Capilano Courier | Vol 55, Issue 3/4

CAPILANO COURIER

WINTER 2022

VOLUME 55 |

ISSUE NO. 3/4

EDIROTS DESK

ALISHA SAMNANI (SHE/HER)

Editor-in-Chief

editor@capilanocourier.com

When I’m not running back and forth between classes, editing articles or stuck on transit, I’m writing frantically in my bullet journal, petting all the animals I can find, or hiding with my nose buried in a book.

Q: Describe your role in the Courier in 3 words or less.

A: Storytelling Demi-God

Q: What song would you add to the staff playlist?

A: Suzie Noma by Muthoni Drummer Queen

Q: New years resolution

A: Maintaining work-life balance

Q: Coffee, Tea, or other warm beverage?

A: #coffeeforlife

Q: A memory from 2022

A: sleeping under the stars

Q: Number one tip for finals?

A: Prioritize your sleep. If you don’t know it while you’re (mostly) awake, you sure won’t learn it when you’d rather be snuggled up under your warm blankets.

Lifting the Fog and Surviving the Semester

Congratulations everyone — we (barely) made it to the end of the semester. Exams are hopefully done, papers are finished, and you can finally sleep in without worrying about that assignment due tomorrow.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve noticed that a number of my classmates, co-workers and instructors have been more exhausted than ever — myself included. It’s like we’ve all spent the majority of the semester walking through a thick blanket of fog; going through the motions just to get back to sleep at the end of the day.

Speaking of fog: did you know that the London Fog was actually created in Vancouver? In honour of making it through exam season — and because of our dreary weather lately — here’s our version of a calm, cozy Vancouver fog.

The Capilano Courier’s DIY Vancouver Fog

Ingredients

2 tsp OR 2 teabags of Earl Grey Tea (we recommend Murchie’s Earl’s Gold or Earl Grey Cream)

450 ml water

1 tbsp Lavender Syrup (For a local option, Medina Cafe sells small jars made from Chilliwack-grown lavender!)

¼ tsp pure vanilla extract

125 milk/milk alternative, frothed

Heat your water and steep your chosen Earl Grey Tea –you want it to be slightly stronger than you would normally take your tea without milk. Add your lavender syrup and vanilla extract to the tea before heating and frothing your milk (tip: shaking your milk up in a mason jar works wonderfully for this step!). Pour your milk into your teacup, spooning the foam over top. Enjoy!

Hugs, The Courier Crew

EDIROTS DESK

MATT

SHIPLEY

(HE/HIM) Senior Editor

matt@capilanocourier.com

I’m a bit of a writer in flux — filling time and space between two novels, pushing through finals season with as much matcha as a human can realistically consume, and escaping into the mountains whenever I’m given the chance. Basically, just becoming what I like to pretend I already am.

Q: Describe your role in the Courier in 3 words or less.

A: Check your junk

Q: What song would you add to the staff playlist?

A: Dayseeker - Dark Sun

Q: New years resolution

A: Get outside for over an hour every weekend.

Q: Coffee, Tea, or other warm beverage?

A: Chai latte with a dash of nutmeg, consumed frantically on the way to my sixth final

Q: A memory from 2022

A: 10-day cliff jumping road trip across BC

Q: Number one tip for finals?

A: Do it now. Don’t procrastinate until the last minute. Finals week will feel way less busy if you just get as much studying as you can out of the way right now.

It’s okay to be the Grinch sometimes

What a relief it is to be writing this from the warm, dry comfort of my home back in Kelowna. My World Music Winter CD is playing softly in the background, I’m sitting next to a crackling fireplace with a mug full of nutmeg-spiced eggnog, and I’ve got five Courier issues in front of me, all in various stages of dismemberment as I cut out my favorite articles and art pieces to hang on my bedroom wall. It’s absolutely perfect.

Well, except for a few things. I just had major jaw surgery, so eggnog is really the only tolerable thing I’ve had to drink in a week. I’m on a strictly liquid diet, so I’ve been energy-deficient enough to severely impact my brain function. Nerve damage in my bottom jaw means I can’t feel my bottom lip, so my pink sweater is drinking half as much eggnog as I am. The swelling still makes me look like the Michelin Man if he put on seventy pounds.

There is said to be a clear dichotomy between a glass-half-full mood and a glass-half-empty one. We either show our perfect, pretty Instagram versions of ourselves, or we activate goblin mode and wreak havoc on our friends and family. We’re either holiday people, or we’re Scrooges.

The truth is, though, it’s okay to feel both ways. It’s okay to take the good with the bad, and vice versa. It’s perfectly valid to have an off-day, or an off-week, or an off-month. As we head home to our families or friends, it can be hard to take it all in. My house goes a mile a minute from dawn till dusk, and I do get overwhelmed sometimes — from the activity, and from the pressure to participate, to smile, to listen to the same Ullr-forsaken Starbucks Christmas CD for twelve hours straight. It can be exhausting, and I’m sure I’m not the only one.

But, here’s the thing: you are more important than everything else in your life combined. Regardless of the pressure, regardless of the aunts and uncles and grandparents pestering you with Big Life Questions every five minutes, it is always okay to shut yourself in your room and recharge. It is always okay to make up an outing with friends. It is always okay to be a bit of a Grinch sometimes, because we all have a bit of that energy within us.

So go forth! Be a Scrooge. Be a Grinch. Walk out of that long-dreaded family Hallmark marathon. Steal a baking sheet full of cookies on your way upstairs. Your brain and your social battery will adore you for it.

Bonus points if you bring up an issue of the Courier as well. We’re always here to keep you buoyed.

