Something has become quite apparent this last month. It is the reality that we are all members of a Global Community. I was at a wonderful art opening last night talking to a charming guest about the merits of a piece of art. The work we were discussing was a rather somber canvas in shades of grey. It had a stark haunting quality. The painting would need to hang in an area isolated from the main room, quite a challenge when you live in a studio apartment. That stark haunting quality that seemed so appealing last night, could be enough to make me feel like slitting my wrists in the middle of a dismal Vancouver February.
The neighbourhood where the art show was held, is in the throws of massive redevelopment. Very near the downtown core, the low density of the charming little cottages is no longer practical in a city like Vancouver. The world has discovered Vancouver. Every year we are voted in the top 10 most livable cities in the world. One unique aspect of Vancouver is that people live, play, work, and mingle everywhere. Massive office towers are balanced by gleaming residential complexes in the financial district. There are urban villages everywhere, the streets are alive with pedestrians, coffee shops are packed, there are grocery stores with fresh flowers for sale on every street corner. It is a city for walking. The ethnic mix is like nowhere else in the world. I would be willing to bet there isn’t anywhere on earth where every race, every colour, and every language exists in perfect harmony the way it does here.
It’s awe inspiring to walk the streets of Vancouver. Natures abundance assaults one’s every sense. The most beautiful babies in the world are born here as the genetics of the planet converge in this beautiful place. The privileged children from every culture are sent here to learn the fine art of the English language. Perfect little 18 to 20 year olds gather on street corners to practice their new language skills, smoking cigarettes and flirting with each other in their perfect designer jeans. Handbags and shoes worth a small fortune. After 16 years living here this all seems normal to me. Vancouver is a perfectly integrated global city. Prejudice of any kind really makes no sense at all here. I can’t really imagine how you would decide who to hate.
What I am trying to illustrate in this diatribe is the many levels of community that we all function in. Our home being the most personal, our neighbourhood, the town or city, the country, and now the globe. The internet, cell phones, skype, emails, webinars, ad infinitum, have created a true global community. Wadeing into the world of social media, the relationships are forming already. New twitter pals are becoming dear to me, facebook is less of a mystery, and I can see that I must be myself first. I understand that I need to value the relationships. Trading links and hustling each other for cash isn’t going to work. Success in the future will depend on actually taking the time to nurture the relationships. My friend’s daughter, Jessie, is a master of facebook. Interacting with the world like this is second nature to her. Being new at all this I fired links all over everywhere and liked and followed everything that showed up but now I am starting to see that, just like any other community the relationships are what is really important.
May peace be with you always
Philip Steeves
