It’s that time again to see what’s been been lighting me up and lighting my way this week.
The biggest local story here this week has been the weather, with the city being under severe weather warnings of one kind or another (wind, freezing rain, heavy rain, flooding) five of the past seven days. Fortunately, Toronto itself missed the worst of all of it (areas north of here are still without power from Saturday’s ice storm). It was doubly fortunate for me since I had out of town company on the weekend and had the weather fortunes shaken out a bit differently, it could have been a disaster. As it was, I had a great time playing tourist in my own town, especially getting to share some of my favourite artists’ work at the Art Gallery of Ontario and eating amazing dumplings in Chinatown. I also got to share a ‘CanLit Starter Pack’, which was gratefully received. It was all a great reminder of the joy that comes in sharing the things we love with others.
I’m still in the midst of my Lenten series, Ways of the Saints, and it continues to be inspiring and reassuring to be surrounded by the lives and stories of these wonderful people who managed to stand up and stand out. Their examples keep reminding me of that wonderful refrain from Ken Wilber, to “Wake Up, Clean Up, Grow Up, and Show Up,” and specifically making me reflect on how I can ‘show up’ in our present historical moment.
Reading has been a bit all over the place this week, but there were definitely some big wins, including Saou Ichikawa’s Hunchback (pub. 2023, transl. 2025), and the 1928 Pulitzer winner, Thornton Wilder’s The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1927). Both are definitely pretty serious literature; hopefully some great but also fun books will cross my path soon to add some levity to my reading life!
After a few weeks without too much interesting, yesterday had some wonderful new music releases. I encourage folk to give the following albums a listen:
- motorcycle sound effects, by Young Friend
- Nobody Lives Here, by SYML
- Welcome to My Blue Sky, by Momma
These are a few of the things that have been keeping me going and brightening up my way this week. So what’s lighting you up?
Matthew Root 