101 in 1001: A Look to the Past

I’m in the midst of creating my list of 101 things to accomplish in 1001 days.  It’s taking me longer than I thought it would take to create it!  While thinking of new things to try, I couldn’t help but look back at all of the things that I have already done in my lifetime.  Tonight, I want to share with you some of the accomplishments that I’m most fond of.

1)  Booking a 1$ flight to Vancouver BC to see the ocean for the first time.  

I’ve never liked flying and I had never travelled on my own before either.  This was a trip of many “firsts” and it was decided in a matter of minutes.  I saw an ad for the one dollar sale in the Globe and Mail and stayed up until the sale began (at 2am EST).  My intention was only to browse the destinations but I ended up booking the trip to Vancouver and a trip to Halifax with the idea that I’d go see the Pacific ocean and then the Atlantic ocean.  But, the booking for the trip to Halifax didn’t go through because the site crashed. 

So I ended up in Vancouver for a week during late October in 2004.  Through the web, I found a sailor willing to teach me how to sail despite the fact that it was storm season in that area.  I hopped on a ferry at 5am to get myself to Victoria and met with Lars, my sailing instructor for the day.  It was by far the craziest experience I’ve ever had.  All I can remember is how I remained stunned the entire time.  I took his instructions very seriously and applied myself the best I could.  I sailed.  For four hours, I sailed and then we had to bail because the winds were too awful.  So we headed back to the bay where the winds were less ferocious and he let me sail the boat unsupervised while he prepared food. 

Imagine that: being in charge of a 30 foot sailboat, listening to the whirling sounds in the sails, and seeing nothing but various shades of blue.  Imagine that it’s also your first time seeing the ocean.  It was nothing short of overwhelming! 

That experience taught me not to be scared of the unknown.  It made me realise that I’m missing out on potentially life-changing experiences if I relegate my choices to those that fit within a little box of comfort and security.  It confirmed that sometimes you just have to do things on a whim because if you think them through too much, you’ll just fall back on what you know and what is easy: staying put.

That one choice to sail on the Pacific has continued to lead to a progression of brave choices year after year.

2)  Getting the job as a teacher of adults

I think it was in 2005.  I saw an ad in the paper for a new school of adults that was opening up in Sudbury and they were looking for teachers.  They wanted university graduates, no doubt.  But, I thought I’d be bold and apply anyway.

Not only did I get a call to interview but after the interview, I was asked if I might be interested in running the school.  I declined because I’m well aware of the Peter Principle (that people get promoted to their highest level of incompetence) and frankly, I didn’t feel that I was ready to manage a school if I hadn’t even worked as a teacher yet.  Ok, technically, I had worked as a teacher’s assistant in Visual Arts for the elementary school system but that was hardly enough experience for me to feel comfortable being the boss!

So, I taught and I loved it, every moment of it.  I loved teaching and I especially loved teaching adults because they’re so set in their ways.  It’s a greater challenge to try to instill new ideas, to try to get them to open up to new ideas!  I was teaching high school upgrading, mostly.  The premise of the school was to assign independent work and just supervise the students in case there were questions.  I changed all that.  I wanted to conduct lessons and my students wanted to be taught.  So I spent countless nights prepping lesson plans and gathering materials for classes.  I even conducted the school’s first in-class science experiments.  My students were thriving… and then I learned a few important lessons about the education system.  I learned that in some cases, students will be given higher grades or passing marks to push them through the system.  I learned that some students can’t even read and they too will be pushed through the system.  I learned that though I didn’t participate in the practices that I disliked, being part of the system just wasn’t worth it anymore. 

3)  Finally deciding not to pursue post-secondary studies

This took a long time.  I only made up my mind about two years ago but now it’s official: I will never ever ever go back to school.  It’s a very risky thing to do especially since, in our modern society, so much weight is placed on having completed a post-secondary education when you try to compete for jobs.  But when you examine the content and teaching in a typical University course, it’s not that hard to realize that a large part of it is complete shite and that it is incredibly overpriced.  I’m of the belief that anyone who can read, can analyze and is self-reliant and independent enough to question and research and explore what interests him or her can do just fine by becoming an autodidact instead of pursuing a university education.  Of course, this path works best if you don’t aspire to work in a traditional career that requires schooling. 

