Day 11 of the writing project -- today is another piece of inspiration from media. Thanks to Bomb Girls season 2, episode 1, about 36 minutes in. The line:

If you straddle two worlds long enough, you'll end up nowhere. 

A lot of us straddle 2 worlds. In what we do, and in who we are. We work two jobs. We keep a home life and one at work. We do what we want, sometimes, and at others we do what we must. In this case, the man speaking recognizes that his female companion is facing internal conflict. Her wealthy family's values are at odds with those she shares with her fellow factory workers. 

The line above, about the dangers of trying to live in two worlds at once, was spoken by a character who was: 

1. a Canadian citizen

2. translator to Chinese dignitaries 

He knew the war from the Asiatic side because of his work. He also loved his country. He lived in both continents, metaphorically speaking, and understood what it was to straddle two wholly different lives, two cultures. 

But wait -- there's more.

He was also:

3. the son of a Canadian serviceman

4. the son of a Shanghai woman his father met in WWI, and

5. living in Canada, and travelling outside it, during WWII. 

His female companion, in contrast, was:

1. a Canadian citizen

2. a 'Bomb girl,' aiding the war effort in the munitions factory

Like the translator, both characters are serving the war from their home country. In these ways, they occupy one world together. 

She was also:

3. the daughter of a powerful food manufacturer

4. the daughter of a proper high-society woman

5. living in Canada, with no plans to travel outside her home, during WW2.

and in these ways, she was living in a very different world from everyone she cared to talk with, translating present company included.

We can punnett square what makes us different and what makes us the same until the sun sets, and the occupation is a good way to pass the time. But ultimately, when the sun sets, when the sky darkens, we do know day from night. And it is just the gentle turning of the globe that lets us live now in the world of day, and now this other world, that is so dark and different.

What turnings do we make in ourselves to live now in one world, now in another? I'd guess its our own gravity. And, too, I wonder, in how many different worlds we live our lives. In how many could we?

~fin, until tomorrow.