Much love, Matt

JAYDE ATCHISON

jayde@capilanocourier.com

My mother is an adventure cat, and my father is a book — I’m the perfect blend of both.

Q: Describe your role in the Courier in 3 words or less.

A: Creative Chaos

Q: What song would you add to the staff playlist?

A: Danny’s Song - Loggins & Messina

Q: New years resolution

A: Read at least 52 books

Q: Coffee, Tea, or other warm beverage?

A: Holiday themed coffees

Q: A memory from 2022

A: Visiting the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam

Q: Number one tip for finals?

A: Make time for sleep

I’m an artistic individual who finds inspiration through nature and hiking. You can find me out taking photos in the forest or at home binging the twilight series for the 100th time.

Q: Describe your role in the Courier in 3 words or less.

A: Chaotic Artboarder

Q: What song would you add to the staff playlist?

A: The News by Paramore

Q: New years resolution

A: Strengthening that work- life balance

Q: Coffee, Tea, or other warm beverage?

A: I’m a non caffeinated tea kinda lady

Q: A memory from 2022

A: Selling tents at MEC

Q: Number one tip for finals?

A: Have a go-to study playlist! Once you start it you’ll get into work mode instantly.

IMOGEN PETTYFER (SHE/HER)

Communications

communications@capilanocourier.com

Drifting through jobs and school at a rapid pace, never knowing when I can stop. In-between places I try to go out and take photos and take in the scenery but those instances are rare now.

Q: Describe your role in the Courier in 3 words or less.

A: Social Media Support

Q: What song would you add to the staff playlist?

A: hometown by cleopatrick

Q: New years resolution

A: Move out by the end of summer

Q: Coffee, Tea, or other warm beverage?

A: Tea!!

Q: A memory from 2022

A: I got a new job!

Q: Number one tip for finals?

A: You’ve got this!

Are you interested in volunteering for your campus paper?

Well, this isn’t the place.

Most student newspapers across Canada still follow an archaic volunteer system – yes, getting students to write and work for them for free. The Capilano Courier has long championed a format that allows us to pay our contributors for every article written

The easiest way to get involved with the Courier is by signing up to receive our online pitch doc!

Contributing Writers

Emma Mendez, Ry Forsythe, Carmel Dear, Vansh Malhotra, Gabrielle Rossignol, Jasmine Garcha, Mayumi Izumi.

Contributing Illustrators

Natasha Lee, Chelle Lussi, Lucy Benson, Laura Morales Padilla, Talia Rouck, Tara Asadi, Kelsea Vance.

Business Manager

Gaby Salas (She/Her) business@capilanocourier.com

Featured Artists

Laura Morales, Aleksandar Jones

Cover Art

Chelle Lussi

Staff Portraits

Anais Bayle

HOLIDAY SELFCARE TIPS

A guide to fighting the winter blues - A reprint from Vol 54, Issue 4

Jayde Atchison - Opinions Editor

Natasha Lee - Illustrator

December barrels into our lives with a suitcase filled with less daylight, the pressure of gift-giving, familial obligations and, of course, exam stress. December throws that suitcase at you as if you are a bellhop, expecting you to carry it for all 31 days — plus an extended vacation into the new year.

The weight seems manageable for the first couple days, but suddenly your arms get tired and you begin to feel the weight of things start to drag you down. Keeping yourself mentally and physically healthy during this time is crucial — and this requires ensuring you’re taking time to practice self-care

You’re the only guaranteed person throughout your life and it’s important to take care of yourself in the one life you have. Self-care looks different for everyone, because one person’s treasure is another person’s trash. What’s important is to keep your passions in check and unapologetically do things that make you happy — even if others tell you that doesn’t work for them. Test any of these healthy coping mechanisms to help relieve some of the holiday blues, or take an idea and mould it into your own practice.

The classic bubble bath and candle combo:

For some, to escape from the constant socializing, decompressing at the end of the day in a soothing bubble bath with their favourite feel-good movie on is an easy step into self-care. Let yourself soak into the hot water, turn off your phone and wait for the water to reach a tepid temperature (and if that’s not enough, drain some water, refill and repeat).

Move your body:

You do not need to be an Olympic athlete to feel the benefits of exercise. Even if you take ten minutes out of your day to stretch out your muscles, you can feel more in tune with your body. Students have a habit of foregoing a fitness routine because they are overwhelmed with time management — it’s understandable! If fitness makes you happy, give that gift to yourself and enjoy that endorphin rush.

Remind yourself you are not alone:

If you’re out of your hometown for the holidays, it’s easy to feel homesick and miss the experiences that came with being in a familiar setting. For some, it may be comforting to sit in a coffee shop, look out the window and see that there are others going through the same motions that you are.

Throw on a cheesy movie with a festive drink:

There’s something heartwarming about holiday films, especially if they’re made by Hallmark. When things are feeling too heavy in the real world, it can be nice to get lost in a guaranteed happy outcome for a few hours. Light a festive candle, throw on a ridiculous themed sweater and give into the happier side of the holidays.

Speak to a counsellor or therapist: Mental health issues start to bubble up and make themselves more obvious during the darker days of the year, and being obligated to spend time with relatives can be triggering to some folks. There are therapy and counselling options for all budgets, and it helps to get your emotions and experiences out to someone that is trained to assist you through them. Find solace in knowing that there is always someone to hear you.

Whatever brings you a spark of joy, hold onto it and give yourself permission to step away from the holiday hustle. Little moments of peace go a long way — finding a healthy outlet this season may help the time go by faster and smoother than previous years. Remember that you are worthy of a break, and December’s baggage can wait while you take one.

