarily on that road on a far to regular basis. And for what? To make the ferry? To be 10 minutes earlier? Is that worth the loss of human life? But apparently most people aren't thinking that far.
The thing that scares me the most about our changing world is the ever increasing speed at which things need to happen. Think about it, everyone has a smart phone, you want to know something, you've got internet in the palm of your hand. Witness something, you've got a built in camera and in 30 seconds you've put a video on YouTube. Everything is getting faster and faster, and it's building up the expectation within us that everything has to get faster and faster. But it still takes 2 hours to drive to Nanaimo, and 6 hours to fly to Toronto, and that's just the way it is.
And for those of us living here on the west coast of BC, we have to accept that there are mountains and corners, and it takes extra travel time to accommodate them. It's not worth it to risk it.
Thursday, August 22, 2013
Sunday, August 18, 2013
Summer 2013
I started something back in grade 9. Each year of high school I would try and find something about myself that had grown, changed, matured throughout the year. And each year there was always something.
My perspective on my life changed as I grew up - one would certainly hope I would be seeing things differently at 18 than I had at 14!
And as much as I learned about myself in those 4 years of high school, much as I felt myself growing up, and believed myself to be ready and able to take on the grown-up world, this past year again has been monumental.
I had far from a flying start to my university career - they don't say first year is the worst for nothing, I can tell you that much. It was a relief to be finished with school in April, but I was left clueless as to what to do with myself after that. I had seriously considered taking this coming year off school, or perhaps just the first semester, but by the end I decided simply to take the spring and summer as a break, to work and relax and figure things out.
I went to Ontario for 3 weeks in May on my own, gained the experience of solo travel, met and visited my extended family. Got a break from my regular, boring life.
In many ways, this summer was quite unproductive; 4.5 months off, most of which was spent working at a dead-end retail job, no social life whatsoever.
But I've learned things about myself. I have accomplished things.
After having my L 3 years - in fact having to renew it last summer - I finally broke down, took driving classes and yesterday I got my N. Now I have a new-found independence that has opened brand new doors for me.
I had my last shift at my first job today. I had been there 2 years, and had finally hit a point where I had had enough, it was time to move on, take some time off and seriously focus on school this fall. That's a piece of my life-timeline right there: my first part time job.
And I am going back to university. I have my courses picked, and my textbooks purchased, and the beginnings of a plan formulated. I am going to study like never before, and probably not enjoy most of it. But I am going to succeed, and that will be worth every moment.
But most importantly though, what I have learned about myself this summer is that I am not a social person. Well, I didn't exactly just learn it - I've known that for a long time. But I have finally embraced it, and accepted that I will never be a party goer, I will never be one to be constantly out with friends doing fun adventures. I often feel like people don't understand me, and for the most part I don't really understand myself. It's as if, in a world of circles and squares I am a triangle: there is a place for me out there somewhere, it'll just be a little harder to find it.
My perspective on my life changed as I grew up - one would certainly hope I would be seeing things differently at 18 than I had at 14!
And as much as I learned about myself in those 4 years of high school, much as I felt myself growing up, and believed myself to be ready and able to take on the grown-up world, this past year again has been monumental.
I had far from a flying start to my university career - they don't say first year is the worst for nothing, I can tell you that much. It was a relief to be finished with school in April, but I was left clueless as to what to do with myself after that. I had seriously considered taking this coming year off school, or perhaps just the first semester, but by the end I decided simply to take the spring and summer as a break, to work and relax and figure things out.
I went to Ontario for 3 weeks in May on my own, gained the experience of solo travel, met and visited my extended family. Got a break from my regular, boring life.
In many ways, this summer was quite unproductive; 4.5 months off, most of which was spent working at a dead-end retail job, no social life whatsoever.
But I've learned things about myself. I have accomplished things.
After having my L 3 years - in fact having to renew it last summer - I finally broke down, took driving classes and yesterday I got my N. Now I have a new-found independence that has opened brand new doors for me.
I had my last shift at my first job today. I had been there 2 years, and had finally hit a point where I had had enough, it was time to move on, take some time off and seriously focus on school this fall. That's a piece of my life-timeline right there: my first part time job.
And I am going back to university. I have my courses picked, and my textbooks purchased, and the beginnings of a plan formulated. I am going to study like never before, and probably not enjoy most of it. But I am going to succeed, and that will be worth every moment.
But most importantly though, what I have learned about myself this summer is that I am not a social person. Well, I didn't exactly just learn it - I've known that for a long time. But I have finally embraced it, and accepted that I will never be a party goer, I will never be one to be constantly out with friends doing fun adventures. I often feel like people don't understand me, and for the most part I don't really understand myself. It's as if, in a world of circles and squares I am a triangle: there is a place for me out there somewhere, it'll just be a little harder to find it.
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