FALL/WINTER2016
MLCM
137
SOMETIMES ‘LIVINGTHEDREAM’ ISN’TALWAYSSO
DREAMY,BUTWHYAREN’TWETALKINGABOUT IT?
words :: Taylor Godber
illustrations :: Dave Barnes
A life of happiness is what we are all after.
And the easy way to fulfill this dream is to constantly find the fun.
That’s why most people move here—the mountains magnetize the
thrill-seekers and attract the anti-conformists; these landscapes sing to
people who want to stay young forever. The mountains don’t abide by
societal expectations, and we want that. They offer the freedom to live
our reveries to the end of time.
There are tangible benefits associated with less work and all play,
science even backs it up. The emotional high felt when sending it down
a mountain is actually part brain chemistry. Nature’s positive influences
on the human psyche have been studied and proven and the limited
amounts of oxygen at high altitude have been found to increase
dopamine [the feel-good hormone] levels. There is a sense of identity
and purpose that comes with following your passions that helps us
to get up the morning and seize the proverbial day. It’s a no-brainer,
really—move to the mountains, never grow-up.
And it works! Mountain living truly is a Never Neverland of gravity-
fuelled fun and games. Until it’s not. In a culture that perpetuates a
theory of #goodvibesonly, it’s taboo to admit that a substandard day
exists, but Whistler and other resort towns are real places with real
people whose dreams and aspirations are accompanied by emotions
and feelings, relationships and struggles. We get parking tickets, have
our hearts broken, make mistakes, step in dog shit, break bones, lose
jobs and deal with disappointment from a myriad of expectations. Just
like everyone else.
“Often in life, things will not go as planned,” says Greg McDonnell,
Registered Clinical Counsellor and Somatic Experiencing Practioner who has
beenworking inWhistler since 1997. “The sooner we can accept this, the
sooner we canwork on our adaptability and resiliency to all of this chaos.”
The words ‘mental health’ are not easily spoken in mainstream society,
but they’re evenmore taboo in the segment of chasing eternal youth. In a
culture attuned to reading the natural cycles of theweather, themountains,
the snowpack, and the lightboard, dips in our mental condition often go
unnoticed, and that has to change. It’s time for real talk.