HARNESSING YOUR CREATIVITY FOR MANIFESTATION

New year, bolder dreams conjuredReprint from Vol 54, Issue 5

Emma Mendez - Writter

You may have heard of the concept and practice of manifestation a lot lately. Maybe you’ve been seeing it on TikTok, heard about it through your friends or have been delving into spirituality and witchcraft yourself. However you’ve heard about manifestation, it’s no joke. It works, and can be a powerful tool to bring your dreams to life.

No more “someday,” the time is now. Manifesting with vision boards makes it that much more accessible and potent. But before you start trying to conjure whatever, there’s a few things to be cleared about what manifestation is, isn’t, and how it works (well, how I believe and have been taught it works).

As a witch and student of the occult, here is what my mentors, teachers, Isabelle Rizo and The Eckharts, as well as my own experience have taught me manifestation is and isn’t: manifestation is harnessing your desire, intention and vision to bring something into your reality. It is a powerful act of sovereignty proclaiming to the universe, yourself and the gods — whatever you believe in and work with — that your desires are more than worth being honoured.

What many people get wrong in the New Age spirituality community, is that aligned action is also required. You can’t just expect everything to come to you without any effort beyond your manifestation ritual, you have to meet the magic, or the energy, if that’s how you prefer to look at it, halfway. As much as it’s harnessing your desire, intention and vision, it’s also a co-creation of the spiritual, metaphysical, combined with tangible action.

Also important to note is that magic, spirituality and manifestation don’t take away the fact that there are systems of oppression at play in our lives. An example that I’ve seen online is that often white spiritual practitioners will say that manifesting financial abundance is just about changing your relationship to money, that it’s simply about mindset, erasing the very real barriers that exist for racialized and marginalized people.

Now that you have some basics, let’s get to it!

Step 1: Setting intentions & prep Journal, talk it out or meditate on what you want to bring into your life. Ask yourself the following questions: How do I want to feel about my life in a few months or weeks? About myself? What do I truly desire? What has kept me from taking action toward it in the past?

Answer the questions you feel called to, then get out your candles (if that’s your vibe) and do a short grounding meditation (you can literally type that into YouTube) to get yourself ready!

Step 2: Writing it out

Now that you’ve identified what you want to manifest, comes one of the key steps, scripting it. Grab a piece of paper and write it out combining the present and or past tense (depending on what you’re manifesting). For example: I am a bestselling author, I found my dream apartment, my presence is enchanting, etc.

While you’re writing, focus on the vision and the feeling of having your manifestations in your life as if they were in the present moment. For the purpose of the ritual, it is.

Step 3: Choosing your medium

Will your vision board be a Pinterest board? A digital collage? Something more hands-on? Will you print it out? Your medium is important and should be chosen depending on what’s more accessible to you, but also what feels most authentic to you. Connection to your medium is important. Remember that this is a ritual, so your medium and connection to it impacts how successful your ritual will be.

Step 4: What to put on your vision board

Search for content that is aligned with your desires/what you want to manifest. For example: if you’re manifesting a new apartment, you’re going to be looking for pictures, words, lyrics, etc., of what you want the interior to look like. Maybe the type of building, style of neighbourhood, location, price, ambiance, etc.

Step 5: Putting

it all together

Taking three deep breaths to ground (close your eyes while doing this if you like), say your intentions out loud while once again focusing on the feeling and the vision as if in the present.

Then start putting together your vision board using the pictures and other materials you chose, assembling your vision board while still focusing on the vision and the feeling. You can also continue to say them out loud or even play music that is aligned with your vision. Once you’re done assembling it, once again write down or type what you’re manifesting. Either writing them on the back of your vision board (if on paper/printing it out) or if you’re keeping it digital, you can type it on top of the images making it semi-visible but not standing out.

Step 6: Finding a place for your vision board

Now that you’ve made your vision board, you need to decide where it will go. This part will vary depending on your beliefs around energy and manifestation. For some it’s simply your desires being absorbed by your subconscious. For others it’s magick, or both. If you’re of those who go with the subconscious route, or a mix, you can put it up in a place where you are sure to see it everyday, several times a day. You can also use it as your phone or laptop wallpaper. For those who lean more into magick, you can glue it onto a page on your bullet journal (one you might not go to often), your grimoire or even placed inside an envelope on your altar.

Step 7: Making it come to life

Trust, believe and take aligned action.

FEATURED ARTIST

Laura Morales @manifesto.dg

“QUENA PLAYER”

Ho-ho-how do you not celebrate?

Ry Forsythe - Contributor Chelle Lussi - Illustrator

The groans and eye-rolling still happen anytime before November, however North America is notorious for reminding us Christmas is just around the corner before Halloween even starts. Though it is the norm for capitalist Canada to remind us to buy buy buy, this is still a place that invites people from diverse backgrounds, heritage and religions, many of which don’t participate in everything marketed to them. So, what do you do when you don’t celebrate the corporate holidays where almost everything is closed, people are with their families and every last turkey is gone from the shelf?

If sociology and anthropology teaches us anything, it’s that the more space you take up, the more power you have. Christmas is an example brought up when it comes to religions, especially in July… and October… and November… and December. Though many cultures and religions have festivals of light, they aren’t getting the same amount of attention due to a market highly saturated in Santa’s, reindeer and candy canes. Sometimes, if you’re lucky, you’ll see Instagram posts about Diwali, find a sweater with the Star of David or a menorah, or buy a Yule log for a Christmas decoration instead of using it for a wiccan ritual. If you’re really lucky, you’ll stand awkwardly as another old white guy gets offended when a barista says happy holidays and throws the cup that isn’t Christmassy enough…

Anyways, though more places recognize and give anoth er festival light a shoutout here or there, there are still opportunities for institutions like, let’s say, universities

to showcase different religions and their practice. Perhaps they can host events that give space for different religions, allow for classrooms or meeting rooms to host more diverse holiday celebrations or create a cross campus scavenger hunt displaying different practices throughout the winter months. That being said, it would be up to the students who don’t celebrate Christmas to take space if it’s offered, and those who celebrate Christmas to take a step back, listen, observe and learn.

