I knew that might catch your eye.

We will get to why it’s my parents fault in a minute. But let’s start with our unconscious state or our auto pilot state.  Keep in mind, I have never ever ever in my life taken any kind of medical course and the follow opinions are based solely on my experiences, my thoughts, my growth.

What if our brains required activation?

Instead of the constant active state that it is. What I mean is that we don’t actually have to turn it on and off. If we had to actually switch it on in the morning and turn it off at night…would we still experience the auto pilot state? You know what I am talking about…when your day-to-day becomes so repetitive and mundane, you start to function without consciousness.

The 40 minute drive home from work that you don’t remember. Typing in your PIN when you purchase something that you don’t remember. Locking your front door….all these auto pilot states.  How many times have you left your house to stop in your tracks trying to remember if you locked your door? But you can’t remember, because you didn’t experience it, you did it, you took the action of putting the key in the door, turning the key, hearing it lock, pressing on the handle to confirm it did indeed lock, but for the life of you…you can’t remember.

When you turn on the stove, it doesn’t ever stop being on until you turn it off. At no point does it sort of ‘black out’ and forget what its doing…So I am asking, what if our brains worked that way? If you had to turn it on, would it at any point forget what it’s doing?

But I know the secret…

Unconsciousness takes a vacation when the mind is in the midst of an experience.

I can say with conviction, that never once while I was on vacation or experiencing something new, did my brain ever flick to auto pilot mode. So what that tells me is if you don’t want to float through life without remembering every little detail then we need change. No matter what that looks like for you, I feel this is true for every being.

Even a dog that takes the same walk every morning, makes a conscious effort to stop and smell everything…why? Because they don’t want to miss a single thing. How have humans forgotten to do this? For some people it might mean a new book, a new sport, a new hobby, a new ski run…whatever that looks like for you…in order to turn off the auto pilot mode, we need to experience life.

For me…it’s travel, culture, language, food, smells, that is what ‘activates’ my brain.

Which is why I blame my parents.

I strongly believe that you are without a shred of a doubt a product of your environment. My parents…two of the hardest working people I know taught me to never accept anything less than what I want.

Note that I said…’what I want’ and not ‘what I need’.  There is a vast world of difference between the two. Need only satisfies the current state…the current moment. You need shelter because it’s cold and raining, you need food because you are hungry, water because you are thirsty.  But desire, well now…that encourages curiosity for the unknown and a never ending appetite for more of it.

We travelled a lot from a young age. I remember taking a bus, just my sister and I through BC and Alberta solo when we were maybe 10ish…I went to Japan in Grade 8 and again alone in Grade 9 and again alone in Grade 10 and again after Grade 12. I went to Mexico with a girlfriend for a month when I was 15. I also lived on UBC campus for a month when I was 15. When it came to travel and what I wanted, the answer was always a resounding ‘Yes, do it’.

So when I told my parents I wanted to go on this adventure, their response…well they might as well have said “We were wondering what took you so long.”

So it is my parents fault, for making me have profound independence, confidence to take risks, courage to say I want more, insight to know that even failure was an experience and for introducing  travel and culture at such a young age.

It is my parents fault for always encouraging me to feed my appetite for what I want, which if you haven’t guessed…what I want is to experience every ounce of life I have. No more auto pilot please.

I joke and say ‘my parents fault’, but in this case…it was the best gifts and life lessons I ever received from them. They taught me a lot about being a good human being and I have many many many lessons from them that I continue to employ today every day. All the basics like work hard, take pride in your work, add value, be good, do good, never be late, and for god’s sake be organized.

But yes, it is my parents fault that I am who I am, I want what I want and make no apologies for it.

It’s time to take an objective view.

In a mere 41 days, my brain will be consciously activated and I will say good bye to the auto pilot state for good. I vow to get 70 seconds from every minute, 70 minutes from every hour, and I will milk every waking hour I have for everything it can give me.

Vancouver has been great, but she has made me a queen of the auto pilot state and I am just simply not interested in missing the things that are right in front of me anymore. So it is time to say Adieu!

Goodbye Vancouver

_{Please note that I have not received these products for free or at a discounted price in exchange for my opinion.  There may be links that are affiliate links but at the time of posting this review, I have not received any monetary kickbacks.}