I had to leave Winnipeg for a fairly long time, and go literally to the other side of the globe, to figure out that I loved it. Honestly, I don’t think I could have ever figured this out without having left. I would have spent my whole life wishing I’d gone somewhere more metropolitan or more exotic. There are people like my best friend, who have lived here their whole lives and know that they will live and die Winnipegers – and they wouldn’t want it any other way. I would never have been one of those people. So I'm glad I left - and I'm really glad that I eventually had the sense to come home.
Come February it starts getting harder and harder to remember why I love this city. The snow is no longer fluffy, white and romantic, but rather grey-brown and salt stains have begun ruining all your shoes; the wind chill has made what could almost be a tolerable temperature intolerable for more days than we should be able to count – but we do count. Talk to most Winnipegers in February or March and at some point in the conversation they will almost inevitably say something along the lines of “Can you believe it, 30 straight days below -30 degrees with the wind chill?” There is inevitably at least one day every winter where you get out of your car/off the bus, with a toque pulled down just below your eyebrows, a scarf pulled up to the tops of your cheeks, while your eyelashes freeze together and you think “What the fuck? Why did my ancestors travel half way around the world and stop here???”
The truth is that the misery we go through every winter is part of what binds us together – we all have it in common. We go through it together. We come out the other side, each spring, like soldiers home from battle – bonded together through a shared experience. And we feel that much stronger for it. Let’s face it, we look down on people that complain about minus 15. We’ve earned that right.
Winnipeg suffers from short man syndrome – forever jumping up and down yelling “Look at me! I’m a real city too!” It’s endearing – though unnecessary. We are what we are. We don’t have freeways, and we drive like maniacs. We have only just acquired some of the major US retailers that other Canadian cities have had for years. We are renowned (at least in Winnipeg) for our love of a good bargain. We have Transcona – and where would we be if we didn’t have Transcona to make fun of? Every small man needs a little brother to pick on.
So what do we have? We have incredibly short commutes by comparison with most other cities in the world. We have some of the best and most varied food cultures of any city of been in. We have the Weakerthans, who have written some of my favourite words about this city )“My city's still breathing (but barely it's true) through buildings gone missing like teeth.”) We have the West End Cultural Centre, where you can see burgeoning artists and long established ones at a reasonable price. We have a very real art scene, although you might have to dig a little to find it – it’s there, I promise. We have cottage country, usually at a pretty reasonable drive from the city for a weekend getaway. And speaking of cottage country – we have some pretty incredible summers. And we make the most of them – there’s a festival of some sort at almost any point from the time the weather gets warm (not to mention Festival du Voyageur right in the middle of the winter, when we need it most).
The longer I type this list of things I love about Winnipeg, the longer it gets. This post could go on and on.
I read this article “Nine ways to experience Winnipeg” this morning and it reminded me that some of the things we do have are pretty unique. I don’t agree with everything the author has to say – but it made me laugh, made me feel proud of this city – and usually come February I need something like this to remind me about the lengthy list of things that make me proud to be a Winnipeger. Best of all, it reminded me that there are things about Winnipeg I still haven’t experienced. It made me want to do all of the things he listed – so I’m going to. It might take me a year, because some are very decidedly winter or summer activities, but I’m going to try them all. I may even redo some of the ones I’ve already tried. As with any relationship, no matter how loving, it is always important to keep trying, learning about new things to love and revisiting the tried and true classics that made you fall in love in the first place.
If you are from Winnipeg, what is your one “must do” or “must see”? Maybe I’ll give it a try. And if anything interesting comes of these little journeys I’ll let you know.
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
What's in a Name?
What’s in a name? – Frankly, everything.
If you’ve ever read my blog before, you’ve probably noticed that it’s been renamed – oh, and it looks pretty different. Why have I gone to the drastic lengths of completely reinventing the look and feel of my blog? Well, a few reasons.
For the first one I’m going to refer you back to my last blog post “My Resignation” – it seems a bit repetitive to rewrite what’s already there.
The bottom line is that I just didn't think "Junk Food Junkie" spoke at all to where I want to go with this blog.
So why “Acquiring the Words”? One of my favourite books of all time is the Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. If you haven’t read it, don’t walk – run, to your nearest book seller or library and get yourself a copy. It is brilliant. The new name of my blog comes from a quote I have added as the sub header (scroll up – or just keep reading) “Listen. To live is to be marked. To live is to change, to acquire the words of a story, and that is the only celebration we mortals really know. In perfect stillness, frankly, I've only found sorrow.” You may have noticed that my blog is no longer about my food reformation. One of my co-workers pointed out that these days it’s more about revelation than reformation. So true. I want this blog to be somewhere I come to spill my guts. I want it to be the place where I put down the words I acquire while celebrating my story.
