The Everyday Canadian by Evelyn Tsang

The fist time I listened to The Everyday Canadian, I knew I was going to select it as one of my linking assignments. Evelyn and I are both working mothers, raising children alongside our husbands. We’re both in the field of education and are partaking in the MET program. It was not our commonalities however, that propelled this selection, it was our differences paired with Evelyn’s title – The Everyday Canadian. I love the way this mode bending exercise really highlighted the diversity of those who might consider themselves an Everyday Canadian.

Evelyn is a steward of the earth and environment. She seeks out reusable goods, supports environmentally conscious organizations, bikes to work and makes choices which contribute to instilling the same values in her child. She has an interest in baking, as well as Star Wars (I think). She is an Everyday Canadian.

In contrast, I commute in my car for two hours each day, going between the North Shore and Kerrisdale. I spend every minute of my commute listening to audio books and am completely obsessed with self improvement (which my Audible library perfectly depicts: The Happiness Advantage, Mindset, Connected, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fu**, Girl Stop Apologizing, The Path Made Clear, Atomic Habits, etc). I have a reusable Starbucks cup, but must admit I forget it at home 20% of the time. My car is littered with small toys, children’s water bottles, food crumbs and spare clothes. I am an Everyday Canadian.

Here’s what I love about language – it’s meaning is an interpretidon of the individual reader, listener, viewer, etc. Perhaps we’re all Everyday Canadians, but what that looks like when examined is a diverse array of backgrounds, beliefs, dynamics, actions and intentions. Evelyn’s post really brought to light the flexibility with which we interact with language.