Photo: Don O’Brien, flickr.
CANADA—After such a long, harsh winter, Canadians across the country are welcoming summer with open arms. Just one week into June, every damn weekend has been booked.
“I don’t know how it happened,” said Vancouverite Sam Jasper. “One minute, it was May and the entire summer lay ahead, unfettered. Now, every weekend on the calendar is filled through August.”
While Canadians love making the most of warm weather with time at the cottage, barbeques with friends, hiking trips and the like, filling every spare minute can make the season feel high-jacked.
Said Janet Arken from Winnipeg, “During this terrible winter, all I could think about was how I was going to enjoy the summer. I envisioned sitting on the back deck with a drink, watching the wind blow through the fields but now all I see is a solid stretch of family gatherings, pool parties and drive-in theater dates. It’s just so depressing.”
Anticipation is integral to enjoyment, however with so much planning in place, people are anticipating only dread. Psychologist Ted Weathers said these feelings can be attributed in part to something called “forward telescoping.” In this phenomenon, time seems to speed up as we grow older, making life events feel compressed. Said Weathers, “It’s why you think you graduated from college five years ago, but it was actually ten years ago.”
Whatever the reason, three months filled with plans has Kingston resident Andrea Case shaking her head. “It seems like I was just draining the pool last month. Now I can look ahead to September when I’ll be doing the same thing – a year later!”
“People enjoy being social,” said Weathers, “although when you can see what your life will look like for months in advance, the loss of spontaneity can be dispiriting. It makes people feel like they’ve lost control over time.”
Calgarian Robert Whitby lamented, “I may as well start planning for Christmas! Though the thought of it sickens me.”