As for the format, I really just wanted something a little cleaner looking.
So, what do you think? Good choice? Bad Choice?
If you’ve ever read my blog before, you’ve probably noticed that it’s been renamed – oh, and it looks pretty different. Why have I gone to the drastic lengths of completely reinventing the look and feel of my blog? Well, a few reasons.
For the first one I’m going to refer you back to my last blog post “My Resignation” – it seems a bit repetitive to rewrite what’s already there.
The bottom line is that I just didn't think "Junk Food Junkie" spoke at all to where I want to go with this blog.
So why “Acquiring the Words”? One of my favourite books of all time is the Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. If you haven’t read it, don’t walk – run, to your nearest book seller or library and get yourself a copy. It is brilliant. The new name of my blog comes from a quote I have added as the sub header (scroll up – or just keep reading) “Listen. To live is to be marked. To live is to change, to acquire the words of a story, and that is the only celebration we mortals really know. In perfect stillness, frankly, I've only found sorrow.” You may have noticed that my blog is no longer about my food reformation. One of my co-workers pointed out that these days it’s more about revelation than reformation. So true. I want this blog to be somewhere I come to spill my guts. I want it to be the place where I put down the words I acquire while celebrating my story.
As for the format, I really just wanted something a little cleaner looking.
So, what do you think? Good choice? Bad Choice?
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
My Resignation
I quit.
That’s right, I quit. I am done participating in the culture of body shaming that has engulfed us. A while back I started feeling disgusted with magazine covers that scream things like “This year’s best and worst beach bodies” – There’s no winning in these types of magazines. Leeann Rimes and Tara Reid are dangerously thin, while Snooki and Christina Aguilera are ballooning out of control. We should all aspire to have Scarlett Johansson’s perfect ass. Anything more, or less, is simply unacceptable.
I’ve caught myself thinking things like “She’s really pretty even though she’s big.” Or “She’d be really pretty if she lost some weight.” – um, if you can tell she “would be” really pretty, why is that you think she isn’t now??? Oh, and how about that’s kind of the pot calling the kettle black Shawn? But I wasn’t exempt from my own hateful thoughts. In fact, I was their most frequent victim.
It’s even tempting as a size 12 – that’s right, I’m putting it on the internet, I’m a size 12 – to participate in the abundance of skinny girl hate that is out there. After all, real women have curves, right? NO – real women come in all shapes and sizes. It’s not your place to tell someone else that they should have a different body type in order to be “real”.
Let’s not forget the men here either – I can’t say whether or not the pressure on men is as great, worse, or less than it is for women. Does it really matter? Men are also victims of fat shaming in our culture – I’ve seen it firsthand. In my experience, people seem to have less issue with telling a man he is overweight or just commenting on his weight in general.
It’s been coming together in my head over the last while, that this type of thinking is just so fucked up. Then yesterday my friend Jen Selk posted this blog (Secrets and Lies)I debated whether or not writing this post was piggy backing, or copying her in some way. But I think she’d agree with me that it’s time that we all take a stand, and say that we banish fat shaming, skinny shaming or any other kind of body judgment from our way of thinking. To do that we need to talk about the fact that it is happening.
You can argue that it’s not healthy to be overweight, although according to some of my more recent reading this is not a hard and fast fact (I haven’t done enough research in this area that I’m willing to argue this point right now) – but when did we decide that our physical health was so much more important than our emotional health? Almost every woman I know (and some of the men) has spent an overwhelming amount of time beating herself up because she didn’t fit into some ideal body shape she has pre-set in her mind. We spend unbelievable amounts of time talking about our latest plans to eat healthier, lose weight, be the picture we see in our heads of what we should look like. How is that healthy??? I’ve spent a huge amount of my life being unhappy and stressed about my weight. How has that made my life better in any way? It hasn’t. I could weigh the ideal 110 lbs and still beat the shit out of myself emotionally – but people would tell me how great I looked, and then I’d be happy right? Right?
