Intergenerational trauma

ILLUSTRATION BY TSISTA KENNEDY

It's rare for me to experience emotional labour when writing a story that isn't a personal one. For this piece about intergenerational trauma, specifically regarding Indigenous peoples, I felt spent on more than one occasion throughout the process. I had to first learn about the concept for myself; there was so much to learn and understand to do the piece right--even asking about someone's trauma can trigger pain and further trauma. And I didn't want to use anyone's pain to tell a story they didn't want to tell. So it took a while to even find someone who was willing to share. What I experienced was but a fraction of what Indigenous peoples may experience their whole lives. I did find someone to share their experiences (thank you, Christy Morgan) and I hope her story helps explain what intergenerational trauma is so that the burden on Indigenous peoples to continually have to educate on top of their pain, can ease even a little. I felt honoured to listen and share Christy's story.

Pandemic parenting and mom rage

As we pass the one-year anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic, it's safe to say that life will never be quite the same as before. In some ways, that's a good thing such as with improved hygiene regimens and an appreciation for doing less, but in others, we may have lost the joy and innocence of large social gatherings forever.

For parents especially, the pandemic has brought about challenges that we never anticipated. I didn't expect to spend months on end with my children by my side, 24/7. Overall, it wound up being quite a beautiful and sacred time that we wouldn't have had otherwise. But there were days when I felt overwhelmed and ragey. Yes, the ol' mom rage would bubble up like nobody's business. Here's a story I wrote about how to deal with mom rage for Today's Parent. 

Celebrating Calgary's Top 40 under 40

Especially in pandemic times, we need to hear about good people doing great things. Thank goodness for Avenue magazine's annual Top 40 under 40 issue. I got to chat with a few of this year's good peeps. Check them out:

Plastic-Free YYC founders, Isabelle Couture and Briana Loughlin 

Real estate investment guru, Jason Jogia 

Neil Gruninger, developer of one of the safest video-streaming platforms in the world for kids

Racism Matters

One thing I didn't expect to have happen with COVID-19 was the eruption of protests after the death of George Floyd. Though, in hindsight, it was not surprising with the tensions bubbling for decades and near boiling for the past four years. The amount of pain and trauma bursting forward was gut wrenching, to say the least.

The pandemic spurred a lot of reflection as people were forced to sit tight, often alone, with their thoughts. As a BIPOC, racism has never been far from my mind. But the protests suddenly brought it to the forefront of many minds, and the conversations about it were often far from pleasant as even people very close to me revealed just how deep systemic racism runs. 

It's so complex, and we have much work ahead, but I hope this piece I wrote for The Sprawl helps move the conversation forward. 

We need to talk about racism

Racism is a topic that unfortunately I've thought a lot about. It's affected my life as a Chinese-Canadian, and it's something I struggle to make sense of and talk with even the closest of friends. To be honest, it's exhausting trying to continually explain what it is and why it matters. But I know that it is only by having uncomfortable and complicated conversations that we ever make any progress. So here's my piece in Avenue magazine. I hope it generates some complicated conversations for you.

Staycation in Calgary

This summer, we've decided to staycation. We're going to stay close to home and enjoy the brief, but beautiful blue-sky Alberta summer. We've taken in some history at Heritage Park, visited the adorable pandas at the Calgary Zoo, gotten soaked on the log ride at Calaway Park and eaten our way through the Calgary Stampede with its many fun carnival food offerings. And we're only getting started! So much to see and do in Calgary! Check out my insider's guide that I wrote for Hostelling Internation Canada. 

Indigenous students encouraged to pursue engineering

June 21 marks National Indigenous Peoples Day. It's an important day to celebrate and acknowledge our Indigenous neighbours and community members, and a small step on the path of truth and reconciliation. The road is long, but the more we engage and continue to listen and learn about one another, the closer we will get to a place where true equality is possible.

As part of that process is hearing and sharing stories about Indigenous peoples, including this one that I wrote for Innovation.ca about efforts at Queen's University to get more Indigenous students to pursue engineering--a field where they require far greater representation, especially given that Indigenous communities are increasingly involved in the proper management of Canada's natural resources.