It’s all well and good to have the theoretical understanding that systemic racism exists, and to be enthusiastic about reading How to Be an Antiracist with your office book club. But actually dealing with race-related feedback might be a whole other thing. As a part-time university instructor, I recently received feedback from the winter semester (don’t get …
I’ve always loved words: learning them, reading them, writing them. I’m fascinated by how cultures are partially created by words, and by a realization that we can’t always understand each other because someone else may – literally – have no words to describe a particular feeling or experience. Part of the reason I started a …
I’m preparing to teach my last class of the semester tomorrow, and watching (for about the eighth time) Vanessa Reid’s talk on “conscious closure.” I find myself sitting with a familiar mix of emotions for this time of year. As recently as yesterday, I felt an urgency for the semester to be over, wondering why I …
When covid and I reached our first anniversary, I toasted the achievement – not covid’s achievement, but yours, mine, everyone’s. Prosecco in hand, I was prepared for covid and I to part ways in coming months. As usual, covid had other plans. Sigh. I’ve never been good at making a clean break. Some of my …
A few weeks ago, I was leaving an appointment and noticed it had started snowing. By the time I merged onto a busy road (“the Deerfoot” for those who know Calgary), the wind was blowing and it had become difficult to see the separation between lanes. Minutes later, a car beside me started to move …
Yesterday, my family celebrated my Grandma's life, and below is a copy of the eulogy I shared. From a "maybe there's more" perspective, the excerpt I'm trying to hold onto is that perhaps we’d all be better people if we channeled the attitudes of grandparents who have managed past the harder parts of raising kids …
When it comes to anger, our relationship status is “it’s complicated.” (To be fair, that’s been my relationship status for most of the last decade, but that’s a topic for another day and another blog. Probably an anonymous one.) I’m one of those kids who grew up around some other peoples’ anger and outbursts, and …
First of all, I hope anyone in my age bracket reads today’s title and thinks of this song. More to the point, whatever “this” is, I’m probably not ready. In rare cases, I’m known for diving into change. Quite literally, I prefer to dive into a lake and be hit all at once with the temperature …
“Because it’s springtime and I can!” You may remember meeting my grandma in an earlier post. The statement above was her response when I asked why she’d made a certain decision. She’s been talking about this choice off and on for years and I wanted to know, “why now?” I’m not sure I entirely believe …
I don’t know all of what you did, but I know you’ve done a lot. Today marks one year since I started working from home – or living at work, as I’ve come to call it. I don’t have the energy or interest to write about all of the last year, but I do find …
Maybe There's More 