If, as seems the norm these days, the right to invent truth is inalienable, i suggest we use that freedom to accentuate the positive, starting with the belief that goodness begets goodness. 

If we properly researched how the brain functions over its life span, we would better understand where normality ends and pathology -- whether dementia or mental illness or addiction -- begins. And accommodate it more humanely.

I suggest the next wave of feminism might be a variation on an old theme, basing my thoughts on Pat Barker's trilogy about the women of Troy, and how war dehumanizes men in particular. 

I bounce off a consideration of the Hockey Rape trial to suggest female Bonobo apes may be the role model we need for dealing with male misbehaviour.

I wade into the dangerous world of opining about the Middle East situation and take refuge in Khalil Gibran's idea that the lust for goodness is in all of us, tucked into our 'giant self', and should be unleashed.

The importance of genealogy in discovering who we are, but also the two-edged sword of owning identity when your history is tainted, for example, by genocide past or present. 

Everyone knows someone with dementia, but no one wants to be that person and we as a culture are not very good at caring for that person. This unpacks an alternative and more humanistic approach, the Green Care Homes in the Netherlands.

Considers what our aging demography might learn from the experience of a group of strangers who in 1986 came together in an ad hoc community to allow a woman without family, dying of pancreatic cancer, to live the last three months of her life in her own home. 

In the light of recent comments about 'childless cat ladies' being responsible for the woes of the world, an exploration of why women are embracing the single life. 

Canadians like to think we're nice, but we practice Tall Poppy Syndrome with the best of them. That's lopping off the head of anyone who rises above the crowd. Every One has power, and how we use it determines who our leaders are and how they lead.

Robert Sapolsky, an academic who looks like Moses and sounds like 'a hugely knowledgeable yet stoned west coast slacker' (I'm quoting not judging), makes the case that science has progressed to the point where it has swallowed free will, which puts an interesting spin on the concept of accountability.

Boundaries are in the Zeitgeist at the moment - I summon the Stoic philosophers and the game of chess to help us figure out how to change what we can, live with what we cannot, and summon the courage and humility to figure out the difference.

I review Ken McGoogan's recently published Shadows of Tyranny: Defending Democracy in an Age of Dictatorship, which draws a chilling parallel between pre-World War II circumstances and our present geopolitical situation.

Murray Sinclair died in November '24, shortly after his memoir came out. I muse on his teachings about what constitutes Elders, as opposed to people who just get old. 

The concept of trauma has become mainstream in our lives, which is a relatively new way of considering how challenges impact character. I prefer the perspective, exemplified by Vera Britten's experience in WW2 and in peace negotiations following, And the suggestion of a New Yorker writer that not everything needs to be explained, not in life, not, for sure, in writing.

Nipon was, maybe still is, a Thai monk; he shared his world view during a week-long billet long ago. Three steps to changing the world he said: articulate intent, imagine the solution, protect progress. 

Contemplating the arrival of a new year that promises to be challenging, I mine my professional history to find a grounding perspective. I find it in the words of Senator Landon Pearson who urged us to focus on fixing the world and trusting that people would use that to 'fix' themselves. 

I joined Sandy with the At Home in Muskoka Podcast to talk Places for People, social tipping points and more.

Land, language, lineage and loved ones: the four L's that underpin our health and gird the loins of hope. As the world warms, we need to (re)learn to love the land on which we live and treat it with the respect it requires. 

Reproductive rights are once more in the crosshairs of some who don't have wombs, and some who do. Atwood reminds us she always claimed her novel was reflection realism rather than imagination and warns us to remain vigilant.