There is no arguing the beauty. Across the Pacific, tall mountains tower over the water that is as deep as they are high. Colorful flowers I have never seen before grow a bit wild here in the summer. Dense hedgerows cloister homes along the main boulevards. Waterscapes and art are built up around the city belying a culture clearly in love with the aesthetic. Perhaps inspired by the art of nature there.
And the people are nice. Like, really nice. And not in that “duh-i-have-to-be-nice-to-you-because-you-are-the-customer” kind of way. The way they are nice feels like a habit. Like something they do involuntarily, like breathing. Even the street people begging for money are gentle, “maybe you will have some change on your way back?”
The rains are gentle. The cold is gentle. The newspaper headlines are gentle. It is a nice place to rest.
It did not occur to me until last night what I was missing in this place. I could not figure out why I felt so uncomfortable there. Then it hit me. I had not heard anyone laugh since I arrived. No one. I was constantly in meetings…on trains…in crowds…in restaurants…in shops. No one laughed. No one erupted in anger. I saw no one who was clearly unhappy.
I am not suggesting that my four days in Vancouver represents a complete picture of the city. In that time, I realize that my experiences are extremely superficial and can only represent my personal snapshot from the pieces of the city I visited. But I leave here today feeling a little odd. I wonder how long a fiery person like me would last in the kind of world that, at least in my small impression of it, did not appear to have a lot of emotional variance going on. At least publicly.
Still, it was nice to rest. And I really did feel peaceful in this lovely city.
xo,
K
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1 comment:
Perhaps you should have made THEM laugh. Then they would have erected a statue in your honor and given you a key to the city, and then you could have used that key and rummaged through the Mayor's office exposing the ACME ANTI-LAUGHTER MACHINE shedding light on the fact that Vancouver's Mayor is actually the Grinch and his heart is three sizes too small, which you could have filled with love and turned his frown upside down - making Vancouver the happiest city in North America. I'm pretty sure you would have gotten something for your efforts, like another free trip to Vancouver or free drinks anywhere in the city, but I'm wondering... what were you hoping to find rummaging though the Mayor's office in the first place?
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