Commentary

Our bodies are much more than mere vessels

November 12, 2025   ·   0 Comments

Our bodies are truly magnificent pieces of machinery. They’re beyond intricate and despite the fact every one is unique and priceless, we all get one. It’s like our essence gets a new outfit – an overcoat or sorts – at the time of our birth. It’s like winning the evolutionary lottery. Alas, with any windfall can come bankruptcy, physically or emotionally.

Sending messages to those we’ve lost

How many of us think about, and even talk to, the dearly departed? How often do we miss hearing their voices or laughter? Recently, while driving home from my radiation treatment at Southlake, I pictured my mom’s face in the cloudy sky above. I began to cry.

Are we comfortably ‘slotted into’ our lives?

As I went about my daily business recently, I took a step back, and realized just how orderly things are. I’m in my own lane, one that’s been set for me, and all I do is go from Point A to Point B, and occasionally veer off to Point C, sometimes swinging around Point D. Is that what our lives have come down to?

Vivid surroundings inspire deep thoughts about life

Driving down a country road the other day I filled my lungs with the still-mild fall air. It was a beautiful day. I thought, then thought some more. Not unlike an old, famous farm hand, I could “wile away the hours, conferrin’ with the flowers, consultin’ with the rain.”

Celebrating humans’ giving nature

We humans, despite our flaws, tend to be giving sorts. I’m not sure if it’s by design, but it seems our generous nature is inherent and comes from within. And that’s a very good thing.

Fear takes so much away from us

Fear is one strong human emotion, trust me. Largely, we fear the unknown – what we don’t understand or cannot comprehend. Our fear has kept our species thriving for millennia and it still serves us to this day. Along with facing real fears comes battling irrational ones.

Creating pseudo-humans seems to be the way to go

The preamble to a new sci-fi series offers some pretty stark warnings. Set in 2120, a mere century from now, huge corporations not only dominate the world, they control it and by extension the future of humankind. Apparently, our survival and evolution will be dependent on these areas: Cyborgs, cybernetically enhanced humans. Synths, or artificially intelligent beings (androids or robots), and finally, hybrids, synthetic beings (robots) downloaded with consciousness.

Giving is really our ultimate legacy

My oldest daughter Lexie has been a beacon of helping since high school and her mission trips to the Dominican Republic to help migrant Haitian workers. She inspired me to go on one of these trips myself, with my son, while he was still in high school. It was eye-opening and humbling. Carrying on with her desire to help, Lexie coaxed me into volunteering at St. Francis Table on Queen Street in Toronto.

We are a unique race of storytellers

We all love a good story. And each and everyone of us is the topic of an epic tale. Despite our differences, Brad Pitt once observed that “storytelling reminds us we’re all the same.” It’s in our DNA, literally and figuratively and it’s embedded in every aspect of our modern society. From art, music, fiction, movies, graphic novels and even marketing, stories come alive. They attract, stir emotion and crush loneliness. Stories are essential to our species and always have been. Human beings, since the very beginning, were expert storytellers.

The family returns the favour, in spades

The following is a submission from the Hesketh-Pavilons clan. It came on my recent Sept. 2 birthday. “We figured we owe you one from all the years you spent writing about us,” my family members said.

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