Being happy is a strange thing, almost irrational, and if one assumes that feeling neither happy nor depressed but generally okay is the norm, than about as common as feeling depressed. I am certain that the majority of my adult years has been spent in a state of depression or 'okay', which is why I'm maintained on a low dose of anti-depressant. I'm well adjusted and, even at my worst, not suicidal, and before the SSRIs came into my life, could almost pass for normal. So, having spent the last couple of years in a holding pattern of 'okay', having an almost constant level of pleased satisfaction (or dare I say, happiness) seems quite bizarre. Outwardly, this is particularly strange since I recently left my long-term boyfriend, am away far from my loved ones in a city I barely know, earning no money, and feeling somewhat isolated. And yet, I'm happy. I am -steadily- happy and have been for a month. I attribute this to doing meaningful work in a place where I am respected and treated as an equal, to having something of an adventure out here in the flatlands of Winnipeg, and maybe because despite being far away, I still feel utterly loved. Anyway, I have no way of knowing how long this period of happiness will continue, but I can hope that it carries on for a while yet, because if the depression counts for anything, then I'm owed. I thought I'd mention this so I don't look like I'm taking it for granted - I'm not !
In other news, I have had a very productive week working in Paleontology. To quote the Wiseman and his Hat in Labyrinth: "Quite often, young lady, it seems like we're not getting anywhere, when in fact-" "-We are." I'm certainly getting things accomplished, though, and I feel very good about the status of the exhibit work I'm doing. The project has ballooned into something I can be very proud of when it's completed, not quite what we thought of in initial discussions, but, compared to a month and a half ago, a good deal more than we thought we'd be able to carry out. In Education, too, great headway is being made. I'll have the entire week next week to work with that department so hopefully I will see the first draught of my programme analysis and evaluation complete by Wednesday. The deadline for that one is a great deal shorter because it needs to be completed before my supervisor goes on holiday (and of course for class, as well). I do wish I could stay at this museum. It's such a refreshing place to work.
Last night was my third yoga class. I've never really done yoga before, except for one or two classes when I was younger. The very talented diorama artist here, Betsey, teaches it for free after work on Thursdays and she is extraordinary. Patient and incredibly knowledgeable about the human body, yoga is a way of life for her and she treats it with great respect and solemnity. Steeped in an Eastern tradition, she does not commercialise it nor rush through it, instead teaching it in equal measures of body and mind, the way it is meant to be approached, as a form of balance. I think I would like to continue doing it when I return to Peterborough. I feel better in my own skin even after such a short time. In a similar vein, I am also losing weight. This is not because I'm not eating properly, in fact, I am probably eating more properly than I ever have. Even though I am not getting as much exercise as I have in the past, my diet consists almost entirely of simple, homecooked meals that are almost entirely made up of vegetables and cooked exclusively in olive oil. By the example demonstrated by Rosetta, I have learned that cooking from scratch does not have to be complicated or take a long time. I hope that I have the gumption to carry this on when I return home, as well.
In yet other news, I have taken some good photos over the last while here in Winnipeg, and I invite you to view them at my deviantart gallery. Yes, that is a plug. Have a lovely weekend.
Tuesday, November 15, 2005
Oh Winnipeg, how strange a city you are, full of fluctuating weather patterns and strange, spacious, wind-blown landscapes. Last week, while I unfortunately suffered from a child-borne disease (usually called 'the flu'), the weather was magnificent and on Remembrance Day, which is a holiday in Manitoba, Rosetta and I went siteseeing in St. Boniface and The Forks, if only to get out of the house and into the loveliness. Two hours was about all I could manage, though, having had a fever and whatnot.
But it was so worth it. I visited a Cathedral that had been ruined in a fire and rebuilt as a modern structure that incorporated the ruins to great effect, its cemetary boasting the grave of Louis Riel. Photos will be made available at my deviantart gallery in the near future, as in probably today or tomorrow. Also, we browsed through some of the boutiques in the Forks, which is kind of like Toronto's Distillery, in that it was a bunch of warehouses that someone decided would make a good tourist site and renovated, rather than simply allowing human habitation to naturally take over. I found some cool clothing, which I can't afford to buy, and there seem to be some neat cafes and restaurants at which I cannot afford to eat. But the people watching was nice and I had a good time.
