Last Night

Last night, was incredible. It felt like such a “Pearson moment”. 

But before that - I want to write that I bay jumped for the first time on the afternoon of the 31st! And wow! It’s absolutely completely freezing (but of course), but holding hands and jumping into the water is very fun. My East House co-year, Marika, told me that for Year 44, the goal is to do 44 bay-jumps over the two years here, but I’m not sure if I can jump in 43 more times since I spent a while after shivering on the docks!

The moment started at 7:30, when all the East House firsties gathered in our houseparents’, Theron & Elizabeth, house to meet and talk to each other. We went around in a circle sharing one thing that we brought from home. It was illuminating to see what my dear coyears held close to their hearts, and to see the first signs of enormously talented individuals (Theron played the flute, and Joanne played the violin!). Afterwards we played a clapping game which I was quite bad at, but it was definitely still funny. Theron & Elizabeth have two children - Solomon & Mirabai, who are adorable and playful, plus a dog named Bear, who is very friendly and just loves getting patted and scratched and whatnot. Elizabeth made us some delicious brownies, and after the games, we all sat or stood around their kitchen and ate brownies while chatting to each other. I spoke a lot to Lara & the Dutch girl from Nova Scotia (names are still not coming to me yet!). (I’m coming back to this blog post later on, and her name is Marika!!)

After that we all congregated at the East House Box (one of many perks: all meetings take place in front of our house). Everyone had been told to meet there at 9 for a walk to the soccer field. As is the norm at Pearson, we ultimately waited about 20 minutes for other people to come along before we eventually departed. We walked about 20 minutes through the woods past the tennis courts and eventually made our way into a football field, which was perfect since I love wide open spaces. And of course, the stars were glistening in the sky, and the moon! The moon was so bright up in the sky, it was so beautiful. We all stood in the biggest circle of people I’ve ever seen, and then were told to spread out, look up at the stars and spin. It’s called star spinning, and it was such a disorienting, giggly, experience. At one point, a flashlight was shone, and as instructed we were all to run towards it. Of course, this resulted in staggering and bumping, and a few very funny falls! Then we all lay down, looked up at the stars and thought about someone we love, or someone who helped us to get to Pearson. It felt like such a beautiful moment where all our energies were syncing and intermingling with each other to create this cosmos of stars on the ground. I felt so connected to these relative strangers, their willingness to accept all these new people openly and kindly was so felt at that moment. After this, we got back into a circle and ‘popcorn style’ called out someone or something that we were grateful for. It was again so gratifying to hear the love of all my fellow students. 

At this point, jet lag was fast catching up to me, so I lay back down to look at the stars, and while everyone else walked back to school I stayed there with Carli, Veli, and Emilio. We spoke about subjects and life, and laughed a lot. We started to walk back to school, then I realised I had left my phone at the football field, so we walked back and luckily found it :) 

When I got back home I was delighted to see some people in our day room, even though it was almost 11. They were talking in what’s called a ‘cuddle puddle’ - where they all lie on each other and talk. It’s an intensely intimate thing for me - and I was surprised to see myself joining them when they asked me. I guess that;s something I’ve learnt though - to just take the risks, push my boundaries, and say yes even if I’m not sure. And I’m glad I said yes - it’s a very nice and reassuring thing to do. 

What a night on Vancouver Island - a magical and fulfilling night. Here’s to more of them. 

Love,

Theo