I realize that, so far at least, in focusing on my calendar
as an object, I really haven’t yet explored how the calendar in particular relates
to our concept of Wilderness. It is easy to see how the subject matter –
outdoor landscape paintings – contribute to it’s ‘wilderness-ness’, but what
about the calendar itself? In my previous entry, I looked into the history of
the calendar and came to realize how the printed calendar and visual images
have come hand and hand. Why is this? I think in its early days, images on the
calendar were just like works of art. We hang up posters, for example, for the
very same reasons. But, why, in today’s society, do we still buy these
calendars? The one I am exploring cost me $20. Why are we giving so
much value to these objects when I can easily pull up the calendar on my
computer or phone? I found a BBC News article that questions this very notion.
The calendar’s “ubiquity within the home appears remarkably impervious to the
digital age”, journalist John Kelly discusses. He agrees that this analogue
time tracker has been “superseded by technology”, yet every September store
shelves are stocked full of stacks of calendars of all pictures. The calendar,
is a form of expression. It allows us to display our “interests, personality
and identity, that the alternative [technological calendar] lacks”. The word “identity”
is interesting here. Through this physical object that is completely unrelated
to ourselves, we are able to express who we are. This idea of the external
allowing us to express our internal selves is also present in notions of
Wilderness. Many believe that through going out and exploring the wilderness,
they can be moved to discovering themselves. Pierre Trudeau certainly agrees
with this. Yes, it is not exactly the same, but the connection is still
present. Vís a Vís discusses the nature of language, how it is impossible to
use language to describe something completely. Instead, we universally agree on
what the letters c-h-a-i-r mean and can recognize a chair when we see or here
the word. We place value on the idea of representation. Likewise, a calendar
hanging in the home represents the home and the people who live there. “I am
organized”, it says. “And I like paintings by famous Canadians”. The calendar
displayed is a representation of something greater than itself.
On another
note, the calendar serves a social function as well. Kelly accounts primitive
calendars etched on bone, and ancient civilization using calendars to display work
patterns and culture. Our modern printed calendar is just another iteration of
that. I find this quote from Dr Glennie of the University of Bristol is
something of interest: “It’s a very flexible way of personalizing something
quite standard. It sounds trite, but the bit of wall above the phone would look
empty without it.” To Dr. Glennie, we keep calendars in our homes and offices
quite simply because we are used to it. It has become ingrained in our cultures
to have pretty calendars. When you go out for a hike, or a canoe trip, somehow we
expect to come back changed in some way. Such is the nature and prevalence of
wilderness in Canadian culture, particularly here in B.C, that it’s almost like
a rite of passage to go for a hike and be outdoors. When I first moved to
Canada, the first thing my new friends asked me was if I wanted to go on a hike
with them. It felt like an initiation – come on this hike and that is your
first step towards assimilation. A home without a calendar seems empty and
incomplete. Similarly, what would Canada be without wilderness?
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