More Windsor Street Art

I remember reading one time that the Ancient Roman's view of chance in life was not to fight it, but to embrace it. If I recall correctly, they saw chance as an overarching feature of life that should be expected, and that we should welcome what comes. Even if I'm misremebering, this seems like the only real approach we can take. To do otherwise is to continue running forward when we clearly see a cliffs edge. Why not veer off to a side and cross the eventual bridge that comes?

Life Is Chance

When you look back at your life, how much of it was pre-planned to end up to this exact point? How long before you had to take the plunge did you have your plans set in stone? Now compare those two answers to the following: how many times have your plans been completely derailed? How many times did something big knock you off one track and onto another, completely unexpected one?

If your life is anything like mine, then you'll probably see that the final questions have a lot more (interesting) stories than the first one. I don't think it's any surprise that things will happen that make it so you have to have to take a last-second turn, or maybe a complete detour. I mean this both literally and metaphorically. 

If we look at driving as a literal example of our metaphorical life, the analogy works quite well. Most of the time, the mundane things will be going smoothly, but occasionally there'll be massive construction, accidents, emergencies, someone will cut you off, or maybe you, yourself, will be struck. Despite this, we learn to cope, we make due, and we become better because of it.

Printing Press in Winsor

Creatures of Habit

Lately, I've been dealing with a lot of angry people. Sometimes they are angry for good reason, other times it makes such little sense that I can't help but laugh and shake my head.

We all get angry over stupid things from time to time, but it's how we deal the anger that really matters. Some cities are now furnished with so-called "Rage Rooms" where people can let loose and destroy things such as plates, toilets, and other household breakables - for a fee, of course. The ones I read about allowed you to bring items in, such as those from an ex, and smash the living hell out of them with a variety of tools. As the owner of the Toronto Rage Room was quoted:

"Society prevents us from expressing that anger outward most of the time, so this Rage Room is a cathartic relief for participants"

Downtown Detroit

I wanted to begin by addressing the ever-present sentiment on social media that "people are not to be trusted" and that "you find out who your real friends are when things go bad." While the second has some weight to it, I think they are both gross oversimplifications. There may actually be a case revolving around intelligence. Let's take a peek, shall we?

My "order number" was a MLP Doll
This was at The Yeti

I'm going to complete a 4-week pattern of saying one thing, then immediately contradicting it the following week. I was listening to an audiobook^ where it described an orator giving a rousing speech on the merits of "Justice" as the highest virtue. He argued his case expertly, apparently arousing strong emotions from the audience in favour of his stance. The next day, he returned to argue that Justice should not be regarded at all - also with equally convincing arguments and skill as the first. If I recall correctly, he was banned from the city, possibly because he was rather dangerous and could "corrupt the citizens". If anyone knows the exact story, I'd love to know who this character was and where I could find his speeches. I don't claim to be anywhere near this skill, but why not try arguing both sides of an idea?

Uptown Waterloo

These past few weeks are hardly notable. Very little is happening in the day to day, and I'm largely biding my time while waiting for something to give. Most days in the windowless, green, fluorescent lit training room, filled with dissimilar people of varying backgrounds and ages, listening to a quirky half-Japanese fellow talk about Chrysler, customer care, and warranties. No cellphones, no internet. 8 hours a day, 5 consecutive days, 5 weeks.

Sounds boring, right?

That it most definitely is. But this isn't another complaint post. Instead, I'm advocating for the side of boredom. I was in waterloo earlier today, and old habits kick in quick: I was listening to the CBC. A piece on the merits of boredom happened to be playing.

Not too shabby

If you enjoy negative posts, then you, dear reader, are in for a treat!

As you can see, dedicated reader, my last post encompassed one single event instead of the entire week that followed it. Honestly, my life is incredibly boring for you to read and frustrating for me to live right now. If this was it - if this was all I had to look forward to for an indefinite amount of time - I would totally off myself. That's the depressive side that's starting to leak out of containment, which is held in check by anger and stoicism on the other. I haven't been writing, though I have a few opinion/how-to posts that I wanted to flesh out. I am lacking the time and/or motivation. As I've said in the past, when you least want to get down to work can sometimes be the best time to do it. So here I am.

Adeline and Steve during Painting Day

Ramblings

Ok, maybe I am getting a bit restless. I finally got out of the house, other than simply biking. I drove somewhere, parked, and went into a building. Williams street cafe is my local favourite, but they had unexpectedly closed early. This leads to me walking down king street, all half-kilometre, to the other cafe, Coffee culture. It’s actually a pretty cool place; formerly a bank, they converted it to a massive cafe with bronze, stamped ceiling tiles.

Ha, Ha! Business!

Aaaand it's time to begin the weekly posts! These will be released every Monday,* and will encapsulate the major events of the past week. They won’t be as detailed, focusing on the broad strokes of what I’ve been up to and thinking about.

The third week of September involved hanging out with 2 people: Primarily Steve, one of my best friends, and once with Emily, one of the few friends I still have in Chatham. Contrasting this with how things were in Australia, it’s a lot more solitary. That’s not to say it’s a bad thing, as it’s giving me plenty of time to work on the projects I had been cooking up while in Australia.

September 8th, 2015

Standard Canadian Houses

I woke up feeling like a building had collapsed on me. I haven’t worked out for over a month, then did quite a bit of activity and injury yesterday. Does a number on you! Going to bed last night, I hurt a bit, but it wasn’t that big of a deal. 

I pull myself out of bed to find I can’t walk without a significant limp, and definitely can’t run. Any fitness buffs know that sore-leg biz after leg day can be difficult to get around. At least know it’s a good pain. Now it’s just damage pain that will probably linger for a while. So long as it’s temporary, I can deal. Please be temporary.*