To begin again is to meet the day with fresh awareness. These birthday reflections explore aging, mortality and the quiet possibility in ordinary moments. The invitation to begin again There was a time when birthdays were about cakes, balloons, grainy photographs of toothless children. A while later, birthdays were about friends, campfires, beer-soaked nights at
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Faith without belief asks whether trust can remain when certainty falls away. These reflections consider aging, vulnerability and the challenge of facing our mortality. Faith without belief in the face of uncertainty One of the challenges of growing older is dealing with the panic that comes with time’s passing. The days might be long, but
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The middle passage of life can unsettle familiar sources of comfort and identity. This reflection explores possessions, mortality and the invitation to grow into maturity. Meeting the middle passage beyond possessions A man reaches middle age. Half his life is behind him. The slip of vanishing days catch him in panic. Not long ago a
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Perfect Days invites us to notice the quiet dignity of an ordinary life. Hirayama’s routines offer a reflection on contentment, care and the wonder within each day. What Perfect Days reveals about everyday life Hirayama is not a hero. He is not an allegorical figure who represents the plight of everyman. He is a plain
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Coffee as a ritual of attention and gratitude Thomas Merton once wrote: “I love beer, and, by that very fact, the world.” This statement is at once whimsical and puzzling. How does a fondness for pale ale stray into a confession of love for the world? Perhaps Merton suggests a fundamental relationship between the mundane and the
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Simplicity, sufficiency and the limits of more I meet clients who come to therapy when they are hanging by a thread. Their careers are unforgiving, academic pressures unrelenting. Parents are walloped by the rigours of child-rearing; others are worn thin caring for aging parents. Responsibilities multiply, but the hours remain few. Despite a profusion of duties,
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Nature and mental health meet in the simple experience of noticing the world around us. This harbour-side reflection explores belonging, stillness and the relief of a wider perspective. Nature and mental health in an ordinary city moment I am standing by the harbour, peering past the sailboats and skycrapers into the mountains in the distance.
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Meeting restlessness with curiosity in meditation Every meditator experiences ebbs and flows in practice. There are times when awareness arrests us, engulfing us in crystalline stillness. Other times we brace against squalls of the anxiety. Sometimes our discipline is sharp and square; we practice without waver. Other times we are reluctant to drag ourselves to
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Walking the path of patience and resilience The bamboo forest appeared surreal and fantastical. The vertical, segmented columns rose into feathered tops that swayed in the wind, the path covered by long, papery leaves. I hiked the forest in astonishment. In my imagination, bamboo forests are places of old Eastern legends, the backdrop of martial
On the Pilgrim’s Path: Walking as a Metaphor for Life Read More »
For many living in western societies, modernity brings with it the blight of busyness. Stress weighs us down; the onerous demands of studies, career and family can leave our bodies neglected and minds frazzled. Hives of self-help advice tend to underscore the importance of balance. Here, balance serves as a central metaphor for that harmonious
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DAVID CHANG COUNSELLING
David Chang Counselling is gratefully located on the territories of the the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. David supports and celebrates diversity in race, gender, sexual orientation, language, culture, and neurological composition.
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