Showing up

I realized anew last week that a big element of being in community is simply being willing to show up for each other. Showing up at the hospital when a friend is facing a scary health crisis. Showing up to a musical friend’s gig. Showing up every week to help cook a big meal with…

John

This week has been a tough one. Just days after having Nicole’s death confirmed, we learned that our friend John had also died. John was a genuine kind of guy. A couple of years ago he was quite a constant presence at The Dale. He was going through a very difficult time, and would come…

Polarity Management

These past several weeks have felt very full! We participated in the “Spring into Parkdale” street festival, hosted a couple of different youth groups, went to a Street Level (www.streetlevel.ca) conference in St. Catharines, and held an open mic night, along with all the usual Dale programming. Erinn was also away for one of those…

My friend and teacher

I have a friend who I’ll call Jane. She is in her 80’s, and we first started hanging out last year because she needed help with grocery shopping. We would walk together (very slowly) to No Frills, pick up some food, walk back to her rooming house, and share some tea and cookies (or pop…

As the day rises to meet the sun

I often start my day by reading from a book called “Common Prayer: a liturgy for ordinary radicals”. The first line is always the same: “O Lord, let my soul rise up to meet you as the day rises to meet the sun.” Due to the incredible generosity of some friends who invited me to…

Some post-Christmas and New Years thoughts

Christmas and New Years can be complicated times. Christmas, especially, is an emotionally-charged time, and I have a lot of conflicting feelings about it. I had a bit of a breakthrough this December, which I’d like to share with you. I accidentally went to the Dufferin Mall on Black Friday. I should say, I went…