Perspective – use it or lose it.
Words I’ve been pondering quite a lot lately.
Recently I was noticing how much I dwelt on things I’ve left behind in the Yukon. While I was on a grand new adventure, I couldn’t help but resent having to re-establish myself in a new community.
You could say it was the winter doldrums, but I’ve come to be quite honest with myself these days, so I know it’s that I was lazy. Laziness and my natural social awkwardness lent themselves nicely to my wallowing, instead of hunting down adventures in this new city.
Has anyone else ever noticed how easy it is to make friends in the North? It’s almost an act of osmosis, or at least some wacky serendipity, rather than having to work at it.
The Yukon makes its gifts obvious and ready for the taking.
At least having recognized this hump, I was ready to climb over it.
And having explored Saskatoon for a few weeks, we now definitely know that this city, like all cities if carefully plumbed, has a lot to offer.
Of course we made a few stumbles. The first place we looked at for future hat-hanging was in the middle of what one local called “Murder Central”… which made our current home quite the find.
Now, my fiancée and I take nightly walks through this newly gentrified neighbourhood, picking out which character homes we might want to buy. Yes, we’ve now started dreaming our yuppie neo-Bohemian dreams.
The sad thing is I never knew how easy it would be to settle into a new town. I was too scared to think about all the work I would have to put in, to not only make some new connections in our personal life, but also on the comedy scene.
It’s hard to go from having your own comedy venue, to having to prove oneself all over again.
But it’s in that road to re-establishment where all the fun truly is.
Once we allowed ourselves to thoroughly explore Saskatoon, a place we were already enamoured with, we discovered more than enough hidden gems to make us excited about continuing our lives here.
We were given an impromptu lesson on the history of theatre in Saskatoon by the owner of a leftist/anarchist bookstore. We’ve been welcomed into the tiny yet chaotic comedy scene and we’ve booked ourselves to perform in a one-act-play festival.
And as I mentioned in a former article, the Galaxy movie theatre is pretty darn kick-butt. Reclining seats! And you only have to hear the movie you paid for!
I’m happy that I had no conception of how hard it would be to relocate, otherwise I may not have tried at all. I had been living in the womblike comfort ability of the Yukon for 10 years, without really having much in the way of life experience.
It’s not that I suffered a lack of perspective from staying in the Yukon. It’s just that I never knew how exciting it would be for my perspective to broaden.
Once I get past the nigh-terminal laziness, that is.