I think we should encourage more autodidacticism instead of pressuring every child to go to university.  I could go into great depth about my feelings on this but I’ll reserve my thoughts for a separate article some other time!

4)  Moving to Ottawa

I had been planning to move to a larger city since 2005.  I had talked about it for the entire year and then, on a whim,  I made the move.  My sister was moving to the capital due to a job transfer so she invited me to come along.  Really, that made it less scarier than it could have been.  But I didn’t have a job.  I didn’t have any savings.  I just had a deep desire for change. 

In 2006, I found myself living in the suburbs of Ottawa.  Within a week of being here, I found work in the IT department with a Crown Corporation.  Within a month or two, I made new friends, discovered Vietnamese soup called “pho” and bubble tea and beaver tails and found delight in discovering new sushi places around the city.  Spent many days at the national art gallery and a whole lot of time enjoying the festivals in the summer.  Simply, moving to Ottawa has been the best decision I’ve made so far.

5)  Learning how to grow vegetables, finally.

I grew up with fresh vegetables every summer and sometimes, my mom would even preserve some in jars for us to enjoy in the wintertime.  But I never really learned much about gardening until I moved to Ottawa.  My sister knew a bit more about it than I did so through her instruction, through books and through trial and error, I managed to grow my first vegetable garden in 2008.  I grew tomatoes, beans, cucumbers, peppers and strawberries.  In 2009, I moved downtown and quickly put together a container garden on my balcony where I grew tomatoes, cucumbers, onions and lettuce.  I learned that cucumbers aren’t made to grow on balconies.  I also learned that you really need to plan container gardens and that my garden will be much bigger and better in 2010 thanks to the advanced planning!

5)  Buying my first stunt kite and learning to play the doumbek

When I was a little girl, I saw a huge man on TV pulling a huge kite through the air while music played in the background.  It was the first time I saw stunt kites.  I swore I would try it.  And I did, years later.   My first stunt kite was purchased  in Sudbury.  It was only about 2 feet wide.  I named it “Danger”.  It didn’t fly very well because…. it wasn’t really a stunt kite.  It was a dual line kite but that’s about it.

After the move to Ottawa, I did some research on it and found the best starter kite for me: the Prism Quantum.  I named it “Dmitri” (after Dmitri Shostakovich, the Russian composer that I adore so much).  After learning how to fly it, I went on to purchase a no-wind kite, a 5 stack and a freestyle kite. 

A couple of years ago, my sister performed in a belly dancing show.  Various performers were being showcased and one of them was a Middle Eastern drumming ensemble.  The main drummer, Zahra Haddad, made me want to drum.  I LOVED the sound of it.  I remember closing my eyes and then whispering to my friend sitting next to me, “I have to learn how to play this”.  In June of 2009, I contacted Zahra and signed up for private lessons.  Since then, I’ve participated in several drum circles and have been introduced to various different drums.

Stunt kites and the doumbek have certain things in common: when you learn how to play them or play with them, you are transported to new levels of happiness.  Feeling the tension in the kites lines and feeling the vibration of the drum when you’re banging on it is incredible.  I don’t know how else to describe it other than to say that I want to continue to fly kites and to play the doumbek because I can’t imagine my life without it.  And most of all, I encourage you to try it as well. 

6) Performing my spoken word piece in front of a microphone in front of an audience.

I’ve talked about this a lot so I’ll keep this one brief.  Jessica introduced me to spoken word in July of 2009.  In August of 2009, I performed a piece I wrote, for the first time.  It scared the living daylight out of me and I don’t think I’ll ever do it again.

But, it was THE most liberating experience I’ve had so far.  It made me realise that sometimes, you have to do what scares you the most.  Not because you might like it but because there’s a chance that you might be right and you won’t like it but you can say that you’ve had the courage to TRY.

Damn that felt good.  That moment was pure personal power.  That moment will live in me forever as the time when I wasn’t scared (but I was).  That moment  brought me back to one of my favourite lines in literature, when the unicorn in The Last Unicorn decides to leave the safety of the forest she’s always known to seek out the possibility that other unicorns might exist.  She says, “Yes, but now” and leaves immediately.

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