Slowing down at the end of the year
Our friends started receiving our Christmas cards in late November this year. December is always a busy month: between wrapping up things for the end of the...
A haircut, and a chance
A little over halfway through my freshman year, almost two decades ago, I agreed to let my friend S cut my hair. S had never cut anyone's hair before, and...
The physical design of our neighbourhood acts against the creation of community
We didn’t have any trick-or-treaters come to our door last week for Halloween, so I’ve taken on the formidable task of eating all these chocolate bars...
An abundance of apples
Every year, by mid-October, our home is filled with an abundance of apples. Even after making apple crisps and apple crumbles, even after taking apples into...
We didn’t have a TV set, but I still had Sesame Street
We didn’t have a television when I was really young, but that doesn’t mean that I didn’t get to watch TV. Our neighbor down the hall in our building was a...
Conversations, thoughts, and hope
A few disparate, unrelated, unedited and unrevised reflections from the past two weeks: I have had to explain the concept of minstrelsy to at least a dozen...
First responder
Cleo, our cat, has become my first responder when I am feeling the onset of a panic attack. I’ve had enough panic attacks by now to be able to feel them...
A mile in someone else's shoes
I was reminded that L (my wife) and I wear the same size of footwear—yes, I have small feet—when she recently came home with a pair of shoes with a floral...
Suspended at the top of the world
At the top of Scex Rouge, as part of the Glacier 3000 experience, there's a suspension bridge between two peaks that sits 9,800 feet above sea level. Around...
You—each and every one of you—have my endless gratitude
Sometimes, all you can say is thank you. Today is one of those days where I don’t have anything to say but to express gratitude for everyone who has reached...
Severed cable
Our internet connection at home went out earlier this week, a byproduct of the work being done on our driveway and some severed cable lines that really...
On the sun deck
From the sun deck, a ferry does not seem to move very quickly. Upon leaving the ferry terminal, the motion of the boat is barely perceptible when you are on...
Slowing to a crawl
Here's something I had forgotten since the last time I had a major relapse of my depression and my anxiety at the same time: my cognitive function suffers,...
A promise kept
I was there, in Dixon Park, when they opened up the Vince Carter basketball court. Vince was there, too, wearing his Raptors purple, passing the ball to the...
Autonomy in a world of restriction
Earlier this week, I had my final appointment with my psychiatrist before he moved to a new city. I don’t blame him for going—he was leaving because his wife...
Returning after a short absence
Surprise! It's me. I know I've been quiet for a while, but I haven't gone away—I promise. This month, I'm starting to emerge from my silence, getting re-...
Atlas, carrying the world
I am sending this Weekend Reading newsletter on a Monday morning, but it is still a newsletter meant for the weekend. Let it sit in your inbox for the week,...
A list of small solace
The start to 2019 has been inauspicious; the past six weeks have been marked with heightened anxiety, a return of my depression, and a lethargy and malaise...
On being bursty
Someone at work remarked that I was the "fastest person in the office." This was, of course, not meant to describe my running speed—with my knee injury and...
The paralysis of being overwhelmed
There is a feeling that often overcomes me, a feeling of having so much to say but being completely unable to say anything. There is a paralysis that comes...