Tag: mental health

the garden city: cultivation, work and goodness

the garden city: cultivation, work and goodness

For many, summer means long, lazy days. We stretch our sunscreen-lathered bodies out on pool deck chairs, soaking up as much sun-baked warmth as we can. The days stretch similarly, expanding to accommodate as much goodness as we try to squeeze it with. For me, […]

more ginger honey tea, please

more ginger honey tea, please

I write to you after having spent probably 36 of the past 48 hours in bed, trying to sleep off this ghastly fever and headache I woke up with as of yesterday morning. Of those 12 awake hours, most of it was spent finishing Atul […]

what oatmeal is teaching me of letting go

what oatmeal is teaching me of letting go

No, I haven’t dropped off the face of the earth. Or given up writing. Although the abysmal lack of writing in my life the past few weeks is some clue as to my mental/emotional state lately. Last Friday, my oatmeal exploded in the microwave three […]

my PhD, a mountain

my PhD, a mountain

I think mostly in metaphor. Especially for concepts that I struggle to wrap my mind around, reducing them to pictures makes them  fold up into pocket-sized pieces that fit nicely into the cupboards of my world. This week, the metaphor I kept returning to – […]

the middle moments

the middle moments

It feels like I’m in a middle moment. That’s the best way I can put words to this feeling. So, part of it was coming back to Montreal on Jan 2nd, a week before the next semester would begin. No one was around. I had […]

living poor for a week

living poor for a week

It’s day 6 of living without money – a unique predicament I found myself in after the unfortunate incident last Sunday. Two days ago, I tried to replace my metro card but when the lady behind the guichet tersely asked for the fifteen dollars card […]

letting God find me

letting God find me

It’s 3:05p.m. and I’m sitting on the second level of a Megabus on its way to Montreal. Technically, I was supposed to be aboard this bus yesterday, but an hour before my bus was supposed to leave, my bag got stolen and everything in it. […]

even still, I believe

even still, I believe

So, I haven’t been in this space for a while. Honestly, it’s been hard to sit down and really write. It’s comparable to leaving the light and descending into that basement studio where a slab of marble awaits its sculptor. Not that I’ve ever sculpted […]

the reality of starting a PhD in a new city

the reality of starting a PhD in a new city

I’m curled up in a little corner at Tommy Cafe, a beautiful respite of vintage-white in the heart of Old Montreal. A centrepiece of verdun-green vines hang from the ceiling. Waiters bustle about, delivering glazed raisin croissants, mochas with cream swirled into a leaf. My […]