So, if you aren’t celebrating Christmas, what can you do? Options are limited due to most places being mandatorily closed to give people a day off before bad boxing week sales pop up. That being said, one can always take the opportunity to take a coworker’s shift, go to a mostly empty movie theater to see that film you were putting off, or take up skiing for the dayS so no one sees you fall. After all, the space is free — so you may as well fill it.

MIDNIGHTS COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER

It’s Me, Hi, I’m The Problem, It’s Me

Carmel Dear (she/her - Writer

Lucy Benson - Illustrator

I don’t know what I was expecting from Midnights before my first listen, and it took a few listens for me to get the vibe of the album. It’s lyrically and musically different from any of her other albums, but Taylor is known for working well in different genres, so I wasn’t going to rule it out right away.

Midnights has been predictably successful, but it’s still been impressive watching Taylor quickly setting streaming, Billboard, and sales records. On the night of the album release, a surprise “3AM Version” with 7 unannounced tracks was dropped. I wanted to love this new album, but found it lacking after evermore. Fortunately, there were still some gems that kept Taylor’s name from being on my list of names, with hers in red and underlined!

Despite producing a wealth of one-liner audio clips that are taking over social media, the album was lyrically weaker than a lot of her previous work. I’m still trying to understand how the same songwriter who created All Too Well, a song that’s so widely regarded as a poetic masterpiece that she re-released it years later as a 10 minute ballad, successfully – is the same songwriter who wrote “I miss you, but I miss sparkling” in Bejeweled. The same artist who, as a teenager wrote “But I took your matches / Before fire could catch me / So don’t look now / I’m shining like fireworks / Over your sad, empty town” – came out with the lyric, “Life is emotionally abusive” after so many years of honing her skills.

Bejeweled had poor, juvenile lyrics that sound like they were written by a teenager, not a woman in her 30s, and we know that Taylor has developed herself as a songwriter and can do better than, “Did all the extra credit then got graded on a curve” or “Sapphire tears on my face/Sadness became my whole sky.”

The sound of Midnights was also different from Swift’s other albums. The music is catchy, but it’s difficult to listen to the entire album at once because the songs generally sound the same. Even some individual songs like Maroon, Glitch, Labyrinth, and Midnight Rain get boring after a few listens and turn into an automatic skip, despite sounding nice. After a few listens, I was finally able to put my finger on my feelings –some of the songs sound nice, but they aren’t special enough to spend a lot of time listening to.

Another disappointment was the outcome of her collaboration with Lana Del Ray, a song that should have absolutely blown it out of the water, but instead had a generic sound and limited Lana to background vocals. This has been an unfortunate pattern for almost all of Taylor’s collabs with other female artists (“Nothing New” feat. Phoebe Bridgers on Red– Taylor’s Version was

actually an exception to her history). The concept could have been done so much better, especially with musicians and lyricists as skilled as Taylor and Lana. This track showcased a lot of wasted potential.

A recurring theme in Midnights is anger and revenge, which can seem like a repeat of her 2017 album Reputation. Listening to Vigilante Shit feels like eating pretzels served on a low-cost airplane – stale, boring, and overdone. One song that orbited the same theme as Vigilante Shit was Karma. It made up for the prior song because at least it is more musically and lyrically interesting than Vigilante Shit. However, it will never be as creative as evermore’s revenge anthem, no body, no crime.

Don’t get me wrong – I don’t hate the album in its entirety. There were definitely some outstanding tracks and I think they deserve recognition. Lavender Haze deserves an honourable mention for its cheeky, devil-may-care attitude that sets the tone for the entire album. It has an interesting sound with pithy lines that stick with you longer than many of the other tracks. Anti-Hero receives the same status, especially once the chorus hits. We’ve all had it stuck in our heads from seeing it as a successful TikTok and Instagram Reels sound. The lyrics aren’t poetic in the way that evermore’s were, but they’re deeply felt, different, and memorable.

You’re On Your Own, Kid felt like a fusion of Taylor’s sophomore album Fearless and the other tracks on Midnights. It recounts the pain of growing up and feeling alone, and the nostalgic lyrics and specific scenarios resonate with young people and surely have the ability to bring back that experience years later.

Bigger Than The Whole Sky was the star of the 3AM Version songs. The chilling experience of love and loss has reached deep into the hearts of many people who are sharing their stories on social media, primarily parents who have experienced miscarriage. This song puts unspeakable grief into words to process what has happened: “Did some bird flap its wings ovеr in Asia? / Did some force take you bеcause I didn’t pray?

/ Every single thing to come has turned into ashes.” I mean, come on – how could she have described the hurt and disorientation after loss any better?

Like so many of Taylor’s best songs, its true meaning is ambiguous and it can relate to other experiences – perhaps a lost lover, or a lost identity. Bigger Than The Whole Sky is the masterpiece of this album. If you are one of the few people who have left Midnights unplayed, this is the song to start with.

Despite its success and having some standout tracks, Midnights could have been a lot better, both musically and lyrically. I appreciate the album more than I did at first, despite falling short of Taylor’s previous releases, but I’m not sold on people’s sentiments that this is her best album to date. I expected more, and was left pining for the days when folklore and evermore were released so closely to one another. I still hold onto hope that Taylor will drop something incredible next time, but for now I’ll just keep her older albums on repeat.

