This has been a rough week, within a rough year, and we still have very challenging times ahead of us. How do we keep moving forward when it’s so tempted to sit on the couch watching TV, eating junk food? How do we not give into hiding under the covers? Two years ago at this READ MORE
Category: Compassion
Self-Care For Nations
Imagine for a moment how the pandemic might have played out without political polarization. Imagine how it might have played out if everyone had access to good health care. Imagine how it might have played out if everyone had the same opportunities to work or go to school safely? I’m writing this on Monday evening. READ MORE
Mourn and Then Honour With Action
Last Friday evening I got a phone call from my friend Wenona. She wanted to know if I was okay, given the news. I hadn’t seen any news in a few hours so my mind went to things like an earthquake in California where my parents live. No, the San Andreas hadn’t given way, but READ MORE
Changing Minds and Hearts to Make the World a Better Place (with Heather Fenyes)
In this episode I chat with my good friend Heather Fenyes about her work through various education initiatives to foster critical thinking and civil conversations about the challenging issues the world is facing.
The CHILLED Formula
Last weekend I found myself on Etsy looking at leather bracelets that I could have a messaged engraved in. I was just browsing so I hadn’t given a lot of thought to what I’d want it to say, but then words started to come to me and before I knew it I had an acronym READ MORE
Not Despite of, But Because of
While in the later stages of my most recent bout of depression, I was having a conversation with a colleague who’d had similar struggles. I mentioned that I had take up meditation and was doing it daily, to which he responded, “You started a new habit while depressed? That’s impressive.” I was thinking about that READ MORE
The Problem With ‘It’s Not That Bad’
Per a recommendation from my friend Jennifer during a recent episode of the Better Me Podcast, I’ve been reading Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson. The book is about Lawson’s struggles with various mental illnesses, but written through the lens of her quirky sense of humour. While reading it the another night I found myself thinking, READ MORE
There Is No Joy Without Sadness
I recently read The Book of Joy by His holiness the Dalai Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and Douglas Abrams who has collaborated with the Archbishop several times and serves as the interviewer / narrator in this book. Not quite halfway through I made a note in the margin (this is why I buy books instead READ MORE
A Realization About Anxiety
When I first started on medication for my depression in early 2019, I experienced some anxiety as my body adjusted to it. I called the pharmacist and she commented that the medication would help with my anxiety, to which I replied, “I didn’t have anxiety until I started taking this medication.” The medication didn’t help READ MORE
Better Me Podcast – The Importance of Students ‘Fitting In’ (with Angela DeBarger)
Angela DeBarger, the Program Officer in Education with the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. In this episode, we talked about Angela’s own experiences of feeling the need to “fit in” in school and the importance of students seeing representation in their learning experiences.
