Canada Day...A Tribute

Let's see...

Unwanted furniture on multiple lawns and in alleys...?

Gordon Lightfoot tributes all over the radio...?

People still house-hunting at the very last moment of the provincial change of lease date...?

Yup, it must be Canada Day in Montréal...

I am typing this out on the laptop I wondered if I could use this week. The technician from the phone company has set me up with the WiFi (first time I have had the box installed in my own home on my own dime). The front room is a mess of boxes filled over-generously with books (strange thing is that the local drop box is much closer than the ones I used to visit at my old address). The weather is perfect and I am wondering what it is I am trying to say with this message.

I think I want to make more than one change in my life...

I think I can make a resolution...or two.

1. More work - I know that I work for two schools officially, but that still leaves me with some gaps in my schedule that I can fill in. Maybe an online course with some real transferable skills? I am still looking, and after the weekend is over, I expect to hear back from the places I have already reached. Maybe I should keep my fingers over-crossed...?

2. Reach out to my neighbours - I did that to some degree at the old place, but in an enclosed space like this, it pays to get on top of this without it being an accident. Not sure how to do this without leaving a card in their mailboxes and surprising them with my openness. I hope that I can find at least one other soul in here who is a friendly face...and likes to read a book or three. Maybe there is someone out there worth my time...?

3. Consistent writing - a plan formed in my head that I could be a typing machine if I really set my mind to it. I do form something on the page that warps and changes as I write. Not really the best way to be consistent with my ideas. Not really the best way to get a novel done. My way of thinking flies off in too many directions at once for me to think that I will have anything more than a collection of diverse scribblings...but who know? Maybe the great novel is something I have to get out of my system one day.

4. Do more Canadian things - I chose to finish this after heading out from a day of unpacking and surfing more work online. In Montréal's Old Port (Vieux-Port), there are fireworks, Cirque de Soleil, ice cream, little tourist traps for anyone who really needs a mug, hoodie or a cap with antlers on it. Nearby was the Jazz Festival that I chose to ignore this time. My mind was focused on getting a snack and maybe actually staying out and enjoying the show. And this is what I mean by enjoying more Canadian things: I tend to not enjoy being reduced to the cultural stereotypes that others expect to see in me. Most of what I love to do does not involve going out into a crowd. Maybe this should change...?

5. Get out of my own way - I know that I have read that the one thing that keeps people from getting ahead in life is that nagging voice in one's head that tells us that we should accept our limitations and not try to get ahead. We all hear it; some of us actually learn to ignore it. I never have mastered that trick, but I am getting better at trusting myself. With all the changes going on in my life now and the constant hunting for a solution to that ugly little gremlin muttering in my thoughts, now is the time for me to do something bigger...

No more maybes in my life...

Happy Being A Canadian Day, folks...

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You can find more poems, stories, and articles by Kendall Defoe on my Vocal profile. I complain, argue, provoke and create...just like everybody else.

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