Do you feel like you are safe to be yourself in High River?
As Alberta becomes increasingly diverse we are seeing the small town emerge from a place where people have a relatively similar background and mindset to a place where difference cultures, ideals and lifestyles are increasingly intermingled. In a healthy ecosystem diversity is beneficial – the differences make the whole better. This doesn’t mean it’s always smooth. Social change has sped up as quickly as everything else and what was normal for our seniors and what is normal for our youth has some stark contrasts. I’m not going to point those out or preach that we need to all get along, I want to talk about the importance of the freedom to be who you are, to express yourself.
Communication is a vital piece of healthy relationship. Communication is so much greater than just words, it can be in what you do, what you wear and how you carry yourself. Most of us, even the shyest, really want to be seen and accepted. Do you find these opportunities in this community? Are you able to find your tribe here?
One of the things that we measure in the Vital Signs Survey is Expression, this broad category includes our arts and culture. High River is a hot bed of creativity – a place where writers, artists and musicians call home. Here’s the arts and culture resource page on Town of High River site https://www.highriver.ca/arts-and-culture/ . In our Summits and Community Café’s we’ve heard from people that they wish for greater ways to showcase this talent and to invite our young people to join in these activities. It is important in such a strongly sports minded town to remember our arts and culture and the value that that brings us.
Creating art relieves stress, much like sport and fitness it is a contributor to positive mental and physical health. Creating art allows you to communicate and express feelings and ideas that haven’t hit your conversation yet, art can open the door. Art can be for fun, it’s great to see playful pottery and wine and paint nights pop up around town. Art can be for therapy, we have a few talented art therapist in town. Art can be for connecting, pie Sundays at Art and Soul feed every part of us. Most of us find a fit in music, a genre that speaks to our hearts and we seek comfort there. We tend to tolerate this mix of music that each person likes a little better than we tolerate the tastes and preferences in politics! Every piece has inherent value, even if we hate dub step (I hate dub step, sorry) it speaks to someone and I can’t expect to have my full expression if I’m limiting someone else’s.
Expression, whether through words, art, sports or appearance, is affected by the environment we are in. We are generally conscious of how other people are going to respond. Even if we tell our kids to ‘be yourself’ we have a tendency to not allow them to wear their Spiderman jammies to Sobeys past aged 7… This messaging of be yourself and fit in is alive and well in all of us.
No answers here, no happy quotes on a sunset background, just a request to notice in yourself which part is talking loudest – “FIT IN” or “BE YOU” and it’s not always different, it’s so great when you actually do both, that’s what home is.
Let’s make High River home (okay, that could go on a sunset background).