TRAVELLING IN WINTERS: A BOON OR A CURSE

How to combat the risks of winter travel?

Vansh Malhotra (he/him) - Writer Freya Emery - Illustrator

Winter is in the air as the holiday season approaches our lives. People around the world get thrilled at the idea of visiting their hometown or going on a trip with their friends and family. Excitement showers their hearts that they become fastidious in planning every detail in advance and construct an itinerary in their minds. Although it is a good habit to map out things beforehand, we must realise that destiny is the master of all and may induce some circumstances to alter or nullify our travel plans. Most people commit an egregious error by overlooking the factor of probability existing in every situation.

While organising our winter trip, we must vacillate and invent a plan B that helps us manage the uncertainty of our initial plan. I remember that my mother had plans to travel to India last winter for Christmas and celebrate with her family. She had arranged this trip several months prior and taken limited time off work. Unfortunately, one day before her trip, she lost her passport and became stressed when she couldn’t find it anywhere.

She searched frantically in every nook and corner, but all in vain. She spoke with the Indian Embassy and completed some paperwork, finally allowing her to leave the country. Alas, on the day of her departure, her flight got cancelled due to challenging weather conditions. She became really anxious and developed a churlish attitude as her itinerary had been adversely affected. All her hopes got drained as she had carefully planned the schedule of each day of her trip. Christmas passed by in anxiety and despair. If my mother had made a second plan about celebrating Christmas, she would not have had to indulge in this grief.

Expecting the unexpected can help ease some of the anxiety that comes with travel. Sure, it is frustrating to not arrive at your destination when you originally planned to, but anxieties might not be so loud if we all were prepared for the worst. A few years ago, one of my aunts had planned to travel to the UK from India to attend her niece’s wedding. She had booked her flight and decided everything in advance. Right before her trip,

she fell ill, but tried to power through and fly anyway. However, she was prevented from boarding the flight by the airport authorities, and despite much pleading, she was sent back home. She had not planned the “what-if” of her trip and was left feeling devastated.

Life is full of surprises, good and bad. When we count on everything going our way, we face disappointment from alterations. Booking activities immediately after your arrival time is a risky game to play, and can lead to heartbreak. My friend was left feeling the agony of misplanning classes the morning after a bus ride to Whistler. He paid for equipment, was expecting to advance alongside his group classes, and enjoy a winter wonderland. However, when his bus broke down due to poor weather on the Sea-to-Sky, he saw those plans fly out the window. Despite his best efforts, his plan was foiled and he was left with a bitter taste in his mouth when it came to scheduling a prepaid trip.

To avoid the messy feelings that come with travel, everyone should be aware of the risks associated with organising your winter travel. Life is a mystery, and anything can happen anytime. Nothing is guaranteed in today’s world, as we have all seen after battling with the COVID-19 pandemic. So many people lost their lives; numerous plans got affected and many people suffered from stress because they had not equipped their mindset with life being a probability.

One should only travel this winter if they gain wisdom to encounter changes in life rather than getting bellicose and bursting out with rage at the possibility of any risk lurking in their plans. Some people may think that this could never happen to them, but the harsh reality is that no one is above the winter elements.We must stand up to our obstacles by carefully analysing every probability.

THE QUITTER’S QUEST

A Quiet Movement that’s a Long Time Coming

Ry

Forsythe

(they/them) - Writer

Laura Morales Padilla - Illustrator

There is always a desire to quit. It gets ignored day in and day out since, to make decent money, people must hustle in order to survive under capitalism. Doing so leads to many crashing and burning from overworking themselves to help the people higher on the corporate bureaucratic ladder. After all, shouldn’t people put on their fake smiles and be grateful for the money and opportunities they get from working so much within and outside of their workday at the expense of their mental health? The answer is no. Instead, people should take on a quitter’s quest to not only help themselves, but also make the rich quake in their plush Gucci seats.

It is important to know that “self-care” is a privileged practice for those able to afford it, and not just the prices of products or a good therapist. For instance, someone who works in two jobs directly with vulnerable youth while going to university may not have time to have a bath, go to the gym or do their hobbies when they get home. If they’re lucky, they may have time to watch YouTube, if they aren’t too tired and haven’t had to make a hard call that day. However, should they be able to at least do the bare minimum for work, there might be a chance they’ll have enough energy even to think about how they’ll spend their evening.

The concept of “quiet quitting” is basically doing a job without the mental anguish. This can look like doing the bare minimum within a five hour work day, not taking work home and not thinking about the job when you aren’t supposed to be working. Doing so, ideally,

will allow folks to turn off and take care of themselves rather than overwork themselves into the ground, burn out and need to take time off just to recharge a little before going back to work to catch up on what piled up while they’re gone.

However, some may look at this as an excuse to be “lazy” or give a new name to “slacking off”. Usually those who are frustrated by this internet trend are those who are resting higher on the workplace ladder (managers, CEOs) who are having to do more work or can afford therapy. That being said, they can’t do much other than go “tut-tut” unless they want to be short staffed and end up with more work on their plate.

“Quiet quitting” is essentially a new, trendier way of saying “self care” for people that are just trying to make it through the day. This isn’t to say people who take on quietly quitting for the day don’t care about their job, it just means they are able to do what they can to recharge instead of crashing and burning in the ways capitalism encourages us to do. Hustle culture is toxic when people can’t take a moment to breathe, rest, and recharge the battery before taking on too much. Capitalism normalizes working to the bone in order to make a profit.

