Finding My Place
Clearing My Mind By Decluttering My House It’s a Friday evening after a long week, and I’ve been looking forward to lounging at home. The whole week has lead up to this moment. I’m propped up on pillows eating chips and watching TV in the living room. Yes, I’m wearing sweatpants. Sounds relaxing, yes? It should be, but something doesn’t feel right. I’m having trouble focusing on the TV. I wrap my blanket around [...]
Teaching in Mexico
image source: www.bigstockphoto.com After a seven-year hiatus, I am teaching ESL again. I am in Los Cabos, Mexico and this morning’s class will be at a non-profit college aimed at giving underprivileged kids an opportunity for higher learning. My sister K., who lives here half the year, instigated this. I’ve been looking forward to it. I even managed to fit in a few of my old ESL books from my teaching days [...]
Film Festival Interview: Friends on Facebook
JUDITH MORRISON INTERVIEW CHRIS ROSS, FRIENDS ON FACEBOOK, JENNA HARDER, MICHELLE D'ALESSANDRO HATT American essayist Anais Nin wrote in the 1931-1934 volume of her diary, “Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.” In writer/director Chris Ross’ poignant short film, Friends on Facebook, this notion of self-discovery through friendship is aptly illustrated by a [...]
A Different Kind of Fairytale
“How do these women do it?” I wonder. I study the svelte women dining in a downtown restaurant. They are daintily eating their mixed green salads. They have perfect blow dries, perfect French manicures, and perfect designer purses tucked beside them. They have chic high heels on. In fact, their shoes are similar to the pair I just fell in love with at the shoe store. I was eyeing a pair of black patent [...]
Take Time to Play
I’d been walking to the gym carrying my heavy bag containing everything needed for the day’s activities: runners, gym clothes, toiletries and my trusty to-do list. The sandwich board was parked in front of the shop that sells healing crystals, angels and books on spirituality. When you have a sign on the street right in front of you and practically trip over it, you’re forced to reflect on it. Whether you want to or [...]
Overcoming gym guilt with bagels and jam
Image credit: Irma Kniivila for The Globe and Mail Guilty. I feel guilty as I bite into my freshly buttered bagel. And this is why: I’m eating bagels in the morning when I really should be going to the gym. In fact, I’m beginning to feel like a giant human bagel with blond hair and a doughy, flabby belly. I take a sip of my coffee and the last bite of my [...]