Transcript
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Speaker: My name is Tracey Ariel and I am an apologetically Canadian. This is my ruminations on a pandemic and how we all learned to deal with the crisis in 2021.
Speaker: Before I start, I just want to say that last year among my resolutions is I vowed to greet people with Bonjour High as often as possible and continue cutting my use of greenhouse gases. The first was easy. Bonjour High works really well to politely highlight bilingualism. I even use it on my website. With the second well, the pandemic meant that everyone on Earth cut their production of greenhouse gases thanks to a global crisis.
Speaker: There are many ways to deal with a crisis, and I think in 2020, all of us discovered how we handle uncertainty and stress. This was a tough year, whether we kept our jobs, helped others keep theirs, or kept trying to create them. Some of us kept working in essential services. Others used the time to create works of art. Some people couldn't work and struggled instead to find ways to occupy their minds and bodies in ways that helped others.
Speaker: I did a little of all of that. I didn't stay consistent with my blog post podcasts or giveaways, but I did keep them active. If I learned anything in 2020, it's that I cope and everyone else copes with things that others know nothing about.
Speaker: I did, however, discover the beauty of grace, giving others the grace of assuming they had good intentions, even when they reacted badly. I really appreciated the many opportunities to receive the support of others through so many challenges. Many of us sat on the verge of falling apart, and yet few people actually did. This is a year when we can all congratulate each other. We are all so lucky.
Speaker: My trips to a Mexican beach in January to see the luminaires in Toronto in March, and a romantic spa weekend with my husband in Quebec in April, seemed like eras from a different lifetime. Most of this year consisted of long walks in local parks, bike rides along the Verdun waterfront, and last weekend's adventure looking at the Christmas lights downtown and visiting an outdoor gallery in the Gay Village.
Speaker: Many times this year I got reminded that local travel can open up adventure, beauty, and a look at culture beyond my own, just as much as any trip, as long as I keep a positive attitude. It was a good lesson to have now. As I get older, it will be possible to keep having adventures as long as I keep remembering to regularly travel outside my comfort zone.
Speaker: From a work point of view, as someone who runs markets and writes, I was busier than ever in 2020. I attended several virtual business conferences and meetups via Zoom, GoToWebinar, Facebook, Google Meets, Slack, and Discord. They weren't as good as traveling to these things in person.
Speaker: But they were better in other ways in that I didn't have to move so I could attend more of them. And meeting people by writing in chats and doing Zoom discussions in breakout rooms was a good way to remind yourself that you can connect to people even when you're isolating.
Speaker: As online meeting tools became essential for business in 2020, they opened up possibilities for personal connection too. Some of the times I remember best were playing Fibbage online with my sisters, their husbands, and our good friends. These events helped me to connect better to distant family and friends, and I hope to keep that up in the future. They were almost as pleasant as playing games in a tent outside in the backyard with my husband and two adult children and picnicking outside with colleagues and friends.
Speaker: My friend Diana led me to read a fascinating story about researchers studying happiness. And the quote I like best came from the University of British Columbia, Vancouver psychology professor Elizabeth Dunn. She said, I think a potential upside of the pandemic is that it may renew our capacity to enjoy some of the pleasurable little experiences that many of us prior to COVID -19 probably took for granted. She's probably right.
Speaker: In addition to struggling to reset our culture, to appreciate online connections, and to get used to new pandemic masks and distancing styles, we also faced a lot of tragedies. The death of George Ford Jr. in May created a global Black Lives Matter movement that I hope will continue to resonate in the coming years.
Speaker: Then in October, we all witnessed Nurse's insult, Joyce O 'Querquan, an indigenous woman here in Quebec who was suffering and later died. I can only hope that her film triggers a similar indigenous Lives Matter movement here in Canada and around the world.
Speaker: Add that to the loss of important thinkers like Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Richard Gwyn. Canadian legends like journalists, Alan Fartheringham and Christy Blatchford. Games host, Alex Trebek. Blues legends, Salome Bay. Skier, Rona Wertel. Rush drummer, Neil Purt. And politicians, John Turner and John Crosby. Losing all these people definitely makes the world a smaller place.
Speaker: This year also marked a decade since my mom died. To commemorate her memory, I participated in the Great Cycle Challenge, which got me exercising a lot in August and got me asking people to donate to a really good cause. And I was really happy to actually have made my donation pledge. Thanks to donations from many of you. Thank you so much for your support.
Speaker: Another first this year was participating in NaNoWriMo, the National Novel Writers Month. I attempted to write 50 ,000 words in a novel, only wrote half that, but the experience was a good one and will be repeated in 2021. During this global pandemic, I learned more than ever how important it is to eat seasonally, live locally, stay involved in your community, be kind, and stay sorry. I became even more unapologetically Canadian.
Speaker: Thank you for listening to Unapologetically Canadian. Please consider supporting our podcast for $2 .99 a month. Join select listeners and get additional episodes every month.
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