Musings of our city, love it or leave it
I have to confess, I cried the first time I watched Susan Boyle’s 2009 audition on Britain’s Got Talent, and I am not ashamed to say that.
What I am ashamed to say is that Winnipeg, unlike Susan Boyle, is a City..
... that does not actively follow through with its ambitions.
Part of the problem lies in that Winnipeg, generally speaking, refuses to change – the most recent example being the results of this year’s civic election - and another part lies in the love/hate relationship we are proud to have with our great city.
Fellow beat reporter Karlene Ooto-Stubbs relays that relationship when she talks about Winnipeg.
”I like the comfort of living in Winnipeg, is has that small town feel. But it’s stuck in a negative mentality,” she said.
Guaranteed, most people you ask will give you somewhat of a similar answer.
”I like Winnipeg, BUT...”
And it’s the ‘but’ that kills our ambition. It’s the ‘but’ that makes us think we are not worthy. It’s the ‘but’ that refuses to let us change. It’s the ‘but’ that somehow allows us to think it’s cool that we love to hate our city. I don’t like that ‘but’.
For an article I was writing last week for the Nov. 25 issue of the Uniter I spoke to former Vancouverite Aiden Enns about his move to Winnipeg.
Though he admitted that when he first arrived he shared the same contempt others feel towards the city, once he began to breathe and appreciate the subtle beauty Winnipeg has to offer, his views changed.
”I love it here.” he said.
While we were discussing one of my favourite hobbies, long walks down Wellington Crescent, he noted that switching up his walking route is what opened his eyes to the Winnipeg he loves today.
Seeing an area of town he was unfamiliar with – seeing women carrying home their grocery bags, ma and pa shops and a different sense of the word ‘community’ – the little things that go unnoticed and unappreciated by a person who has live here their whole life.
I am a traveller. I love to explore, to adventure, to learn, to grow, to breathe and to appreciate.
But it was not until recently that I realized I could do this without first jumping on an airplane and crossing the Atlantic Ocean, or driving for hours to cross the Canada/U.S. Border, or even leaving the city. I can do that all right here.
And now I too can say ‘I love it here.’
My Winnipeg:
