I’ve been hiding out the last few days. A cold whacked me Saturday, and although I tried hard through Sunday to pretend it was going to disappear overnight, by Monday I had to cave in. So I’ve been lying low. Still, yesterday afternoon was glorious. I just had to take a walk, and that’s...
I grew up in a farming area, where the labour of Mexican migrants was essential and taken for granted. It never occurred to me to wonder why so many skilled farmers had to leave their own country in order to make a living. It was many years before I understood the long history of...
Today I learned of yet another study concluding people become happier as they age. The study’s authors, psychologist Derek M. Isaacowitz of Northeastern University and the late Fredda Blanchard-Fields of Georgia Institute struggled to find real evidence and came up short. I’m not surprised. Happiness is a pretty slippery concept. So is trying to...
There are many things I still don’t understand so when someone pulls back the curtain and sheds light, I’m grateful. Recently two people gave the curtain a tug—Bella English and Kathleen Winter. Each was writing about an area of human sexuality that is still something of a mystery to me. Bella English wrote about...
One of my homeless neighbours in Oakland, California, was always willing to take time out for a chat. He taught me a lot about what hard work it is to live on the streets. He knew deep loneliness and the humiliation of strangers’ judgements. He described the suspicion of potential employers and the lack...
It seems like a no-brainer for us all to agree that everyone has a right to adequate shelter, yet millions of people around the world live in housing that undermines their health. To architect Peter Williams that makes no sense. He speaks from experience. A rodent found its way through holes in the wooden...
Back in July the European Heart Journal carried some very hopeful news. They reported on part of the Whitehall II study that is following about 8000 British civil servants to see what affects their health and quality of life as they age. One of the things they discovered was that satisfaction with life acted...
A young man stopped me on the street today. He said he was a poet and an artist. Could I spare some change so he could buy a meal. I recognized the slight, long-haired man from an earlier encounter. For him I was just another faceless, aging woman to hit up. I remembered him...
People who know they are dying and still live joyfully have a lot to teach us about living and about embracing whatever is coming. Lee Lipsenthal was one of those. In July 2009 the busy medical director of the Preventive Medicine Research Institute was diagnosed with metastatic adenocarcinoma of the esophagus. That’s a cancer...
Any parent of a child who falls somewhere along the autistic spectrum will want to Meet Taylor Morris. So will young people living with autism. Taylor is articulate in explaining how she has navigated the choppy waters of the “normal” world. Taylor started out like any ordinary, happy child. Warning signs appeared in her...
Twitter
Facebook