Marcus Lopes's Blog, page 46

So Give Thanks

Some days I feel like I’m at the beginning, and it’s terribly frightening. Today is one of those days. I’ve been thinking lately about my writing and the journey it has involved. I’ve been faithful to my writing ever since 2003, when my first essay was published. I was living in Ottawa, Ontario, at the time, and I had to sandwich my writing in and around my day job. Fluent in English and French, staying employed in Ottawa — the nation’s capital — was easy for me. When I moved to Sherbrooke, Q...

The Art of Work and Play

A Lesson in the Importance of Rest

Writing, I am seated in a green-upholstered armchair, the legs of which are painted a rich dark brown. The chair is, if I’m to venture a guess, Edwardian in style (certainly not Victorian). I am alone in the living room of my mother-in-law’s house, where I often retreat to write during my visits. However, the boom of the television in the sitting room at the back of the dwelling ricochets off the listless walls. It is the last Saturday in February, late in t...

Act. Dream. Believe.

Three weeks ago, in an effort to tackle procrastination (and its mighty grip on me), I set three challenges for myself: 1) Not turn on the TV between 8:30 and 18:00; 2) Spend less than one hour a day on social media; and 3) Start running again. And to hold myself to account, each time I didn’t meet the challenge — I didn’t go for a run, I turned the TV on when I wasn’t supposed to, or I spent more than one hour on social media —it would cost me a loonie ($1 Canadian).
In the three weeks that h...

The Awakening

Laurens van de Post told us, “Life is its own journey, presupposes its own change and movement, and one tries to arrest them at one’s eternal peril.” I first came across this quote when I was a student at Dalhousie University, and it has stayed with me ever since.
And this journey … There have been character-building times when the very essence of who I am has been challenged. I had to stop and ask myself some hard questions: Am I where I want to be? Am I being true to who I am? If not, what’s...

Let’s Talk ...

Taboo. It’s hard to think that, in the 21st Century, taboo is a word that is still associated with mental illness. Growing up in Lower Sackville, a suburb of Halifax, mental illness was not something that was talked about in my family. I was first diagnosed with depression in 1997, and it was then that I realized that I had experienced my first depressive episode when I was in high school, back in 1990. But because mental illness was not something that we talked about, I didn’t know that it w...

Self-Intervention: Goodbye, Procrastination

Blocked. As an artist, it’s not a word that I like to be associated with, but it is perhaps the best word that describes the state of my creativity of late. It’s not that I’m completely blocked, or that I’ve stopped creating altogether. I just haven’t been satisfied with my progress. It’s frustrating because I’m not advancing at the rate I feel I should, or could. There are a number of factors contributing to this — my day job where I shift frequently between time zones, familial obligations...

Battling the Demon: Procrastination

Lately, I find myself struggling … Again! Struggling to focus, to settle down and write. Struggling to not let myself be distracted. I’m trying a few different techniques and tools — to-do lists, setting reminders in my calendar, devouring advice offered up by various goal-setting websites. Nothing, in combination, seems to be working, at least not in the way that I hoped they would.
When I sit down to write, I’m overwhelmed by all of the things that I have to do and haven’t done. Instead of...

2014 : My Year of Positivity

Happy New Year! Bonne année à tous !

I had the pleasure of spending the last day of 2013 in St. John’s, Newfoundland. It was my first visit to Newfoundland and Labrador. There was a lot of snow on the ground and it was cold, but the bright December sun lit up the sky. I may have been far away from loved ones as the world bid adieu to 2013 and welcomed 2014, but I did not feel alone. No matter where I went — Mickey Quinn’s Pub, The Celtic Hearth or Subway — the people of St. John’s were welcom...

Gratitude

As I sit and write this morning, Christmas is only a few short days away. It’s a festive, yet busy, time. Despite the challenging weather thrown at us here in Toronto, we’re still out and about doing some last-minute shopping, throwing up some decorations, planning the Christmas meal. This year I’m lucky to have Christmas off, and will get out of the city for a few days and spend the holidays with my in-laws.
This is also a time when we reflect on the year that has been. There are countless T...

After the Storm

Over the weekend, Toronto was belted by its first major snowstorm. On Saturday, the four westbound lanes of The Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) were closed for approximately two hours due to a crash that involved 20 vehicles. Flights were cancelled, GO Train services were suspended. The weekend storm offered the perfect opportunity to stay inside, to rest and recharge.
It’s a difficult thing for me to do. Rest, that is. I feel that I should always be doing something, that I should always keep myself...