Better Blue than Red … Better Red than Blue

The long grey days of winter are slowly fading away. The sun shines bright longer and winter, despite its best efforts, is giving way to spring.

There’s a newness in my step. Perhaps it’s because the sun is hanging around longer, or because I’m sleeping again, or the medication for my depression is working … or a combination of all of those things. The important thing is this: I’m getting back to my old, stubborn, determined, tell-it-like-it-is self. And that feels good.

Yes, things are looking up. I’m starting the submitting process for my novella. I’m preparing for group and solo exhibitions. I’m writing music. I’m easing into a regular running routine. I’m slowly making my way through the plethora of unread books lining the bookshelves. As I have said before, I am getting current.

It may be because I’ve been reading up on Hannah Arendt and Albert Camus, but I’m excited about what spring will offer — to me and my fellow Canadians. It is probably fair to say that by this time next week, we will find ourselves in the middle of a federal election campaign. For the last seven years we’ve been trying to come to terms with minority governments, which some would argue are here to stay. Maybe that’s true. Maybe not. But whatever our political stripes, we have an opportunity to once again set our nation’s course, to build the Canada we want.

In his book, Arendt, Camus, and Modern Rebellion, Jeffrey C. Isaac reminds us that for both Arendt and Camus, human action was the only way to forge human freedom. Both writers lived through the horrors of the Second World War, and the Cold War that followed. Sometimes I think my generation has forgotten that — the struggles and sacrifices made that paved the way for the freedoms we enjoy today.

So today I am taking the unusual step of placing a foot in the minefield called politics, and am asking my fellow Canadians to act. Think about your present and what you hope the future will look like. When the writ is dropped, pay attention and, on Election Day, get out and vote. Each of us will try to decide “better red than blue” or “better blue than red,” but what matters most is that we take a stand — and decide for ourselves by marking our ballot — for the Canada we want.