I, too, was carrying around my own fate. All the things I couldn't know sat somewhere inside, embroidered into me-maybe not quite fixed to the point of inevitability but waiting, in any event, for a chance to unspool.

I've realized that the world is, in essence, full of banana peels - loaded with things that may unwittingly trip an internal wire in my mind, opening a floodgate of fears without warning.

I am so proud to be a Canadian.

Being in the dark, there's a real weight to it. It's heavy.

In my version of paradise, the air was always cold and the rivers ran with candy.

Women in Somalia face almost unimaginable oppression.

Contemplating Christmas when you are isolated and far from home brings its own unique pain.