It has taken me some time to make my way back here; to find the words to so rightly express my discontents. When I was last here, Trump had just been elected the 47th President of the United States, and I wrote of my fears for the future in an article titled Lessons in Authoritarianism. […]
The Endurance of Kindness Read More »
Well, America, it looks like you need another lesson in authoritarianism after all. To my fellow Canadians who supported Trump, I guess you need that lesson too. But you would have been wise to consider history… Now, following the results of Tuesday’s election, we will watch as rights and freedoms are rolled back further (including
Lessons in Authoritarianism Read More »
The late civil rights leader Bayard Rustin said, “We are all one, and if we don’t know it, we will learn it the hard way.” Our world is divided, I’m sure you will agree. Whether in the rise of far-right extremism, the resurgence of anti-immigrant sentiments, or the widening reach of conspiracy theories, conflict and
The Illusion of Difference Read More »
For as long as I can remember, I’ve had a great affinity for nonhuman life. On one summer trip to a cottage in northern Ontario (some time in the late 80s, if memory serves me right), my brother and I found an injured frog and, in our good nature, brought it home and attempted to
In the Spirit of the Pursuit Read More »
If this world has taught me anything, it’s that things don’t always unfold the way we expect. And hate doesn’t just go away, even when we think it’s been beat and buried. The year I was born was the same year that the AIDS epidemic began, a health crisis for which there was little immediate
A Rebuttal to Hate Read More »
Everything exists in contrast to something. In the resilience of life there is vulnerability, and in its boldness, fragility. I’ve been no stranger to funerals in my life, and I’ve been teaching about the psychology of death and dying for over a decade now, but the truth is, death still terrifies me. And the loss
The Fragility and Audacity of Life Read More »
In consideration of the many things that preoccupy the minds of Homo sapiens, and of those things for which we search endlessly in this world, there is perhaps none greater than the search for meaning. As I contend here, however, the search for meaning is a search for connection in disguise. (And it is a
The Search for Meaning, Revised Read More »
It is often said that science and religion are two different paths to truth. Religion and spirituality offer a sense of personal truth (what I will refer to as knowing) through faith and subjective experiences of meaning and transcendence. Science, on the other hand, offers an objective sense of the world—knowledge of how things exist
The Reconciliation of Personal and Collective Truth Read More »
We’ve been in this pandemic for over a year now. It’s been a year of challenges, some worse than others, and some far more desolate, as no two situations are exactly alike. Whether in the loss of lives or the loss of way of life, it has also been a time to grieve. Indeed, we’re
A Pandemic and an Aquarium Read More »
If there’s one new year’s resolution we all need to make (again), it is to be more humble. We need to listen more, and speak less. See the strength in modesty. And resign our egos—or at least try to. Because the world depends on it. Most of our problems today are driven by what lies
This new year, be humble… Read More »