All that being said, it is worth noting not everyone can join this trend. Since that’s the case, it should be noted that “quiet quitting” isn’t the answer for every profession. Perhaps it looks different if you’re a nurse, or a doctor. Perhaps more needs to be done by people in

power in order to ensure staff don’t bring work home, even if that doesn’t look like closing a laptop. Perhaps people need to quit in other ways in order to save themselves, and those decisions should be respected as change is made to support the next person that fills the role and avoid a repeat.

As 2022 comes to a close, humans are moving past buying pillows with inspirational quotes and instead are sticking it to the system that promotes hustling until you’re burnt out. More folks are recognizing that a job is only one part of your day, week, month and year. Life goes by before we know it, and though we’d like to say slow down – not everyone can afford to. Even if it is only for a few minutes, or seconds, take a breath, quietly quit for the day and treat yourself in ways your job never can. It is easier said than done, but it never hurts to try and start small, quietly.

“THERE IS ALWAYS A DESIRE TO QUIT”

WOMAN, LIFE, FREEDOM

The draconic influence of social media in trend politics

Matt Shipley (he/him) - Culture & Communities Editor

Freya Emery - Illustrator

Fourteen thousand captives were recommended to be sentenced to death by the Iranian government on October 7th, for the crime of protesting against genocide and gender apartheid.

But, you probably didn’t even know it was happening.

It has only been a couple of weeks since #MahsaAmini and #SayHerName were trending across social media networks. It was impossible to touch Instagram without seeing them. We shared stories, said her name, copy-pasted some pretty words and went about our day-to-day lives.

So why isn’t anything changing?

The short answer is, sharing is not caring. It has happened countless times - the social media train spends a couple weeks in an activism station, whether it be the ongoing conflict in Iran, the ongoing war in Ukraine, the ongoing colonial oppression against Indigenous peoples or anything else, and then it moves on. In a hyper-capitalist society built on trends and interest, with nothing to gain and everything to lose by letting one subject dominate the cultural scape for months - or even weeks at this point - hardly anybody is going to keep caring forever. Eventually, popular support, as well as institutional aid, will peter out.

Funny enough, people know that. The Iranian government knows that. Vladimir Putin knows that. The Canadian government knows that. It’s playing out in gruesome detail in front of us – while Ukrainians continue to fight and die for a country that is rightfully theirs, the Republican Party has promised to withdraw all support in the name of their own country. If they had said that in March, they would have been ridiculed. Shamed. Now, though, it’s hardly an afterthought. Gone are the days when the Western public rallied for years against a common adversary.

Why?

Because continued support doesn’t make money. Outrage makes money, but outrage doesn’t last. Totalitarian governments exploit this to the extreme – they know that there is a general distaste towards them from the international community, but it rarely flares into outrage. Once in a blue moon, a trend will go around, and they’ll be on the chopping block, but it will pass. The Iranian government is still carelessly murdering its own citizens, and the hard truth is that, as a whole, the Western world no longer cares. It’s no longer cool to post about Iran, not when it’s more than just a performative costume people can wear to pretend they care.

Because, in essence, that’s what these trends are. They’re performative. They’re driven by a community of people who genuinely care, who truly are willing to fight and donate to make a difference, and amplified by a world of people who read the first sentence of a post, share it and forget about it.

So, I implore you this: don’t stop posting just because it’s not cool. Don’t stop caring because your friends did, or your family did, or your government did. Iran will continue to persecute its citizens until a movement with truly nothing to gain takes over the international community.

Ukraine will fall, as will our Indigenous people, as will the world’s climate, unless we are brave enough to put our feet down.

Capitalism will not put its feet down. Neither will our leaders or corporations, who depend on capitalism to maintain power.

It’s up to us. Say her name.

NOT SO PICTURE PERFECT

Gabrielle Rossignol (she/her) - Writter

Talia Rouck - Illustrator

As we try to escape the winter blues, and avoid the onset of midterms, exams and final papers, many of us will find ourselves curled up on the couch looking to indulge in some true crime stories – whether it be in the form of a TV series, documentary, or podcast. It’s perfectly natural for humans to be curious about crime and what drives criminals to act the way they do.

Things become problematic when this curiosity transforms into obsession and glorification. It’s not okay to idolize serial killers or other criminals because of how fantastically horrific their crimes were, or because of how “hot” they were. A line needs to be drawn when it comes to buying serial killer memorabilia, or dressing like infamous killers for Halloween. This type of engagement with true crime traumatizes everyone involved. It also can hurt the general public by sending a message that these kinds of criminal behavior are not only tolerated, but idolized.

The true crime genre is not new, but it has definitely seen a rise in popularity in recent years. In 2021, true crime made it into Netflix’s top three most popular TV genres – which just goes to show how strong of a hold true crime dramatizations and documentaries have on our fellow binge watchers.

It was announced on November 8, 2022, that Netflix’s Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story has been renewed for another two seasons, where it will focus on other infamous killers as an anthology series. The show broke Netflix records with over 900 million view hours, and is predicted to reach one billion. It has turned out to be one of the most popular english-language shows on the streaming site, but the fact remains that murderers are being commercialized and their stories are being transformed into entertainment for bloodthirsty audiences. Not to mention that, according to several relatives of Dahmer’s victims, Netflix hasn’t donated any money made from the series to the living relatives or survivors, nor did they notify them that the series was being made.

These dramatizations omit many important factual details, use the attractive faces of the hired actors to overshadow how terrible the killers really are, and retraumatize those impacted in real life. It’s hard to get on board with dramatizations of true crime because they are being pumped out by production companies to entertain audiences, and most often do not honour the truth.

Dramatizations give audiences the opportunity to become infatuated with the idea of a serial killer, which is just nauseating. If killers and very real criminals are going to be represented in television or other forms of media, we shouldn’t have the opportunity to “fall in love” with them or what they represent.