The temperature began dropping over the weekend and yesterday came with a weather warning and watch for snow. And boy, has it snowed. Wow. It's not that I'm unaccustomed to large dumps of the white stuff, it's that I'm not accustomed to it at this point in the year. And, there is every chance that this snow will still be on the ground come Christmas. Apparently, once the ground gets covered, Winnipeg goes into deep freeze for five months. At the moment, Winnipeggers are relearning how to drive in poor road conditions and white-out and traffic is crawling. Cars that are low to the ground are acting as snowplows, if they're moving at all. The buses slide and bump against the curbs and get stuck in drifts that require 'rocking' to escape.
Highways all surrounding the city are closed. Schools have closed. People are out shovelling and those who have managed to get into work (though it took about an hour and a half for me to do so) are mostly preoccupied with the weather, rather than getting anything done. People here take an obscene amount of pride in their winters and are buzzing about with delerious and demented pleasure at how long it will take them to shovel tonight, or how much snow will end up covering the ground, and how this storm doesn't even begin to approach that one last year, or the year before, or whenever, when the snow came up to the roofs of cars. I'm just impressed that the whole department has made it in.
I, on the other hand, am considering bailing on work early today, if only to avoid the slush-hour commuter hell that will inevitably follow. I need to visit the walk-in clinic, anyway, because I need my prescription refilled and I also have to do a smidgen of food shopping. Yes, I realise this is kind of bad timing, but I'd rather do it today when it's not frigid out than tomorrow, when they're saying it'll be a whopping high of -10C.
Is it too soon to start feeling Christmassy?
But it was so worth it. I visited a Cathedral that had been ruined in a fire and rebuilt as a modern structure that incorporated the ruins to great effect, its cemetary boasting the grave of Louis Riel. Photos will be made available at my deviantart gallery in the near future, as in probably today or tomorrow. Also, we browsed through some of the boutiques in the Forks, which is kind of like Toronto's Distillery, in that it was a bunch of warehouses that someone decided would make a good tourist site and renovated, rather than simply allowing human habitation to naturally take over. I found some cool clothing, which I can't afford to buy, and there seem to be some neat cafes and restaurants at which I cannot afford to eat. But the people watching was nice and I had a good time.
The temperature began dropping over the weekend and yesterday came with a weather warning and watch for snow. And boy, has it snowed. Wow. It's not that I'm unaccustomed to large dumps of the white stuff, it's that I'm not accustomed to it at this point in the year. And, there is every chance that this snow will still be on the ground come Christmas. Apparently, once the ground gets covered, Winnipeg goes into deep freeze for five months. At the moment, Winnipeggers are relearning how to drive in poor road conditions and white-out and traffic is crawling. Cars that are low to the ground are acting as snowplows, if they're moving at all. The buses slide and bump against the curbs and get stuck in drifts that require 'rocking' to escape.
Highways all surrounding the city are closed. Schools have closed. People are out shovelling and those who have managed to get into work (though it took about an hour and a half for me to do so) are mostly preoccupied with the weather, rather than getting anything done. People here take an obscene amount of pride in their winters and are buzzing about with delerious and demented pleasure at how long it will take them to shovel tonight, or how much snow will end up covering the ground, and how this storm doesn't even begin to approach that one last year, or the year before, or whenever, when the snow came up to the roofs of cars. I'm just impressed that the whole department has made it in.
I, on the other hand, am considering bailing on work early today, if only to avoid the slush-hour commuter hell that will inevitably follow. I need to visit the walk-in clinic, anyway, because I need my prescription refilled and I also have to do a smidgen of food shopping. Yes, I realise this is kind of bad timing, but I'd rather do it today when it's not frigid out than tomorrow, when they're saying it'll be a whopping high of -10C.
Is it too soon to start feeling Christmassy?
