I had a couple of tough conversations over the winter break - that basically went like this: "January actually might be just as hard." Or, according to today's email update via Wired magazine, "researchers warn that 2021 will look at lot like 2020. We're not out of the woods yet." I was feeling a combination … Continue reading New beginnings: take one empty jar

On December 22, the SLRD shared the news that the Feed the Need initiative had generated over $70,000 in donations for regional food banks. Launched in April of this year, Feed the Need aimed to raise awareness of the increased need for local food banks, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, raising much-needed funds for … Continue reading Locals have raised more than $70,000 for regional Food Banks – Feed the Need giving portal is still open for your contributions

Self-care is a buzzy buzz word, but I've read some insightful commentaries that suggest it's an extremely unhelpful term when you're indigenous, because there is no self-care without community. Your wellness is so directly linked to the health of your community. I don't think this is a uniquely indigenous experience... I just think indigenous communities … Continue reading Tolerance for Uncertainty: Self-Compassion (chapter 5)

I've been exploring this idea of the "heart-mind" or tapping into heart wisdom, or intuition, or your Inner Knowing, in lieu of the rational mind (and the very noisy world), over the course of last year. It's not something that felt easy or natural to me. I couldn't automatically call up a feeling of joy. … Continue reading Gratitude is the gateway

This poster was made by Jennifer Bloom/Radici Studios. In May, she wrote about printing it out in her garage and taping it to a wall of her local grocery store. She wrote: "I chose a spot on the wall outside the store where people line up to wait their turn to go inside. I taped … Continue reading May we grow back – a wish for the years ahead

I see glimpses of what makes this community resilient, in these images - shared by Ricardo Lau, Michelle Beks, Valerie St Arnaud and Blair Kaplan - I see a willingness to sweat and tackle hills and heartbreak, the unbelievable adaptability of local businesses, the strength and grounding that practicing culture and ceremony offers, the magic … Continue reading This is who we are: resilient

Here is something I learned about the power of a circle -- it holds together under stress. It pulses and surges and can expand to hold someone in grief or sorrow. It is a container and a community, is big enough for us all and for all of us. What you bring into the circle resounds, … Continue reading The Circle

The National Portrait Gallery in the UK put together a beautiful community-sourced exhibit called Hold Still, as a reflection on 2020. Inspired, I invited local photographers to share some of their favourite images of the year, thinking perhaps we could offer a kind of advent calendar through December - reflections of a year of holding … Continue reading A year of holding strong

My father was a pharmacist, my mother a nurse. In my household, we took stale-dated medicine (because it was still good even if it was illegal for him to sell so why waste it) and we were never indulged a day off school unless we had a serious fever. Feeling bad had to be evidentially … Continue reading The Language Your Body Speaks

Stress is caused by being "here" and wanting to be "there", writes Eckhart Tolle. Show of hands for anyone experiencing this, these holidays? (If you're not and you're making merry, I wish you well. Close this page and go and embrace the ones you love. You can come back to this post at any time, … Continue reading Tolerance for Uncertainty workbook: Improving Distress