The Cedar Life
Living for the Long Run
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Creatures of Comfort I don’t need an alarm clock anymore. Every morning, between 5:30 and 6:30, my four-year-old daughter comes and wakes me up. Most mornings, I would give anything to have her sleep until 7, but at this stage it remains highly unlikely. Every morning I wish I could sleep more. I often wake up as I hear the door open down the hall and think about how much money I… Read More
Oh, Canada These last few weeks have been challenging for our country. Regardless of where you stand on the truck protests that took place in Ottawa, most of us find the images of riot police and horses breaking up crowds this past weekend jarring. Beyond the images, the lack of leadership on display in the nation’s capital has only exacerbated the problems. I have never witnessed anything like what we are currently… Read More
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This post was published in May of 2021. I will be back next week with more original content, but this article fits in well with the theme of preparing ourselves, which I will discuss more next week. Sweet Science ‘Going out on your shield’ is a term commonly used in boxing and other combat sports. I have heard it used when a fight is stopped either by the referee or by a… Read More
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Masculinity is Bestowed Until a few years ago, Masculine Initiation was not a category that I had spent much time thinking about. I used to see things in terms of transactions. I have skills and abilities. I can see that some men are skilled and comfortable in parts of life that I am not. I am compensated for my productivity and output, and I compensate others to do things for me that… Read More
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Morning Glory A few weeks ago, I experienced a ‘moment’ with my son. His response to a challenge he was experiencing created some tension in our family that was affecting everyone and I just needed it to end. This went on for a few days and was incredibly frustrating for me. I was struggling with how to handle it. After a couple of frustrating mornings, I knew I had to change my… Read More
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Rainy Days On a recent Saturday, I was standing in the rain watching my third consecutive hour of youth soccer. My six-year-old daughter’s team was playing. She has wild curly hair that only gets curlier in the rain. This is a good thing, because her field was two fields away from the fence where I was watching from. The bouncing curls make it much easier to spot her from a distance. She… Read More
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This post was originally published on February 16, 2021. Over the next few weeks, I will be pressing more into the theme of masculinity and initiation with new articles, but this post from almost a year ago fits in well with the topic I think. I hope you enjoy it. Are you talking to me? Moments after the birth of our fourth child, the midwife turned to me as she was filling… Read More
Monsters Inc. It is a confusing time to be a man. The definition of masculinity and what is expected of men seems to be a moving target. Further, Toxic masculinity, is a term we hear everywhere. It implies that there are masculine traits that are inherently bad. This is likely because of terrible actions carried out by men, but for many of us, it is hard to reconcile with who we are… Read More
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Lessons in Snowmobiling My mom recently reminded me of the time I went for a ride on my uncle’s snowmobile. My aunt and uncle live in Northern British Columbia and we visited one Christmas when I was a teenager. While I was out riding on the frozen lake, I got disoriented. There was low cloud and the visibility was limited. I was lost. It took me some time to find my way… Read More
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Resisting the temptation to jump straight into my 2022 planning post, I am republishing a post that is really just good advice that I need to take this week: Slow Down. I am spending this week with family, disconnecting, and trying to not to jump straight out of Christmas and into the next thing. This post was originally published in June of 2021. I hope you enjoy! Motorcycle Lessons In a recent… Read More
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