an existentialist kid trapped in an adult's body
For as long as I can remember, I have been energized by people. Big groups, parties, and by God you should see me at weddings! I am like a headless chook (chicken for non-Aussies) when surrounded by a crowd. The urge to be a part of, interact with, and essentially feed off the energy people... Continue Reading →
It was the last house on the south side of King Street before a little open space and Roncesvalles marking the edge of gentrification. I was so young. So naive. So raw. Things were so big, so full of feeling, so dramatic, so careless. I made mistakes, and learned, and I didn't care if I made another.
I open my Facebook and its full of babies. When did I accept a friend request from a baby? Ah, yes, my friend reproduced. Cool. We're all more or less in our 30s...this shit is National Geographically-David Suzuki normal. So why am I weirded out? Its a little bit crazy that you grow a human... Continue Reading →
Here I am, 31 years old, 5 foot 4 (and a half!) 69 kg (giggity), a professional excuse-maker for avoiding the gym, with her liver the most exercised part of her body... joining arguably the roughest, toughest, most physically demanding sport known to man!
Is it too early to have a mid-life crisis?
Before you say it, please allow me. I broke my promise. The one about me writing something new every Thursday without fail. Well, if you look carefully, you'll notice I skipped a week and today is not a Thursday. So what happened? Why did I stop? The answer is simple. In the words of my... Continue Reading →
Your mind was trained to hold onto things, from simple information like birthdays and common recipes to academic knowledge traditionally retained and ready to activate. We used to be more self sufficient twenty some years ago. We used our brains more twenty odd years ago. We used to remember things better about twenty years ago.
Now we just Google it.
And its got me thinking...are there some negative side-effects to this over-reliance?
Our desire for pleasure and tangible reward leads us to hurt ourselves in a culture that glorifies being overworked. Living in a city like Toronto exacerbates an already high-pressure situation. The cost of living and overall pace of life here can raise the blood pressure of even the healthiest of chakra-aligned yogis. The cost of living goes beyond monetary. Something about the concrete, the sky-scrapers and the noise, it intimidates even the cockiest of bastards...into submission.
Is the world worse than it was or are we just more aware? An inner debate I often consider when discussing childhood amongst my friends. Once upon a time, there were no cell phones, just landlines and kids were free to go off into the unknown. Eventually we came home when the lights came on... Continue Reading →
I was born here, in Canada. And I strongly identify as Canadian first, all else second. But I was raised in the most ethnic of ways. No really, I did not grow up white.
For example, I was in ESL until Grade 4. Did I mention I was born here?
In animals it is easy to see how being 'nice' can leave you worse off than your fellow creatures. If you've ever seen a mother dog, cat or pig feeding its babies from its tits, you'll see that sometimes not all the kids fit. I have no clue how many tits they come with, 5 maybe? But when there's more offspring than nipples, there's often a runt in the litter.
giselleandbeyond 