Cognitive psychology has shown that the mind best understands facts when they are woven into a conceptual fabric, such as a narrative, mental map, or intuitive theory. Disconnected facts in the mind are like unlinked pages on the Web: They might as well not exist. - Steven Pinker I have spent the last five days … Continue reading We Don’t Know What We Know Until We Realize
Tag: living with a disability
The Contrarian Community of Calgary
A community is democratic only when the humblest and weakest person can enjoy the highest civil, economic, and social rights that the biggest and most powerful possess. - A. Phillip Randolph 1969 Polio protest for the right to live independently For the first time since the pandemic was declared I am now sitting at Kanpai … Continue reading The Contrarian Community of Calgary
Okay Let’s Talk
"The worse kind of sad is that which you can't explain to others because you are a survivor" 17 years old and leaving on my first jet to Montreal Today is the national day to discuss mental health, known best as #BellLetsTalk day. A massive corporate fundraising day and a chance to get people to … Continue reading Okay Let’s Talk
The Decline of the Independence Empire
"Loss is nothing else but change, and change is Nature's delight" - Marcus Aurelius The end of the summer is upon us and fall is definitely in the air. I know I haven't published a thing in almost three weeks however I do have eight drafts on the go. The diversity of topics could confuse … Continue reading The Decline of the Independence Empire
Who Is the Choir?
"It always seems impossible until it's done" - Nelson Mandela What does it mean when someone says "you're talking to the choir"?. Lately when the conversation turns to access I get a lot of "it's alright you are talking to the choir" comments until I ask them something like: Me - "Okay where could I send … Continue reading Who Is the Choir?
The Conflicts of Life
Another day of rain which is just fine. The rain and temperature beats the crap out of the snow and the -30 (or worse) Celsius temperatures hammering the east. It has been raining so hard here today that the rain is bouncing back up a good four or five feet. I know it is that … Continue reading The Conflicts of Life
Starting 2016 Back at the Beginning
How times change, fifty years ago I was celebrating my last Christmas as a patient in the Children's Hospital and a year later I was attempting to catch a mud-eating goose from a pond in Stanley Park to have as my first Vancouver Christmas supper. There has been a lot of magic deer poop dust … Continue reading Starting 2016 Back at the Beginning
Day of Fast
CONFESSIONS- Today is a confession day and it is also a day of fasting. I am not fasting for religious reasons or for protest reasons. I am fasting out of necessity. It saddens me to say it but that has become the new way of life for too many seniors in this country. Despite numerous … Continue reading Day of Fast
Polio Diaries – Episode 4
I am going to switch gears today to discuss supportive alliances. Polio survivors have had numerous alliances over the years and often the survivors were not even aware of them. One of those alliances was in the form of the Canadian Paraplegic Association and by extension Canadian veterans. Although formed to support returning WWII veterans … Continue reading Polio Diaries – Episode 4
Polio Diaries, Episode 3
1953 saw the last of the major polio epidemics in North America. In Canada that resulted in almost 9000 cases with over 500 deaths. That was an 18% mortality rate and that figure climbs as high as 30% for adults. The mortality rate isn't as high anymore where polio still exists but then medicine has come … Continue reading Polio Diaries, Episode 3
A Poster Child's Perspective 