Difficulties

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Hey peoples (slash person- Lyss I'm pretty sure you're the only one who reads my blog!)

As you may know, for the last little while, I've tried some version of what I would call positive living. Eating right, exercising every day, napping, being as productive and, well, positive as possible. I have enjoyed this new positive in my life, and it seems to me that I've been significantly happier because of conscious choices I am making. 

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Sometimes, though (today, mostly), when something throws me off, like the weather is crappy, or I don't have time for the gym, or someone just won't stop complaining about how much they hates Canada when they will be jetting off to Florida in 2 weeks- this whole positive thing gets a little bit harder. It's a lot of effort, and because making yourself be happy is all self-motivation, it doesn't take much to fall off the track. It's easy to get sucked into a vortex of complaints and whines and moans. The crucial part is that you have to realize that it happens, and do something about it. 

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At the Stephen Lewis Foundation (SLF) today, I did data entry- updating an address book on the computer. So if anyone reading this happens to be part of a Granny Group from Alberta or BC, be happy because I probably typed your name today! As fulfilling as it is to be volunteering and helping out at SLF, today was not too riveting. I knew what I was getting myself into when I signed up for this, don't get me wrong, I know beggars can't be choosers. I think it wasn't even the mundane task of entering address after address so much as I can't handle being glued to one seat, hunched over a computer for hours on end. At least it keeps my ADD (ish-ness) in check. Focus and patience, grasshopper, and then... you will succeed. 

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Today in an Anthropology tutorial we were talking about sex and gender roles. Now, I'm not one to carry on about "what I learned in school" outside of class to show people how smart I am or am not, but today, something bugged me. We were discussing how females are raised to play the roles of females, and then, how they are perceived when they break out of that "feminine" role in some way. For example, it could be leaving her home in Sri Lanka to pursue an education in North America, or insisting on finding their own husband, of their choosing, and when it is and whether or not they get married. So basically, we were discussing the social consequences of behavior which falls outside of one's socio-cultural 'box'. For many Canadians, descendants of mutt-mixed European blood, the walls of this box are either astonishingly fluid or just don't exist at all, so we are largely surprised to hear of women who must marry a certain man at a certain age or carry a certain name- or else they are not regarded as a real person. In many places, you are not considered a strong member of society if you lack a spouse and in-laws. Not to mention that if you step outside your box then it may not be you who is blamed, but your family for raising you a rogue. Anyway... the thing that tugged my chain was a girl in my tutorial who suggested that if people realize that these constraints are acting as barriers to the action a woman wants to take in her life, then she should just do something about it- break out of the role. Now- wouldn't you think that were it that easy, we wouldn't have to have discussions about such a topic in the first place? Clearly, if there are soci-cultural factors impeding her free will, a woman may think about trying to rid herself of them, sure. But when that means alienating herself from her entire family, or getting disowned, then it is understandable that she may not be in any type of position to take that risk. 

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The Anthro Class that confirmed my suspicions: 

Quote of the day: "So, the biggest question in anthropology, and one that still plagues the discipline today is, WHY DO ANTHROPOLOGISTS DO WHAT THEY DO? WHAT IS THE GRAND PURPOSE OF THE DISCIPLINE?" 

This, my friends, is what I ask myself every Wednesday. 

Peace out, home slices.