Happy Birthday Canada

This is how July 1st started for me.

A link to Neil Pasricha’s Celebration of Canada

To be clear the entire book of 68 pages is available to read for free at this link, which I did this morning. It was unintentional, as my plan was a quick peak but I  just kept going. It may well be that only Canadians will be curious, however, since Pasricha’s books are New York Times and #1 international bestsellers, spending over 200 weeks on bestseller lists, and have sold over 2,000,000 copies across dozens of languages, I suspect many of you have heard of him. Neil’s pro bono work focuses on youth literacy and mental health and he has degrees from Queen’s University and Harvard Business School.

I would describe his offering as a realistic love letter to the country his parents emigrated to and where he grew up and still lives.

As I made my way out into the neighbourhood I noticed more people and more people wearing celebratory red than I have seen for the past several years. Canadians are not very nationalistic but rather low key with their celebrations. (I do not mean boring – we know how to have fun) I also am lowkey but not about birthdays. Probably every reader of this blog knows that my birthday is Sept 13th because I find every opportunity to drop that information – only because I find it such a remarkable event to keep having a birthday.

This morning on my walk I reflected on the truly remarkable event that I live in Canada. I don’t need to go into any explanation because Neil Pasricha does a good job of doing that. And besides, you dear readers, live all around the world and their are things that all of us cherish about our homeland. More to the point is vowing not to take any of it for granted. In a way that is the secret to a joyful and meaningful life – take nothing for granted.

On these occasions there are all kinds of way we can take notice from the snowbirds flypast, which I got to see by pure good luck, live music and entertainment at designated locations across the country and of course fireworks. Most of us are probably at the cottage or backyard bar-b-ques with friends and family and for at least this day recalling how fortunate we are.

My family has been on this continent since the early 1800’s and we have freely traveled back and forth across the border ever since. It has always been a delight and a privilege to extend hospitality and to receive it. My hope in this interval between July 1st and July 4th is that this be so for all future generations.

Aspirations

On a day of gratitude for what is working in our country, I think of our collective aspirations, individually, as organizations and as a country. Aspirations are important because they give us direction but by no means do they lay out a series of absolute and achievable goals. Life intrudes on the best laid plans and we do 180’s on a regular basis. But just because we  don’t live in an ideal world where we can perform lockstep from A to B doesn’t mean aspirations aren’t worth working towards. The direction, even with detours makes it all worthwhile.

Vaclav Havel reminds us of this when he wrote,“The kind of hope that I often think about…I understand above all as a state of mind, not a state of the world. Either we have hope within us, or we don’t. It is a dimension of the soul. It’s not essentially dependent upon some particular observation of the world or estimate of the situation. Hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out.”
― Vaclav Havel

Notes:

1) It’s interesting as I think of Dr. Shoma Morita’s aspiration that we make everyday the best day. Obviously everyday is not the best day, yet there is truth in his statement. Each day we have the chance to spot something wonderful no matter what else we are abiding with: a single flower, a smile, a cup of tea, a full moon, a phone call, word gifts, a cool glass of water on a hot day, a hot shower, a swim, a grandchild, the final dot on the i, a piece of music, an unexpected refund, a treatment for our illness, a clear scan, another birthday, a good meal, a cozy bed…

2) Here is a favourite song of mine about extending our hands in friendship and and caring for each other. It reminds us that when we are suffering we can visit the home of a friend who will welcome you and help see you through and later you will get the chance to open your door to give that gift to others. It is a reminder that we are here to help and be helped. I love this song and this particular rendition by the Laval Youth Choir.  Le Choeur des Jeunes de Laval L’amitie 

3) On Canada’s birthday may we consider friendship and caring to be an aspiration worth extending to all. With my deepest thanks to all of you who arrive at this door each week. Your kindness and friendship to me is deeply treasured. Please never hesitate to reach out when you need to. Warmest and best wishes from Ottawa, Trudy

PS A west coast summer sunset and a watercolour sketch you have seen before by my friend Patricia Ryan Madson. Thank you Gottfried and Patricia.