I've been spending a lot of nights in my office lately. This isn't something I really enjoy doing, because, frankly, I don't like my office. It is tiny. And doesn't have any windows to the outside. It does, however, have a window into the hallway so I often feel like I am sitting in a fishbowl being observed by every person who walks past. The walls are covered in holes and peeling paint to the point where it looks like a crazy person used to live here. The thing that has bothering me lately though: fluorescent lighting. It is too bright and makes a weird buzzing noise. I have never gotten along with it particularly well. There is a floor lamp in my office, and I would love to turn off the overhead light and just use it, but whenever I turn it on, it kind of smells like something is burning, and that just doesn't seem better. Ah well. At least I'm productive here in the evenings/late nights. I suppose I can deal with the lighting issues if I actually get my work done.
I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes.
Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You're doing things you've never done before, and more importantly, you're Doing Something.
So that's my wish for you, and all of us, and my wish for myself. Make New Mistakes. Make glorious, amazing mistakes. Make mistakes nobody's ever made before. Don't freeze, don't stop, don't worry that it isn't good enough, or it isn't perfect, whatever it is: art, or love, or work or family or life.
Whatever it is you're scared of doing, Do it.
Make your mistakes, next year and forever.
-- Neil Gaiman, from his New Year's blog post
If you have been reading this blog for any length of time, you probably already know that I have a fondness for a good quote. These often become guideposts in my life, and this Neil Gaiman quote is one such marker. This man is wise. Really, really wise. It is rare for me to come across something he has written or said and not latch onto it. This New Year's wish really struck home for me. What a wonderful way to live 2012. So for the next 12 months, I am going to fearlessly make mistakes. Maybe this means my life will look a little bit messy to people on the outside. This most certainly goes against my perfectionist tendencies. But these are going to become some of the words I live by this year.
I don't know who taught us to be in such a hurry these days. I don't know why, or when, it became so important, when we are going from here to there, to do it as fast as humanly possible. It is a sorry state of affairs. You can't blame the airlines. The airlines do their bit. They always offer a long way around. You can always go via Saskatoon, and usually, if you do, they charge you less for the privilege.
It should be no surprise that I am in favour of the side roads. And the forgotten art of dawdling. So...here's to the much-maligned layover. From now on I am going to do my best to incorporate a few into each and every day. So if you call to ask me over, you'll know what I mean when I say it might take a while, that I am coming, but I am coming via Saskatoon.
("Maxine Montgomery", Stuart McLean)
I often feel as if Stuart McLean and I are kindred spirits. Reading this today brought a smile to my face and a longing to take the long route next time I have the chance. I love airports. I enjoy layovers. I have stories about sleeping in airports, and I even look on those with fondness (although the lost luggage stories are much less fun). I firmly believe that half the fun of travelling is travelling. It's people-watching in airports. It's excitement and anticipation. It's the 5 a.m. coffee so you can catch your 7 a.m. flight. It's the red-eye that smashes two days together into one. It's looking out the plane window to see the tops of clouds or the neatly divided prairies or the lights of a new city. It's the layovers spent trying to sleep on uncomfortable airport benches. It's the trashy magazines read to occupy the time. It's the joy of riding a moving sidewalk. It's the smell and feel of airports and airplanes. It's the sense of camaraderie amongst passengers, the smile offered from one weary traveller to another.
I really want a reason to go hang out in an airport now.
I took this picture on my jaunt to Calgary in April. I was waiting for my flight back to Edmonton and liked the layering that was going on with the planes outside and the reflection of the people at the gate inside.
