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The Everyday Hero: A Tribute to My Old Man
Preface: A version of this text first appeared in Discovering Ratchet (the now-defunct blog) on February 12, 2015, under the title “A tribute to my old man“. It is reproduced here, with minor edits. Yesterday, 4 days shy of his 65th birthday, my father worked his last day, and started his retirement. After 38 years working a…
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Why I Box: Self-Discovery and Humility
Preface: A version of this text first appeared in Discovering Ratchet (the now-defunct blog) on May 26, 2016 under the title “I Don’t Like Fighting. This is Why I Box“. It is reproduced here, with minor edits. It was part of a 9-post series written between 2016-18 on mental health and my struggles to make…
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Embracing Mid-Life: Lessons from Sarah Polley’s Essays
Intro I turned 40 this summer, and predictably, I’ve been working through a mid-life crisis. It’s been building for the past two years: I spent a lot of money on a fantastic education at a the top business schools, only to realize my big dream is to be an author(*). What to do? Well, I…
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The Science of Stuck: Breaking Through Inertia to Find Your Path Forward
We all have books that send us careening down a different path in life. The Science of Stuck is mine. The Lost Decade After dealing with back to back depressions in my late twenties, I sought out help, and was given a diagnosis: Major Depressive Disorder (formerly known as Clinical Depression). For a year, I…
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Word on the Water: the London Bookbarge
Whenever I travel, I am obsessed with visiting all the historical buildings and all the churches even though, with time, I know those memories fade and blend into one blurry feeling of awe and beauty. Over time, it is always the little things that stick with me. The French’s idiosyncrasy of saying “bonjour” when stepping…
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The Weight of Inherited Wisdom: My Mother’s Book Collection
Here I stand among my mother’s books, cozy and at home in the bookshelves my father built for her as a housewarming gift for their first house. These books are my childhood, my comfort, my inheritance. They ground me to her – to who she aspired to be, to all she wasn’t, to her values…
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Learning Brevity From Screenplays: A Fish Called Wanda
We didn’t have a ton of money growing up, so instead of going to the movie theatre, we would have movie nights at home. Pa made delicious popcorn, perfectly buttered and salted. Ma borrowed movies from the library. A roaring fire in the fireplace to make it cozy. The only hiccup was the choice of…
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Less by Andrew Sean Greer: A Satirical Journey of Love and Self-Acceptance
Here, all this time, Less thought he was merely a bad writer. A bad lover, a bad friend, a bad son. Apparently the condition is worse; he is bad at being himself. At least, he thinks, looking across the room to where Finley is amusing the hostess, I’m not short.
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Spoken Performance: Finding Safety and Identity in Dance
I was afraid to post this video online, because it shows a woman who is not comfortable in her own skin. In the 5 years since I attended that dance festival I’ve put on a lot of weight, to the point I no longer recognize myself. The weight gain began during my last years of…
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From Diving Board to Writing Desk: Balancing Fear with Grit
Diving Lessons, Mother’s Perspective My mother would tell me the story of my diving lessons often. Junie, sweetie, you would climb all the way up to the 5m diving board, stand there frozen, holding up the other children. The entire Pointe-Claire Swim Club staff, swimmers and parents would cheer you on from the ground, encouraging…
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A Home Cooked Meal: Nostalgia, Love and Loss
I cooked for him, finally. 3.5 years after we stopped dating, 3 months after we restarted talking. A meal made with care, made for him, made for us. I wonder if he knows that I’ve never cooked for a guy before? Sure, there was my ex-boyfriend back in University, but that wasn’t cooking, that was an attempt to provide fuel…
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Melodies of Memory: Honouring a Mother’s Legacy
A snapshot from 2015: on grief and fading memories.
