S1E4: My New Life (Nov 10/23)

“My New Life” tells my story of a new start in life for me beginning soon after successfully recovering from schizophrenia, bicycling across Canada, and then continuing my mental health advocacy work in developing countries at www.MindAid.ca.

Yesterday I spent an afternoon at my local library learning about indigenous and early settler life in centuries past where I grew up (and now live) in the Passamaquoddy Bay area in New Brunswick, Canada.

It transported me into a very different time, and when I “came to” a few hours later and left the library, I had a whole new appreciation for life in general.

How complicated our lives are in these times versus how simple, yet not always easy, our ancestors lives were many years ago. Sometimes it’s nice when you get things put in perspective for you.

We can get on our hamster wheels sometimes and go round in circles, thinking it’s normal life. Random ventures off the hamster wheels can snap us back into reality.

What we do each day can seem so important and critical, yet when we pull back our nose from the grindstone and take a look at the big picture, we get reminded our concerns are just a drop in the ocean — or at least a drop in the bucket.

Today the Canadian Museum of History called and wanted to know more information about my bicycle and its story. They said that while many artifacts get put on display, some actually just get put in storage and may or may not get put on display in the…