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It happens quickly, my reaction; it causes me to yell out loud. The influx of videos: someone pours tea; slowly, barely dripping the water into the cup, the steam gently rising. It's all about the sigh they expect you to have; the quiet...THIS is the answer of how to have a great life in this New Year... These calm souls slice bread too, a serrated knife barely cracking the surface as they gently saw away for what seems like hours. THIS is how to appreciate your food... Sigh...unless you're me, shaking with fury, screaming at the person's hands as they...

Saturdays were about rituals when I was four or five years old. First, the card table would be set up so we could play games like Crazy 8s or Checkers. After that, a record would be put on the turntable, usually a jazz version of a popular song. The conversation would go like this: My Dad, Smiling: "Do you know this song?" Me, Not looking up: "Norwegian Wood." My Dad, Still smiling, "What is the name of the band that created this song?" Me, Still not looking up: "The Beatles" My Dad, Challenging: "Ah, but who is the COMPOSER of this song?" Me, Staring...

Eleven pirouettes. Ten is unheard of, but ELEVEN?! The film White Nights from 1985 features Mikhail Baryshnikov performing this impossible feat to settle a bet between his character and the character played by fellow dancer and actor Gregory Hines. No matter how many times I've watched the video clip, my heart leaps into my throat as I count while the incomparable Baryshnikov spins. Life's challenges for me, are measured to a scale of eleven pirouettes. Functioning in a chaotic world after the untimely deaths of my Parents? Eleven pirouettes. Quitting smoking cold turkey? Eleven pirouettes. Learning to paint in middle...

We were urchins, wandering the streets of our suburb in Montreal, much like the characters in a Dickensian novel. The world as we knew it was small and unforgiving. We stayed in "our" territory, already conquered. What we didn't realize then and only became apparent decades later, was that we were being given the best education about work ethics available, free of charge. The Perrette convenience store at the top of our street was owned by a family from China. The store was so clean your throat would burn from the smell of bleach as you entered. The family was...

If you are in a museum and see a display of old paint tubes and brushes with a tiny bit of Scarlet Lake paint dried at the tip, you may also see someone nearby dabbing tears from their eyes. This person is an artist and part of their heart just broke, seeing tools left behind by an artist who passed away. It never fails. Whenever I've visited the Whyte Museum in Banff, I have ended up in tears seeing the crushed tubes of paint and the palettes that my artistic heroes once used. The fact that I now paint where...