Columns

As the fall semester nears its conclusion and winter rears its ugly head, I’m reminded of the masses of Canadians suffering from seasonal affective disorder (SAD).  SAD, also known as seasonal depression, affects millions of people across the globe, but it’s much more prevalent in countries that experience a proper winter.  Here on Vancouver Island, […]

Something that’s always on my mind is the stigma that continues to exist in the world. Society as a whole has deposited people into certain roles, and it’s a time where people are fighting back against the role they may have been cast in. What is the role that addicted people have fallen into? People […]

What does an institution that honours differences look like? What does it look like to not just make shallow blanket statements of desired change or welcoming a specific group into a space, but to take action to create systemic change? Too many times people throw in the flag, deeming something incorrigible, when really not enough […]

If you grew up in North America, you probably experienced the occasional appearance of Brussels sprouts, particularly at Thanksgiving and Christmas feasts, and vowed as child that when you grew up, you’d never eat another one. Most likely, your Brussels sprouts were served boiled, soggy, and plain. Frankly, I feel like this otherwise delicious, nutritious, […]

Sometimes we overcomplicate things. We can think that being spiritual, woke, and healthy means complicated morning practices, many hours of breath work, and having the latest adaptogen powder. It’s almost like people get attached to the chase of wellness or spiritual evolution—longing for something falsely outside of themselves—instead of wondering if the answers were much […]

National Addiction Awareness Week runs from November 19 to 25, so let’s talk about it. First, some statistics. An estimated 21 percent, or about six million, Canadians deal with addiction in their lifetime. In 2016 and 2017, 62 percent of people receiving treatment for addictions in Canada were male. Young people aged 15 to 24 […]

Killers of the Flower Moon (2023) 4.5/5 Up to today, I had Oppenheimer pinned as my favourite film of 2023. Now there’s a new challenger: the new Marten Scorsese flick Killers of the Flower Moon. Thanks to this film’s gorgeous cinematography, spot-on direction and powerhouse performances from Leonardo DiCaprio and newbie Lily Gladstone, this film […]

Stress is extremely hard to deal with, which is ironic because stress is our bodies reacting to events that are hard to deal with. Students just had to deal with midterms, and if other students are anything like myself, exams are one of the leading causes of stress in a typical year.  I’m curious about […]

With the moist and cold of winter and stress of mid-semester deadlines and exams upon us, it’s extra important to keep our respiratory systems healthy and the chill at bay. Ayurveda, the ancient Indian natural system of medicine, recognizes these winter qualities of cold, moist, and heavy slowness (think hibernation), and recommends adding warming herbs […]

Dumb Money 3/4  Some of my friends were recently saying that my next column should be about the new Taylor Swift concert movie. I refused and went to a different movie instead. This was because, with all due respect to Swift and her millions of fans, concert movies aren’t movies: they’re a scheduled event that […]