I keep hearing of more and more situations where people are staying in abusive relationships because they can’t afford to move. When finding a place to live is so hard, they’re choosing to stay in physically or mentally abusive situations and the fallout from that is affecting everything around them. Children in those families act out, addiction becomes a problem as people self medicate, crime happens as inner rage bubbles over, etc. When people are desperately unhappy it’s like a ripple effect that radiates to everyone and everything they’re involved with. It feels like we as a society are heading for a massive collapse where all hell is going to break loose.

I find that all this negative energy I've had is getting too much. It's alienated me from family members, coworkers and even a few friends. From here on out, I'm going to re-evaluate myself and step back, not make a huge mountain out of a mole. I think it's about time I start working towards a more positive mindset. I need to see the glass half full. Negative is not only mentally and emotionally exhausting, but physically. It's literally draining and can really suck the life out of you.

But no worries. Although the inner-life pains and struggles we all are challenged with, there is a way to let go of the negativity and find the comfort of Universal love ascension. Don't worry, be happy.

This is making me really uncomfortable…my former spouse and I had a fairly amicable divorce, and both of us moved on with new partners. We share children and as a result we occasionally find ourselves in the same place during special celebrations for birthdays, etc. The thing is that I’ve caught them staring at me several times, almost oblivious to the fact that their new partner is right there and it’s in full view of everyone else. It’s almost like they don’t know they’re doing it or something, and they’ll stare for an extended period of time, like much longer than just a glance. There’s no real expression on their face, just this intense stare. It’s weird because we’ve been apart for about 10 years already and when we split up it was a mutual agreement. I feel like if I say something they’ll just deny it or I’ll be accused of imagining it (a lot of that behaviour during our marriage), but I know what I’ve seen and it’s really weirding me out. My own partner hasn’t mentioned anything so I don’t know if they just haven’t noticed, and I’m not going to say anything about it to them because I don’t want to start anything. I just don’t understand why they’re doing it.

I keep hearing from politicians that there are no simple answers for the drug crisis. There is actually. It is actually something recovering addicts like myself have to face at the beginning of ones rehabilitation journey. Admitting "I" was wrong. "I" f*cked up. Until an advocate, expert, politician, policy maker or anyone takes any accountability for tripling our deaths since we bent the curve in 2019 it won't get better. 7500 deaths in 3 years and zero people are accountable for anything and zero people have come out said "I was wrong." Recovering addicts say it. People helping us never do.

That's terrifying all by itself. But the idea of actually making a phone call or walking into an office is a bridge too far.

I was recently blown away by a conversation with a good friend who went bankrupt last year. They were content winning arguments online with people than having their business continue. They had had a successful or moderately successful business. In doing so, somehow they got very invested in their online view of themselves and that became most important. I'm blown away because they had a choice. Log off and continue their business, go bankrupt and continue their online presence. They're still my friend, but man what a weird trip.

It starts out very typically, but ends a bit oddly. Like many folks, I'll step out of the shower and towel myself dry, but before I start blow-drying my hair, I'll turn off the bathroom lights so that I can dry my hair in complete darkness. I think this started as a way to save on my hydro bill and turned into therapy of a sort. There's something about the combination of the white noise from the hair dryer, warm air on the skin and hair, and the darkness that is very soothing. You do need to have good spatial awareness and coordination, so I don't recommend to all. It's not entirely without risk of injury. You can't see what you're doing in the dark and could potentially wack yourself in the head with the hairdryer.

Watching old reruns of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. I couldn’t decide whether I liked the red ranger or the green ranger. They were both some of the coolest superheroes I grew up with. Zoran was this year big weird assed giant floating head. The series could be so hokey yet so funny I loved it.

Full disclosure, I’ve been guilty of doing this myself before I saw the error of my ways. But when it happens now I see the motive behind it so clearly. When you don’t know all the circumstances of someone else’s life or especially, their medical situation, you’re not in any position to judge what they can or cannot do. Telling me about someone else that you think has the same medical condition as I do but is capable of doing “so much more” is just cruel. If you think it’s going to inspire the person you’re speaking to, think again. It’s not. It’s going to make them even more convinced that you have no idea of what they’re dealing with. No two people are alike. Especially when it comes to medical situations. Unless they have exactly the same physiological makeup and medical history, they are NOT the same. Even if they have the same diagnosis, they don’t share the same body! Please stop doing this to people, even if you think you’re being helpful or especially if you’re trying to do the “tough love” approach. What people who are trying to cope with difficult medical issues need the most is compassion and empathy, not judgment and condescension. Take your own ego out of the equation and stop assuming that you have all the answers.