He just about broke his nose against the window of the Buick on the drive from Saskatoon to Regina. Not a bump of the land in sight. Just….nothing…as far as the eye could see. A boring drive said my prairie-raised eyes. But to our exchange student from Germany on Day 1 in Canada, there was sense of profound wonderment at the nothing, he who had come from a place of broken vistas. What magic it is to live the old joke about being able to watch your dog run away for three days.
The first snowflakes fell in October, 1992. Fat and wet, carpeting the ground in a snowball’s chance of getting to throw snowballs. He had never seen a white-hued landscape in his 20 years of life. Dodo – from Indonesia – looked on as if the spiritual had arrived in his soul. We laughed light, giddy like small children, as we danced to miss the arm-hurled missiles.
We learn over time to take Canada for granted. We see through it. It’s just….us….like a heartbeat we assume will be there for us without much thought about its deeper meaning…how it’s a reflection of the investment of all of us who have been, who are, and who will be.
We are free. We vote. We have the right to free speech. We have clean water to drink. We have equality in law. We have put the beast of infectious disease largely behind a close door. We live in immensely rich places with a buffet of services and amenity at our fingertips. We are safe….a place where the kids can still play with wild abandon.
We are faces and places diverse as the infinity of spaces we can scatter across. 150 languages….a nation of First Nations and all nations. LIVING PEACEFULLY. Turn on a TV to realize how lucky we are to live where we can feel more connects us than divides us.
We are the coast to the coast to the coast, and the in-betweens of mountain crag, prairie grass sway, blue lakes and rocky shores, energetic cities, connected small places, and the loud of urban inspiration juxtaposed with the quiet soul of watching a sun set over a yellow-flowered canola field.
We are of the land…the hard scrabble hewers of wood and blasters of rock and fish wrestled from an angry Atlantic with the fist of will.
We are of the mind…inventors of the snowmobile, the electric wheelchair, sonar, insulin, the cardiac pacemaker, and the phone. We are the inventor of basketball and hockey, and the all-important jockstrap.
Canada gives us a canvas to dream of what can be for family, children and friends. We are a country of possibilities. All that’s required is that we step into possibilities with our own effort. We are enablement of the words of Dr. Seuss: You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who’ll decide where to go. Canada is the place where others living in distant lands dream of making it to Canada to pursue the possible.
We are a place with a system that cares about those in need of a hand up…those who need our help to be well. We are an “Us” not just an “I”. How powerful that is for those who are afraid, have fear, are sick, or could use a shoulder to lean on. How powerful that is for US to have empathy.
We are the even keel on the world stage. When that flag of red and white waves, hearts of those who are not citizens sing for what it stands for. We have sacrificed family and blood on far away shores…have stood between those angry at the end of the barrel of a gun with peacekeeper helmet…for democratic values we believe in.
We are a remarkable place – our kanata – our “village” – that is a fabric of the threads we have woven together. We are a guidepost for a world in need of us.
And so we must be on watch for those forces that divide to try to conquer our will to make this country and our communities better. We must all invest in her future. Canada is a mirror of the strength we deliver to her. Taking it for granted is our Achilles.
We must lead. We can be inspired, and inspiring if we dare to set course for new horizon lines. Show gratitude by honouring our country in your “pay it forward” efforts to serve others more, and invest your energy in organizations and governments aiming to build better communities, and a better world.
Happy birthday Canada. We won the lottery to say we are part of you.