Recently, I have forced myself to reassess my interest in true crime. When I caught myself listening to true crime podcasts in the shower, while I ate my breakfast, and before I went to bed, I realized that something was wrong. I became so desensitized to the horrific stories I was listening to, that I wasn’t even hearing

them anymore. I have an interest in criminology and the psychology of criminals, but recently, I haven’t been listening to these podcasts out of curiosity. I stopped doing so because I realized I have inadvertently been disrespecting the real people and stories I have been engaging with. I’m sure there are readers who can relate to this dilemma, and if you can, it’s probably time to change things.

If you find that you, like myself, want to better understand real crimes and the criminals behind them, there are healthier forms of true crime stories to consume. In terms of content, podcasts such as Crime Junkie and Serial are productions made with facts and done in a respectful manner. They don’t glorify or sensationalize the crimes they are reporting.

It’s important to remember why you want to engage with true crime stories. If you simply want to be entertained, it’s probably a good idea to look for fictional crime stories. Or, if you’re curious about real-life crimes and criminals and all the facts, you can hop on the internet and do some research. This way you get unfiltered information that tells the whole story, as long as you are looking at reputable sources.

Everyone should feel free to have curiosity when it comes to true crime, because we can learn why someone commits the crimes they do, the social determinants involved, and the impacts that criminal activity has on society. However, it’s important to remember that the stories we hear are not just stories – they’re based on real people’s lives and pain. We can’t afford to grow compassionless and desensitized to the horrors we consume.

To glorify killers and criminals is to disrespect every person impacted by their harmful actions. So the next time you find yourself binging a crime series based on real-life events because you’re bored, or thinking that the actor portraying a serial killer is “hot”, maybe ask yourself if there’s a better way for you to scratch your true crime itch.

IF THEY WANTED TO, WOULD THEY?

Is the internet offering you sound dating advice?

Jasmine Garcha (she/they) - Writer

Tara Asadi - Illustrator

If you’ve been on the internet lately, you’ve probably heard the phrase, “If they wanted to, they would” in response to a relationship where one party is, at surface level, making a grander romantic effort than the other. People will make posts explaining how their partner is “underperforming” in their eyes, whether it be by not buying them flowers or by not proposing with 5 different rings so that they get to choose which one they like. The comments will tell the poster or other people who may be reading, “Break up with them because if they wanted to, they would.”

If your significant other wanted to make the effort or do things for you, would they simply snap their fingers and do them? Is it reasonable to assume that everyone knows what’s going on in your head and can figure out what you expect from them? I don’t think so.

It’s not fair to hold everyone to that standard. I’m not Akinator; I can’t accurately take a guess at what you expect from me. I’ve never been in a relationship and thought, “maybe I should take complete guesses at everything Maria wants from me and perform insanely grand gestures for her instead of having a mature conversation about what we expect from each other.”

Not everyone has the same relationship experiences. It’d be a gross overstatement to assume that all people are simple creatures who function at the same baseline which you get to set for your partner. Not everyone thinks the same or has had the same experiences, so there can’t be a one-sizefits-all relationship formula. Everyone has heard different things about dating; some people have been told to play hard to get or to save special moments for special occasions. It’s reasonable to expect that you’ll need to have a mature conversation with your partner in order to understand what you both want from each other, rather than expecting people to merely know in simple, “if they wanted to, they would” fashion.

On top of having different experiences, everyone also has a different love language. Your love language presents itself in two forms - how you receive love, and how you show love. The only way to accurately understand what this looks

like for you, your partner, and your relationship is by, you guessed it, having a conversation with your significant other about what you expect from each other.

Your relationship won’t look the same as your friends or the relationships of people you see posting on the internet because everyone functions differently. It’s totally possible that your partner simply expresses love differently than what you’re used to. Or perhaps something is holding them back. Honestly, there have been many things that I’ve wanted to do, but didn’t. Humans are too complex to be boiled down to such a simple phrase. You don’t know what’s going on in your partner’s head; maybe they’re a chronic overthinker and are worried that they’re being too clingy. Maybe they’re trying to respect your space. If you landed on the assumption “they simply do not want to,” then perhaps they landed on an assumption about you, too. Again, it all comes back to having a mature conversation about your expectations.

One thing everyone should remember is that communicating your needs to your partner is not the same thing as playing build-a-boyfriend. Your partner doesn’t come pre-programmed with a manual for how to love you the way you need to be loved.

If you have to chase and beg your partner to pay attention to you, there’s definitely a problem. But if you’re aching at the thought of having to message your partner first, schedule the plans first, or the thought of having to talk to your partner about your expectations for one another… maybe your partner isn’t the problem. Someone has to message first. What if your significant other is holding the same mental attitude about you? It should go both ways. The whole idea of playing mental gymnastics to try and “win” your relationship is petty and unnecessary. When did it become uncool to just talk to each other and try to understand each other?

So, in response to those who say, “If they wanted to, they would,” I’d just like to say – if you wanted to communicate your needs to your partner, would you?

FEATURED ARTIST

Aleksandar Jones @aleksvisuals

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ADVICE FROM THE 12TH FLOOR - NOV

Jayde Atchison // Columnist

When I was twenty-four, I thought I found real love for the first time. While I was writing notes to him with all the reasons why I loved him, he was searching for physical validation from other people in the bars across Vancouver. As the years went by I realized that I was never in love, I was just an actor without a script – lost, but happy to have the role.

Four years after my break-up, after learning how to be happily alone, I wondered if finding a partner was in my future after all. Thirty rolls around and you think your expiration date has come and gone – or at least, that’s what I started to believe. On the day I was ready to retire from my dating career, my neighbour Richard lit his joint and told me about the love he has experienced through his 73 years.

