We’re on an emotional roller-coaster: I was so excited to get my second vaccine, this month. Finally, I thought, life can start opening up again. And then I started hearing about how the Delta-plus variant has been infecting fully-vaccinated people and my happiness dissolved. It turns out that this new “variant of a variant” is […]
Summer is finally here: Summer has arrived and with it, a lessening of the COVID restrictions. Here in Canada, there’s minimal guidance about how to socialize with people outside of our own households. One important issue is risk tolerance, because it’s different for everyone. Some people have a low tolerance for health risks and are […]
What is ruthless compassion? Ruthless Compassion is a philosophy that brings together two seemingly opposite concepts: those of fierceness and loving kindness. With ruthless compassion we are fierce in the pursuit of the truth and fierce in our interactions with others, but at the same time, we’re kind and loving with ourselves and others. Over the […]
Gruesome murder in London, Ontario: The murder of four members of a Muslim family – Salman, Yumna and Talat Afzaal, and Madiha Salman, and the attempted murder of a fifth member — Fayez Afzaal, in London, Ontario on Sunday, June 6th was a shocking event that has left the city, and the entire country, reeling. […]
Naomi Osaka puts mental health front and center: Tennis phenomenon Naomi Osaka is the biggest name in sports these days, and it’s not just because of her prodigious talent. According to an article on Mashable, when Ms. Osaka decided to skip a post-match press conference during the recent French Open Tournament, she was fined $15,000, […]
Introverts have had it easier during lock-down: As an introvert, the social isolation hasn’t been as hard on me as it might have been on others. My personal trainer is a true extrovert and for her, the isolation was oppressive. She had to get really creative in order to survive the lock-downs. We’ve had our […]
Good-bye to my dear Sweetface: On May 10th I said good-bye to my beloved cat Sweetface. She was only twelve years old, but she had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer in March 2020, just when the lock-down began. I spent fourteen months caring for Sweetface, worrying about her, and dreading the day […]
We want normal but things aren’t normal yet: It’s fourteen months into the Covid-19 pandemic, and many of us are desperate for a return to some type of normalcy. We want to get back to our old routines, spending time with friends and family and enjoying the leisure activities we used to take for granted. […]
Honoring your Mom means understanding her predicament: Mother’s Day 2021 is on May 9th, and as the day approaches, I’m thinking about all the moms out there who have sacrificed so much for their children — more so than ever during the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic has been hard on almost everyone. Ordinary people have […]
Pandemic fatigue is real and it’s bad: We’re thirteen months into a global pandemic and in many parts of the world, the third wave is proving more frightening and destructive than the first two. Aside from the toll it has taken on our health, our lives, and our livelihoods, it’s wreaked havoc on our mental […]
