by Mike Brock
I’m always looking for the bright side. Although, if you ask my wife when I’m driving in Toronto traffic, the above statement is a complete falsehood. But I’m hoping to change that perspective. And what better time to change your perspective than spring?
Perspective can and should change. For instance, I used to be afraid of storm troopers and spicy food. Now my ideal Friday night is watching ‘A New Hope’ and scarfing Kung Pao chicken.
If you’re lucky, age happens. If you’re luckier, wisdom comes with it. And, with yet another spring currently loading, I thought that it might be a fine time to check in on how we can change with every turn of the sun.
Some of us want to change, and can’t seem to find a way to do it. Some of us change so much that we can’t even keep track of ourselves. And then there are people who are really good at changing enough to grow, but not losing themselves in the process. I’ve dipped into all three of those buckets in my time. With each passing season, though, I just get more comfortable with the passing seasons.
Everyone changes every year, no matter how stubborn you think you are. We change our tires and our humidifier settings a couple times a year. We change lanes every single day. (Although, to be fair, that may be a Toronto reference, because I’m not so sure that there are too many lanes to change into on Manitoulin.) We change our underwear most days. I give change to the tin flute musician at Finch Station Subway every time I head downtown. We change the channel with the push of a button and the game with a roll of the dice. Heck, the only thing which remains the same is how much everything changes.
Now, it’s true we don’t make change as much as we used to—it’s more tap and go these days—but there are still big things happening. And sometimes they can happen out of nowhere. We’ve all heard of the “overnight sensation,” where everything changes for a singer overnight because their song gets on the radio. She gets unfathomably famous after nobody had ever heard of her. But nobody had heard of the years of hard work, musical training, and toiling in obscurity, either. So, really, not much has changed except her pocketbook.
Speaking of change in music, I use to wear out cassettes until I was out of pencils to wind the tape back into the case. I went through four copies of ‘Back In Black’ before I was 18 years old. Nowadays, if I hear the same song more than once a week, I skip ahead to the next playlist. Is it because, subconsciously, I feel like I’m running out of time, and can’t waste it like I used to? Or, is it because I’m old and grumpy I don’t know the answer to this, but I do know that I’m old and grumpy.
I’m excited for spring, though, even though I love winter. With the childhood benefits of big snow drifts long out of reach, I’ve come to appreciate the winter months from the interior side of the living room window, but I’m looking forward to getting outside again. From my perspective, it doesn’t seem like snow days are as much fun as they were in “our day” anyway. In fact, I’m not sure snow days are even a thing anymore, and if that’s the case, then someone at the top has lost a little too much perspective. That needs to change.
While the clarity of the seasons may be dulling, the hope, the possibilities, the very concept of spring will never go away. Come out from under that blanket of snow and look for a new patch of fun to explore. Spring cleaning is more than a calendar entry. Spring cleaning is a chance to get rid of whatever was clogging up your garage. And when I say garage, I mean hopes and dreams. Throw that door open, dump your junk on the driveway, and have your neighbours take it away for pennies on the dollar. Buy yourself an automated pizza with your earnings and move on with your life. Or, metaphorically, you could use spring, the season of rebirth, as a chance to propel your life forward. Either way, Spring is a winner!
For instance, there have been many, many springs when I have thought that the Leafs were on track to win the Stanley Cup. Now I’m wise enough to know that was a foolish notion. Because, obviously, this is the year that they win the Stanley Cup.
Either way, I’ll leave you with the words of George Harrison, who knew that spring was always around the corner:
“Little darlin’, it’s been a long, cold, lonely winter
Little darlin’, it feels like years since it’s been here.” (‘Here Comes The Sun,’ The Beatles)
