When COVID-19 first struck, who could have guessed that the biggest lesson it would teach us is how dangerous it is for Canadians to stop interacting with and appreciating each other.
It’s being called the winter of our discontent. What name will we give to its summer?
What, individually, are you going to do to shape it?
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I can only speak for myself, but I suspect the shock I’m feeling is the same one felt by so many others.
We’ve been surprised at how big and diverse a place our Canada is, not diverse only in religions, ethnicities and genders, critical though those are, but also diverse in outlook, philosophy and sense of self.
We’ve been surprised by the breadth of opinion amongst us, and by how deeply those opinons are held, and how tightly they are woven into our individual senses of identity.
I’m not singling out any political belief. I mean them all. We’ve seen so much conviction from so many quarters.
Let’s hope this will be a moment of learning, not one where the walls are built ever higher.
But if that’s to happen, if we’re to get to know each other better, we can’t simply wait for the world to come to our door.
I’ve decided I must be willing to take the first step. If the world is to see our human and humane face, we must share spaces and experiences with it.
This is what I intend to do this summer. I will see more of Canada, and not just the breathtaking parts, but the places where people work, where they celebrate life, when they bring their families together.
I will do this knowing I am putting myself on display too. And I intend to enjoy it. (If I don’t, I will have gotten it wrong.)
And I must see more of both rural and urban.
From inside a city, it can seem that all of Canada’s countryside is the same, but you and I know that,
for instance, although Alberta and Ontario’s Ottawa Valley are both deeply Conservative, they are utterly different in so many ways.
It’s the same way that, from the countryside, it can seem all cities are essentially the same. Clearly that isn’t true either.
The fortunate thing is, I won’t have to see so very many places. It’s more a matter of being on the road than of having been everywhere.
In 1948, Governor General Vincent Massey wrote a credo that a reader recently pointed out to me. It’s dated, of course, but it is inspiring in parts too.
“I believe in the quality of Canadian life,” Massey wrote.
“I believe that with sound work, the spirit of a team, and an awareness of ourselves, we can look forward to achievements beyond our imagining.”
I’m ready to travel, to be inspired, and I hope to see myself more as a team member. I hope you do too.
I’ll let you know how my summer turns out. Maybe we’ll even meet. Let’s hope I catch you on a day when you have time for coffee.
Are we getting it right? Let me know at [email protected].
