New Becomings

  Autumn is portending outside, seeping from an ending into an anxious beginning; knowing what is coming but unsure of how it will go. Summer has been more of a contemplation than a vacation, where presence took a look around and didn't want to join the preoccupied party. The sound of creaking tin, barking dogs, and logging trucks in the distance, ride on the wind through open windows, colouring the silence of 4am.   The previous way of spending days no longer holds the same satisfaction, yet continues to bait and switch as if there is a problem with it. No apologies or excuses can explain the changes, though there's no need to justify what's happening; it is simply time passing with guarded ease, deepening wrinkles, and falling leaves - the extant stuff of observation to those beyond a certain age, judiciously accepting their years. Melancholy merriment, complacent discontent; incongruent comforts fill the spaces in. More and more, fleeting moments of bliss belie the ench...

What's in a name? A whole lot, apparently. I have been a school board Trustee for 6 months and it's been quite the learning curve. It would have been nice to have a couple of months to review the major things coming for decision, as most of the Trustees are new, but we were immediately immersed in many years' worth of board decisions. One of the things up for further decision at our very first meeting was the rebranding/renaming of a school that had been consolidated with another. It has become a heated issue in our area. And I will begin by stating that this is my personal opinion and I am still learning... In 2017, the board moved to 'rebrand' 2 schools that had been consolidated out of 3 (1 school closed), there was no mention of 'renaming' in that motion. 6 years later, when students from that time have since graduated, we were given a report that said the name of the school, Chippewa, was offensive, "How can they move forward with an offensive name...

First, this is not about frugal dating or how to spice up a romantic relationship on a dime, sorry if that's disappointing, but do read on...    I would do anything for love but I won't do that - Meatloaf As people budget finances, it might be a good idea to look at the 'budget' of Love, an overview of income and expenses - what types of love are coming in and what is being given out. Sacrifices and trade-offs can be assessed for what one would or wouldn't do for love; and nothing should come at the expense of anyone's health and wellbeing - because that is not loving. Romeo and Juliet is not romantic, it is a tale of mental illness spurred by uncontrollable eros. Love is an incredibly complex thing that is, in essence, all-encompassing; as some say, the life-giving source of existence. It filters through our lives in many different stages and endless varieties. It is also used as the 'logical' reasoning behind certain behaviours. The Greeks have ...

  "The success is not mine, the failure is not mine, but the two together make me" ~Great Expectations. We are each the sum of myriad parts, clamouring for attention. There are the scars and triumphs of childhood imparting their wisdom to the young adult who in turn uses those experiences to make yet more mistakes or further achievements, and so on. Once we hit middle age, you'd think that we'd be set up in some time-weary way to avoid major issues and enhance favourable effects. That's not how it goes unless we can separate our emotional reactions from our logical intuitions. People trigger people - and understanding those triggers is a mature way of coping with life as it presents itself. It has taken a long time to stop expecting things from others, or life in general. I do not expect anyone else to be who I think they are, or act in a way suited to my ideals. I do not expect success simply because I work towards it. This in itself is an expectation, but it is ...

  “Life is unfair, but remember sometimes it is unfair in your favor.” — Peter Ustinov I wrote a letter to my grandmother when I was about 21, updating her on my trials and tribulations after moving to the other side of the country. In it, I'd expressed how, once leaving the basic comfort and safety of a stint at university, unfairness was everywhere. My grandmother had always given me advice, usually warnings about strangers with ill-intent and unkind situations that I was bound to run into. Growing up, I'd thought she was a bit overprotective in trying to explain the harsh realities of life, but in fact, she was not. I remember writing: "It's weird that life seems easier for people who cheat." I was in a poor state, making dumb decisions out of pure innocence, and people all around me were either swindled or swindlers themselves. There was a lot of advice from acquaintances about how to cheat the system, I took that advice once - but the nagging rem...

Many years ago, in a land most don't remember, was written the death certificate for Common Sense - it was said that Common Sense was survived by 4 stepbrothers: I Know My Rights, I Want My Rights, I Want It Now, and I’m A Victim. Common Sense has long passed, while the step brothers have taken over all corners of the mad world. But, Common Ground will never die; and it is with this foundational structure, the supreme being of human nature, that we may find the long lost descendants of Common Sense: Hope, Faith, Charity, and Love. These descendants furtively imbue the daily lives of every single person on this planet - and that is where we stash our innermost ideal; yearning for a better world. The problem with trying to create 'a better world' is that Common Sense's wicked stepsisters, Fear, Rage, Blame, and Despair, were unacknowledged in the Will and have been furious ever since. They are now extremely loud and obnoxious; so blaring that the faint calls for calm-in-s...

 No one gossips about other people's secret virtues ~  Bertrand Russel I find it mind-boggling at best and horrific at worst when people decide that gossiping and spreading rumours are some kind of relevant sharing of information - like they're doing people a favour, distributing negative details about others; often those details are simply made-up or misappropriated knowledge by scurrilous intent. In the age of social media, people will share suicide prevention campaigns and then appallingly denigrate people in their community; playing a lame adult game of broken-telephone, happily dispersing horrible specifics of things they know nothing about. Folks will tell others to 'grow up' without taking a good look inside themselves. It's pathetic and apathetic, it's habitually unconscious and consciously mischievous. These same people pretend to be self-aware, perhaps even think they're aware; but it's a facade easily exposed by watching and listening to what ...