I went out for dinner tonight at a place in Hamilton, Ontario, where I live, called Le Parisien. It was a lovely evening with several of my dearest friends. We spoke of books and fashion, politics and philosophy, food and pop culture and were served by an elegant, tall thin man with an arch manner …
Continue reading “Life-Love 91: Transport through memory over calvados”
It is easy to judge others. Alternatively, it is easy to be a relativist, and not put any demand on anyone, expecting that others will never judge you. Both ways of thinking are reinforced by an education system that privileges talking over learning, knowing over wisdom. The thing is, once you step over the threshold …
Continue reading “Life-Love 90: Reaching out to understand another”
We are a storytelling society. We love to watch the flickering lights of television open new world to us – exotic places that we have not visited, or people enjoying lifestyles that are not a part of our reality. We listen to and watch the news on social media, getting all of our favourite topics …
We are so powerfully inundated with messages through traditional and social media, that we sometimes can be swept away by the flow of words we stand in the middle of. Communication has become like air – something we breathe in and exhale, without noticing that it is keeping us alive. Just as air quality affects …
Continue reading “Life-Love 88: Seeking instead of receiving”
We spend many hours building walls around our hearts and souls. We protect ourselves by taking an off-handish or blasé attitude towards the relationships we share with our friends, our family, and those we love. When it comes to people with whom we have more formal relationships, shaped by the structure and propriety demanded by …
Continue reading “Life-Love 87: Discovering suddenly that you care for someone”
Mother’s Day is a hopeful day. A change of pace from the world we have built. We spend so many of our days pursuing things that really do not matter. We fill our minds with material goals, with dreams of status and reputation. We consume life as it is presented to us, day by day, …
We are fortunate to participate in a democracy. In fact, it is a privilege to inherit the reigns to a political system built upon freedoms won by the toil, sacrifice and loss of our ancestors and predecessors. We owe those who sacrificed their lives, the men and women who left their homes during two World …
I have always found starting a big writing project to be easier if I have given my house a thorough cleaning. Somehow, the idea of my house being dusty and cluttered makes my brain’s machinery turn more slowly or even creak to a halt. So whenever I embark on a new project, I literally clean …
Continue reading “Life-Love 84: A good spring cleaning is a good feeling”
Stories are at the heart of our experience as humans. We love to live vicariously through the tales told by the people we know: our friends, family and even strangers whom we meet at a friendly pub or our favourite café. There is something unique and special about hearing a story told by someone in …
We all worry about things an awful lot. We think about being single, being in difficult relationships, improving our conditions at work. We worry about our friends, and their relationships and worries. Sometimes we worry so much that we start to feel a weight upon our shoulders, a weight that pushes down upon us and …
Continue reading “Life-Love 82: Freeing yourself from worry”