Who are we to ever tell someone else that who they are, how they look, or anything else about themselves is not up to our standards? Know a fat person? Get off their back – because if there is one thing I can guarantee you, it’s that your “caring” comments about their physical wellbeing have never done them even a little bit of good. What they have done is tell your loved one that you would love them that much more if they could just look the way you would like them to – now that may not be what you’ve intended– but I promise that this is what they are hearing. I’ve been guilty of doing this with hubby. I’ve had moments where I think, what would I do if at 50 he had a heart attack and left me alone, or with a couple of kids? (and again – hello pot, the kettle is calling and he would like his black coat back) – the thought of being without him for any reason breaks my heart. So what if he has a heart attack because he lives a life of stress, trying to live up to the expectations of his harpy of a wife? Or leaves me because I’ve been subtly telling him for years that I don’t love him unconditionally? What your loved one needs to know is that you love them. Period. There is no weight clause in your relationship (any relationship, parent/child, husband/wife, friends, relatives, whoever).
Finally, I’m renaming my blog – because even though I still agree with the heart of why I set it up (yes, I still think that over processing food is a plague), I don’t think the title is reflective of where I am now, and who I want to be – or what I want this blog to be about. I’m not sure what to call it though – thoughts?
That’s right, I quit. I am done participating in the culture of body shaming that has engulfed us. A while back I started feeling disgusted with magazine covers that scream things like “This year’s best and worst beach bodies” – There’s no winning in these types of magazines. Leeann Rimes and Tara Reid are dangerously thin, while Snooki and Christina Aguilera are ballooning out of control. We should all aspire to have Scarlett Johansson’s perfect ass. Anything more, or less, is simply unacceptable.
I’ve caught myself thinking things like “She’s really pretty even though she’s big.” Or “She’d be really pretty if she lost some weight.” – um, if you can tell she “would be” really pretty, why is that you think she isn’t now??? Oh, and how about that’s kind of the pot calling the kettle black Shawn? But I wasn’t exempt from my own hateful thoughts. In fact, I was their most frequent victim.
It’s even tempting as a size 12 – that’s right, I’m putting it on the internet, I’m a size 12 – to participate in the abundance of skinny girl hate that is out there. After all, real women have curves, right? NO – real women come in all shapes and sizes. It’s not your place to tell someone else that they should have a different body type in order to be “real”.
Let’s not forget the men here either – I can’t say whether or not the pressure on men is as great, worse, or less than it is for women. Does it really matter? Men are also victims of fat shaming in our culture – I’ve seen it firsthand. In my experience, people seem to have less issue with telling a man he is overweight or just commenting on his weight in general.
It’s been coming together in my head over the last while, that this type of thinking is just so fucked up. Then yesterday my friend Jen Selk posted this blog (Secrets and Lies)I debated whether or not writing this post was piggy backing, or copying her in some way. But I think she’d agree with me that it’s time that we all take a stand, and say that we banish fat shaming, skinny shaming or any other kind of body judgment from our way of thinking. To do that we need to talk about the fact that it is happening.
You can argue that it’s not healthy to be overweight, although according to some of my more recent reading this is not a hard and fast fact (I haven’t done enough research in this area that I’m willing to argue this point right now) – but when did we decide that our physical health was so much more important than our emotional health? Almost every woman I know (and some of the men) has spent an overwhelming amount of time beating herself up because she didn’t fit into some ideal body shape she has pre-set in her mind. We spend unbelievable amounts of time talking about our latest plans to eat healthier, lose weight, be the picture we see in our heads of what we should look like. How is that healthy??? I’ve spent a huge amount of my life being unhappy and stressed about my weight. How has that made my life better in any way? It hasn’t. I could weigh the ideal 110 lbs and still beat the shit out of myself emotionally – but people would tell me how great I looked, and then I’d be happy right? Right?
Who are we to ever tell someone else that who they are, how they look, or anything else about themselves is not up to our standards? Know a fat person? Get off their back – because if there is one thing I can guarantee you, it’s that your “caring” comments about their physical wellbeing have never done them even a little bit of good. What they have done is tell your loved one that you would love them that much more if they could just look the way you would like them to – now that may not be what you’ve intended– but I promise that this is what they are hearing. I’ve been guilty of doing this with hubby. I’ve had moments where I think, what would I do if at 50 he had a heart attack and left me alone, or with a couple of kids? (and again – hello pot, the kettle is calling and he would like his black coat back) – the thought of being without him for any reason breaks my heart. So what if he has a heart attack because he lives a life of stress, trying to live up to the expectations of his harpy of a wife? Or leaves me because I’ve been subtly telling him for years that I don’t love him unconditionally? What your loved one needs to know is that you love them. Period. There is no weight clause in your relationship (any relationship, parent/child, husband/wife, friends, relatives, whoever).
Finally, I’m renaming my blog – because even though I still agree with the heart of why I set it up (yes, I still think that over processing food is a plague), I don’t think the title is reflective of where I am now, and who I want to be – or what I want this blog to be about. I’m not sure what to call it though – thoughts?
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