Please read this book: “On Looking,” by Alexandra Horowitz. See a video clip overview here. In group therapy for addiction, a common theme often emerges. It’s something unexpected. People often comment that they after they quit drinking or using drugs they have trouble coping with all the details of life. — Not the lists and the obligations and worries, but life itself. The best way to describe how people look when make this observation in therapy is to imagine a miner who had been trapped deep underground, suddenly coming up and out into the sun. It’s sensory overload. People abuse substances to escape trauma or pain, but they are also…

Beth is a physiotherapist. She’s probably 40, maybe a little younger, small in stature, but really strong. She says I’m twisted, an observation she made within the first 5 min of my appointment/consultation. I suspect this is more the result of training than intuition. My back has been tight since I was in a snowmobile accident as a kid (about 8). Among my other self-care-and-repair steps I’m taking lately, this is the year that I gain freedom from the Ski-Whiz Pinch. I used to enjoy snowmobiling with my dad. He loved his machines. Dad was a bit sadistic with us kids by times, though, and I think he got too…

“You got to keep in the game; Retaining mystique while facing forward. I suggest a reading of a lesson in tightropes Or surfing your high hopes, or adios Kansas it is … ” * This was one of my son Simon’s favourite songs when we was 10. He says it’s the piano that he likes best, but I’m pretty sure it also appeals to a Rufus Wainwright-like existential angst that he likely inherited from me. He’s the kid I have to watch as he approaches the teen years. Unlike sweet Jasper (17), Simon has a dark side that makes him prone to moodiness and “rage mode” (as we call it).…

The moment my pants and briefs hit the floor of the lunch room I knew that Stephanie and I would be permanently linked. Elementary school was a big deal in late-seventies Prince Edward Island. The province had just amalgamated dozens of small community schools into large modern education centres. Rural kids were bused from the country to join their city peers. Looking back, I don’t think much thought was put into the possible repercussions of this kind of social engineering. Conflict was imminent. After all, even in tiny PEI, the chasm between rural and urban life was great, especially for us kids. Grade six was the senior class at West…