Music Makes Everything Better

I've noticed lately that music is very powerful. I'll be feeling stressed or up-tight or tired, and when I turn on Coldplay or Adele or some T-Swizzle, it all seems to melt away. So I'm taking today's blog post as an opportunity to share some great music with you.

First of all, some new Coldplay.



Recently I've gotten Adele's 21 album. My favourite song:



And what I'm listening to right now:



And finally, my favourite artist:



Music is amazing. So I double-dog-dare you to go turn on some tunes, whether they be my recommendations or some of your own favourites. Here's to music.

It's Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving.

Homemade pumpkin pie. Roasted turkey filled with stuffing. Harvesting the last of a veggie garden. Happiness and thankfulness shared together with relatives.

That is what I think of when I think of Thanksgiving. Now you may be thinking, “But Thanksgiving is in November!” Well, in Canada, we celebrate it on the first Monday in October (Columbus Day in the US). Why? Canada has an earlier harvest season than the US, so it makes sense for us to celebrate it in early October rather than late November.  We also celebrate a bit differently. Generally, in Canada Pilgrims are not mentioned in Thanksgiving celebrations.

Thanksgiving in Canada was supposedly started by Martin Frobisher, an explorer who tried to find a northern passage to the Pacific Ocean (which was later discovered and is now called the Northwest Passage). His Thanksgiving was a formal ceremony giving thanks for his safe return home. Canadian Thanksgiving origins can also be credited to the French settlers who came to New France in the early 17th century with Samuel de Champlain. Their Thanksgiving was like modern Thanksgiving in that it celebrated a successful harvest. On January 31, 1957, the government announced “A Day of General Thanksgiving to Almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed – to be observed on the 2nd Monday in October.”


Thanksgiving is an opportunity to give thanks for the many things which we are so lucky to have and to share our joy and happiness with others. It is also a time to remember those who are less fortunate than us and do not have a safe place to come home to. Many foodbanks and soup kitchens also hold special dinners for Thanksgiving.

Although you may not be celebrating Thanksgiving this weekend, you should try to be thankful all year round! Some ideas to celebrate are donating to food banks, volunteering at your favourite non-profit organization and just being thankful for all you have!

What’s your favourite part about Thanksgiving? How will you be thankful? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

(This is an article I wrote for Newmoon.com.)

Writing-- Unexpected Findings

Just a little piece about finding something unexpected. I wrote this today at a writing workshop I attend. I'd LOVE if you'd let me know what you think (be honest!). Thanks for reading it!

Unexpected Findings

I curl my fingers around the rusted doorknob. The door is cracked and the off-white paint is peeling in long strips. I can see the swirly knots in the wood through the thin paint. As I open it, the door creaks like an old man getting up in the morning. Inside I find something I never thought I would ever see again. It is the old sweater my grandma had knitted for me as a starting school present. I wore it every day for 297 days (yes, I counted) until my mother ordered me to take it off. It had became so ratty that when I put it on I could never find the arm holes, as there were too many other holes which I mistakenly thought were the ones meant for my arms. I was definitely a weird kid. Other kids had stuffed animals and special ‘blankies’. I had my sweater. On the first day of kindergarten, while everyone else squeezed their mother’s fingers so hard they nearly broke them, I put on my sweater and flopped down on the couch with a book. I had loved that sweater. But what was it doing here?

I was sure my mom had thrown it away. I remember kicking and screaming and finally collapsing in hopelessness as my mother tossed it out. So how did it get here, behind the old door in the apartment building my dad runs? The responsible, adult part of me lectures me on the importance of letting go, and tells me that I should close the door and move on, but this voice was quickly defeated by the sentimental part of me. I stumble through the doorway, leaping the distance in only a few steps. I snatched the sweater up from the dusty floor and pressed it against my chest. I took a deep breath, letting the familiar scent of the sweater remind me of those happy days my 5-year-old self had enjoyed so long ago. I laugh as tears began to stream down my face. What a silly thing to be get so emotional over! I knew nobody would ever understand my attachment to this sweater. But it was a part of me, a part of me I certainly didn’t expect to find behind the old wrecked door in Dad’s apartments.

“Unexpected findings are the best.” I whisper to myself.