Columns

Klaus Conrad, a psychiatrist, coined the term “apophenia” in 1958. It means to perceive pattern or meaning where there is none. He theorized that it was a natural human tendency to make these connections. Usually this term refers to patterns in everyday things like images or numbers. But I also think it plays a role […]

One of the best gifts I’ve received from joining the Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous (SLAA) fellowship is a plethora of genuine, fulfilling, connected friendships. I have developed new friendships over the past three years and deepened some of my longstanding relationships via the path of addiction recovery. This is not a coincidence. Addictions—whether to […]

Whether you are on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or any of the hundreds of chatrooms that exist out there to fill your lonely, pleasure-seeking whims, what I am about to describe has undoubtedly happened to you. You believe you are having a meaningful conversation, when suddenly you are hit with a barrage of ???. Yes, that’s […]

In September, I received the curriculum for the Indigenous Studies courses I was taking at Camosun College. Some deep part of me exhaled a bated breath. Here was proof that we do not have to consider the Earth just a “resource”: stories, videos, articles all explaining how Indigenous people of Turtle Island have interacted with […]

I started learning the guitar when I was 17; by 19, I was playing and singing my songs at open mics. I was beside myself with stage fright most of the time, even though I was routinely told that I was very good, and to not stop—fame awaited me! Despite the validation and encouragement, I […]

Death is the logical conclusion to life—we all must come to terms with that eventually. What I have a more difficult time accepting is that everything else will end one day, too. There is a timer on the universe and when it runs out, that’s it. And long before that happens, humankind will have gone […]

When entering Camosun College this year, I chose the courses I did because I wanted to hear in-depth details about this country’s truths that are generally kept hushed. Once I understood that what had been taught in my middle- and high-school “social studies” classes was a censored, white-washed illusion regarding the establishment of so-called “Canada,” […]

Modern computers have existed for less than 100 years. In that time, they’ve gone from monoliths that took up entire rooms to the pocket-sized devices we all walk around with today. Smartphones are said to have 100,000 times more processing power than the computer used by NASA in the Apollo 11 mission. The advancement in […]

Some moments, I am okay, thankfully. Some moments I am good, content, grateful, peaceful. Sometimes, however, I suddenly feel like I’m starving for something. It’s an emotional or psychological something, but it feels like intense hunger, so I might eat something, even though my body is not hungry. This is how addiction works: we are […]

Today I am learning the complexities of navigating vast differences of values while still maintaining relationships. I used to be what folks might call a “doormat.” I had no backbone, no self confidence, no ability to stand up for myself, and I agreed with everyone. This way of being crumbled within me when I decided […]