I believe those who practice mindfulness or meditation will not be shocked by the contents of this post. I for one could really benefit from a bit of the former, the latter, or both and yet I’ve struggled for years with sustaining any forward momentum with either practice. I’ve purchased books (because spending money will make me more likely to read them, right?), gone to guided meditation sessions, joined a 4-week mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) program and downloaded the ‘Calm’ app (amongst others) and enjoyed the fleeting sense of control that comes with being on a 30-day ‘streak ..read more

My mom’s origin story began in a small town in southern Italy called Castellaneta in 1957. That’s where her and her sister were born to Nicola Galatone and Giuseppina Ripa. Nicola (my Nonno) and Pina (my Nonna) were a tinsmith and a seamstress, respectively. Life conditions were difficult and work was hard to come by for my grandparents. Without too much concern for the expected difficulties of immigrating to a new country with a different language, a cross-Atlantic trip was planned with the hope of a better life in Canada, where my mom’s zio (uncle) Franko (unlcle Frank) was working as a nurs ..read more

This past week I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about the concept of energy. Energy, in the context of what I am looking to discuss is essentially the thing that gives us an ability to do something, like thinking, walking, talking and riding a bicycle. A more detailed definition found online notes that energy is “the strength and vitality required for sustained physical or mental activity.” This definition resonates with me because in spite of my struggles and from my very simplistic perspective, I’ve never been unable to do “something” as a result of my MS and my MS symptoms. Unlike some oth ..read more

As I got off my bike this morning and took a minute to upload the ride on @strava, I chose to take a sneak at my “progress” since the wheels fell off the bus a number of weeks back. I knew I had ridden 60km yesterday and 20 something this morning, but somehow the number staring me in the face felt more meaningful – 150km for the week. I like to think of myself as a glass half full kind of guy but I couldn’t help but notice the disappointment. 150km for the week? I was thinking…. That was originally my planned daily mileage only a few months ago… and for 50 straight days to boot. I took a ..read more