This week, I'm writing from Ottawa, a slightly larger place than Sackville. One thing is for sure though: this place is BUSY. People are hustling around, either waiting in line or walking to the next one. Stop, go, stop, go, stop, go, stop. Looking around, I can't help but notice all the different, but similar people, wandering aimlessly through the day. Men are in their suits, women dresses, all scurrying off to some sky rising office space in the heart of the nation's capital. While most people would see this as a classic picture of the successful working class (myself included), I've always found it funny how turned off I am by the idea of such a life...Which is slightly hypocritical since I work for the crown jewel of commerce in Ottawa (Shopify, in case you didn't know), and plan on moving here within the year.
It definitely has its appeals: corporations offer steady work, good pay, stability and security (if any difference exists between the last two). With a good job, I can see myself coming home at 500 every day, to a loving wife and kids, in an upper-middle class home, taking semi annual vacations to somewhere warm, returning back home to the city life. Hell, forget picturing it, I might even love this life, living within a well-scheduled, organized work week, with my future secured into a nice little package. When you look at it this way, what isn't there to love?
Well...For one, I've always been a LITTLE bit egotistical. I'm not afraid to admit it: I want to do something great, I always have. I don't want to be the next blue collar worker who coasts through life, only to be forgotten in the records of time. No. I'd rather be the next Steven Spielberg, an individual who reinvents the meaning of greatness, making my own rules to a system that hasn't been created yet. I want to interact with people on a global scale, communicating with them through something bigger, or deeper than the ordinary. I want to connect with people emotionally, bringing a piece of my life into theirs through our shared experience. In short, I want to be a part of people's lives when they're not working. I want to give them a reason to look forward to the weekend.
How am I going to do this? Who knows...Maybe a publisher will take a shot on me one day, and I'll become the next great Canadian author. Maybe you'll hear my songs on the radio, directly or indirectly. Maybe you'll go to see the next Oscar-winning film and my name will be on the credit roll. Maybe ill try to accomplish this and fail miserably…What I do know is this: I'm not going to connect with you in some sky-rising, city facing office-space...At least not the way I want to.
Not that I am trying to knock that life either. It's a great life, for many people, it’s the perfect life. Maybe it should be for me to... only it isn’t. It’s just not the one I want. I want to be better than that. Maybe, just maybe, if I keep telling myself that, this fake arrogance will turn into the real thing. Or maybe not. Maybe I’ll stick with my job for decades to come, and enjoy an above-average, upper-middle-class lifestyle.
For now, I’ll just enjoy this view of the city, and wait for time to sort the rest out.