Something From Everything
When is conversation too much talk?
I glanced down at my hand cart. I had no business being in the express lane. I entered the grocery store for a few essentials—fruit, milk and eggs. Now,...
How poetry can help us think differently
I am standing in a crowd of thousands. It feels like a spiritual ritual. Our breath is synced to the music. The palms of our hands strike together...
Liz Gilbert and her 20 foot face
Liz's Gilbert's face was at least 20 feet tall. The auditorium was buzzing, vibrant with the hum of hundreds of excited, imperceivable conversations all...
Trip to Vancouver Island gives author a perspective on time
I have an interesting relationship with time, and Tofino. This past spring break, our family visited the small town, nestled atop a peninsula on the westernmost...
The benefits of public acknowledgement
The ad stares up at me, accusingly. I don’t remember pulling the phone out of my pocket, or clicking on the app. But I know what I was doing the moment...
It can be a lot of things
We loaded the family into the car on the coldest night in nearly a year. Despite having started the engine prior, we slid onto still frozen leather seats,...
Time alone does not heal all wounds—it takes work
The fall was entirely my fault. It was July, and our decision to camp near Lake Chilliwack was centered around the surrounding mountains and extensive hiking...
The work ascribed to spirits: Untangling desires in the creative life
“I just feel like if I stop pushing this boulder uphill for a second, it’s going to start rolling back downhill again. Maybe even run me...
We need great teachers (because we're all students)
My youngest son was ready at 6 am. Ready in spirit, in attitude and excitement of course, not ready in any tangible or physical way. The schoolbag was yet to be...
The unexpected relationship between possibility and scarcity
Summer is full to bursting. I’m on the Kettle Valley Railway trestles, tentatively watching as my youngest son nervously steers his bike towards the...
Life can be like riding downhill on a mountain bike
“Come for a ride” they said, “It will be fun” they said. They were right. Earlier this spring, a number of my friends and colleagues at...
Opening up our world through language
There are nearly 500 explorable caves at Lava Beds National Monument in the U.S. On a recent visit, my family managed to see six of them. The caves are...
When you find yourself reintroduced to Resurrection
"So Jesus is kind of like a zombie?” I bite my lip a little at the unintentional irreverence and honest curiosity of my youngest child, who has his...
The season has shifted and so have I
I start the day hurried, leaving the house to walk my son to school at 8 a.m. It is one foot in front of the other, as we walk single file by the side of the...
Learning how to do it right from doing it wrong
It had been a great day. A day off of work, uneventful and filled with nothing but sunlight, a good audiobook and an extended walk with my dog. And it was a...
In these troubled times we brace for impact and hope for the best
In the old world, the winter months were littered with parties. Not huge, extravagant affairs, mind you. More like get-togethers than “events,” but...
The music of season forced merriment
It’s still snowing. It’s just after 5 a.m. and I wake to make breakfast and boil water for the day’s (first) coffee. The snow is visible only...
For many of us, grief is the ultimate cost of love
There he is, the magnificent beast. He stands watch, regal and perched upon his throne, the padded dog bed inset within our living room’s bay window. The...
Evil is not always a monster we see
The robotic clown towers above us, breathtaking and menacing. He is impossibly tall, maybe seven or even eight feet on top of his small stand. The...
Facing the challenges of Covid as an emergency room nurse
The patient in front of me tells me he has been having chest pain for the past 10 hours, a sore throat, headaches and shortness of breath for the past week....