My Aunty Laraine had a little ski chalet up on Mount Washington that she would often invite the family to around Christmas. One evening I heard my Aunty tell my cousin, “If you’re bored, you’re boring,” and those simple sassy and poignant words from my deeply un-boring Aunty have been kicking me in the backside ever since.
Even at a ski chalet with toboggans, cousins, and a deck of cards, we managed to complain about boredom.
Those words have encouraged me out of airport seats and gotten me chatting with strangers at the terminal pub more times than I can count. They’ve made me pick up books, challenge people to thumb wars, practice telepathy with the dog, and leave my sister long and ridiculous voicemails.
As a teenager from a small town, I’d complain to my mother about being bored. I remember her using a lizard magnet to post a newspaper clipping to our refrigerator. It was some fed-up councilor in Comox who wrote in to the paper telling youth something along the lines of, “We don’t owe you entertainment. Go and find it.”
These days we’ve learned to quash any inkling of boredom by scrolling on our phones. The mental nitro-circus it performs on our brains seems to be leaving us dopamine-fried, isolated, and allergic to the sound of our own thoughts.
Lately, I have seen several comments on social media about there being nothing to do in the area. You can’t hear me, but I am laughing smugly – partly because I am one of the rightful heirs to the “If you’re bored, you’re boring” dynasty, and partly because I am loopy and overtired from running around trying to get coverage of all the incredible things that are happening around here.
Frankly, I would appreciate it if Bonnyville would be a little less interesting for a bit so I can check to make sure my husband is still alive.
I feel confident that I am a good authority on the matter of Bonnyville activities and happenings. You may be cynical and consider all the events boring – but you can't say there is nothing to do. And from now on, every time you do, my aunty Larainee's words will haunt you – you’re welcome.
Some of my favourite recent events have been the Kehewin powwow, the Luke Mejares concert, meeting Chip the SPCA dog at a family fun day, attending the rural beautification tour, watching Coun. Don Slipchuck taste about 100 pies at the La Corey farm fair – and I could go on. There are also two fancy galas coming up.
If money is a concern, it’s certainly not an excuse. There have been more free barbecues than I can shake a stick at. There are pickleball and gardening clubs, free events put on by the Friendship Centre and the FCSS, the library is super active, and how great was the Canada Day party in the park?
I loved when Sascha Grabow, a globe trotter who made his way through the area this summer, told me the German saying, “you have to step over your shadow.”
I can understand that those who are feeling isolated may struggle to show up, and in the age of sensationalized movies and the glorified reality of social media, the idea of a small-town pancake breakfast might initially pale in comparison, but I urge you to show up.
Start a club, learn to ride a horse, join a choir, become a volunteer firefighter, hide a geocache, attend a paint night - because your community and your nervous system will thank you, and my Aunty Laraine would be proud.
