Poverty is a blight, a disease, a cancer, a kind of rust that never sleeps as it erodes dignity and injects anxiety into the host, slowly saturating the soul and taking the body for itself. Poverty is the manifestation of failure, sometimes deserved, sometimes not, but once marked the stain lasts forever. Recovery is slow, and the heart never fully heals. It’s always the math. That math consumes the mind in feverish, […]
The first time I saw Bailey, I was walking through the atrium of the Robin Hood learning centre, a kind of school, employment placement service, and sheltered workshop serving a population with developmental disabilities. Bailey was the embodiment of poise as he leaned back in his chair with the casual confidence of a crime boss holding court at the back table of a greasy spoon joint. He’s bald on top and has a […]
Every time I think I have a handle on consistent posting, I encounter an unexpected event that requires time and attention. A dear friend of mine, Bailey, became very ill with a lung infection and a variety of other ailments that required him to be hospitalized. The last four weeks I have spent pretty much all day, every day, and a good chunk of the evening, at Bailey’s bedside. Bailey has Down Syndrome, is a brittle diabetic, […]
To this day I can’t decide which was worse: the fever or the feeling of razor blades in my lungs. That first day the flu hit, my body was wracked with wave after wave of fever. It’s a kind of misery that I can’t describe. It would last ten to fifteen minutes and the intensity was unbearable, but when it finally subsided my relief was minimal; I would become cold to the […]
I never get sick. Ever. I don’t get colds or the flu. I’ve never had a broken bone and I’ve never been in a car accident, and until just recently, when I had Fester evicted from my back, I’d never even had stitches. And this is good because my mind has had plenty of ailments from the day I was born. To me this is an even trade-off. I am quick […]
Yoga: The Hardest Bliss Part 1 and Part 2 Upon reflection, I’ve realized that this story simply isn’t worthy of a whole post, but I painted myself into a corner by saying there’d be a Part 3. So feel free to hit the “Like” button, skip the post, and get on with your life. Unless you need a cure for insomnia–then by all means, read away! Upon my fourth visit […]
Yoga: The Hardest Bliss Part 1 The day after I signed up, I attended my first class. I was nervous, but the atmosphere in the studio is so relaxed and calm I soon felt at ease. I bought a mat and rented a space to store the mat. So my new mat and I entered the practice space. It was dark outside and the studio was softly lit and smelled of incense. I felt […]
I can’t remember which Mixed Martial Arts fighter I’d first heard talk about doing yoga as part of his training, but that’s when the idea of practicing yoga started to intrigue me. The fighter explained that yoga had helped immensely with injury prevention, balance, and breathing techniques. These are things that, as I age, I would like to improve upon. Then I heard an interview with a recent veteran of Afghanistan who discussed […]
It’s been a while since I posted and for that I do apologize. So here is a rundown of the events since I last was here: I have a new schedule at work. (Really, John? This is what you’re going to lead with? I hope everyone just had some coffee.) This is kind of a big deal for me because my life is fairly routinized and I’ve had the same […]
I dreamed that my grandfather died and in this dream it felt as though my soul were emptying out an ocean’s worth of grief. I woke up confused. I was seven years old and had met my grandfather only twice. Why would I have become so overwhelmed with sorrow for a man who, for me, was the spectre of a grandpa and not a real presence in my life? Grandpa […]
Get Off My Lawn 