I just finished watching One Week, with Joshua Jackson. That movie kind of sums up my search for Canadiana in 90 minutes. It's a very Canadian movie, but thankfully not to the point of overkill. Yet even so, somehow that wouldn't have bothered me too much.
I know it's a mean thing to say about our neighbours, but I think Americans have made me ashamed of being proud of my country. There are many books, movies, plays, songs devoted to homelands. Some of the best love stories are dedicated to the land, the country, the people. It's as soon as it gets warlike that I'm kind of turned off of patriotism. Not to mention countries, like everything else, are made of imaginary lines that shift and ripple as easily as string. Romans were so damn proud of their Roman-ness, until one day it went kaput. Or Alsace-Lorraine: one day it's French land, and the next it's German. America will crumble. Canada will crumble. Maybe not from war or revolution, but just maybe from the very forces of nature. Maybe not in the next century, maybe not in any of our lifetimes, but it'll happen. So with that in mind, national anthems don't give me much pause. BUT, if you follow that logic to its natural conclusion, I shouldn't really love anything, which just isn't going to happen, in spite of reason. It's rather callous in fact, not to love something just because it's going to die. So with that out of the way, my quest continues. Sure I know what it means to be Canadian, after living here for 20 years, and learning more facts here and there aren't going to enhance it by a great deal. At least not right away. I feel knowing my history will open a door to a place I never knew about, and I can understand it by breathing its air, swimming in its waters, talking to its inhabitants. But I can't stop at the door. If I do I will never get there and see this world with that same innocence and wonder that set me afoot in the first place. My heart is errant, for what it's worth. Hopefully it will still be when I have the courage to REALLY go out there and explore and connect with my fellow human beings and my fellow spirit. Oh, and the movie was really good, too.
1 comment:
your last two posts really struck a chord with me. I definitely consider myself Canadian, I love Canada, and have lived here all my life. At the same time though...I have traveled more throughout the world than in my own country. There are still provinces I have never visited at all. This doesn't sit right with me...if I am Canadian, shouldn't I know Canada for all its landscapes, and peoples, languages. cultures, wildlife, and everything? Yet I don't...and I know I am not alone in this. I've never felt really connected to my Canadian roots, and culture, and I think it's because I don't know enough about what that all means. It is time for some Canadian culture education on my part I think...especially if I want to move away for a while...I think it is extremely important to know where you've come from so you can appreciate where you are, and where you are going.
I love your blog.
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