A big love bulldozed into his life when he was thirty. He met John, a dancer, and it was like he met an angel. They had a relationship that lasted ten years – a decade of loving an ethereal man that was going to meet an end too soon. The way Richard showed his love was through biggestures and being unapologetically cheesy. John was several years younger than his counterpart and was still in the cocoon phase of his life. His wings had yet to flutter and Richard saw this. The two men took a brief separation period, one in which Richard’s heart still held a place for his tiny dancer.

Richard saw an advertisement for a performance happening in Toronto, and thought of John. He purchased two tickets and mailed them to his amour. He wasn’t expecting a word back or even an invitation for the other ticket. He sent it to John because he wanted to give him the chance to see something beautiful. This is not what brought them back together, but eventually they reconnected and they both made their way to the West Coast.

Their moves to Vancouver were not filled with bliss, as John was at the beginning of the end of his diagnosis of AIDS. Richard was by his side and cared for him until his final days, and made an offer that brought 12 more years of care. When the practical side of death came up in conversation, John wasn’t sure where his ashes were going. Richard made a promise to honour John and take his ashes around the world. John replied with “I will feel so safe with you”. After he passed away, Richard spent 12 years finding meaningful places to spread John’s ashes. In both their hometowns in Ontario, on a beach with dolphins dancing on the horizon in Hawaii, and Saint Agnes Outside the Walls in Rome.

Richard’s romance did not stop with John, nor were his experiences always so profound and wholesome. When fellow neighbours ask Richard how he met any of the men in his life, he often chuckles and says, “never ask gay men how they met unless you’re ready to hear the answer”. Living through the 70s, up until the early 2000s, gay men didn’t have the ease of Grindr, Tinder or the same circumstances that heterosexual people had. Therefore, gay men usually met in “scandalous” situations. This didn’t stop Richard from finding beautiful moments along the way.

On a layover in New York, he met a man and brought him back to his hotel room. What should have been a brief, intimate interaction turned into discussions that lasted all night. Every time they both tried to say it was time to go, they would end up staying right where they were. When it came time to head back to the airport, they locked eyes as the door closed between them and shivers went down Richard’s spine.

Richard calls this his “little love along the way”. He can’t recall a name, but it’s a connection that he has carried with him for over 30 years. Leading his life with love has given beautiful moments through time – romantically, erotically and platonically. He chooses to love everyone, even when he believes they don’t deserve it. He acts with kindness and believes the miracles in his life are a karmic reward for doing so.

Hearing of the big loves that Richard has been blessed with in his lifetime, especially that they came into his life after the age I am now, gave me hope and inspiration for what’s to come my way. Since meeting my guiding light, I have opened myself up to opportunities and allowed myself to show love every day. I show love to my friends, to the people I see at work each day, and most importantly to myself.

I see how happy Richard is with his own soul and how he has treated the world around him. I see the beauty that is attracted to his own, and it has shifted how I act in my own day-to-day routine. I find ways to be kind, because I will be happier with my own soul when I am 73 and look back on how my life has turned out. I want to look in the mirror and see someone I can be proud of. When people show me hate and ugliness, I will think of Richard and go another route.

ADVICE FROM THE 12TH FLOOR - DEC

Jayde Atchison - Columnist

If there was something that could go wrong in a situation, I would often be the first to voice my concerns and point out the negatives that might ruin the plans. I don’t know if this was pessimism or realism, but it was something I allowed to be a staple in my daily life. I think I liked knowing the worst case scenario because then I wouldn’t be surprised when life inevitably threw me a curveball. However, what I was really doing was setting myself up for disaster at every turn.

I said “no” so many times that it became an instinctual response when offers that scared me came around. Not scared like when walking through a well-done haunted house, scared like when you walk into the unknown and don’t know if you will fly or fall. I have lived a significant part of my three decades remaining safe in spaces where I knew how things would turn out. I stayed in a job that I didn’t love because it paid my way through university, and allowed me to live comfortably in my own apartment downtown for five years.

It took me waiting until I was dreading work every morning before I made a change. I didn’t know there was more waiting for me outside of paying my bills and doing what society said I should. My neighbour Richard came into my life and he saw I was trying to ride the bike of life with a stick deeply embedded in the wheels. He saw me saying no without even trying to find a way to say yes.

Richard admits that he has fallen victim to throwing a stick in his own wheels while making his way through life – but he tries to identify when it’s happening. However, more often than not he will open up his heart and mind to what the universe threw at him. When Richard and his mother Odette planned a trip to Germany, they were heading into an unusually frigid winter where the temperature dipped below zero. Instead of dreading the weather or submitting to what could be an unpleasant trip, they decided it was going to be a fantastic trip and they would do everything they could to make it so.

Shifting my career at 30 to something that paid minimum wage for its entry level job was one of the scariest decisions I have made in my life (cutting my own hair when I was eight was a close second). I was sprinting head first into financial uncertainty, and I was undeniably thrilled about it. I had loved one’s tell me their concerns and confusion why I was making this questionable leap.

I explained the opportunities that would be available to me, and it was all inspired by the jolly man upstairs. He was in this industry for half of his life and it shaped a healthy portion of his adventures, so naturally he knew what possibilities were coming my way. His string of stories primarily stem from his exciting job, and I wanted to make life happen.

In high school, I failed French 8 spectacularly. From that moment, I believed I would never succeed in a second language. I deterred myself from trying to learn French, or any other language because I was sure that I was incapable of more than English. Once I began a stint of Duolingo in the summer before a trip to France, I practised French every day for half an hour. My comprehension and vocabulary expanded and I slowly pulled the stick out from my wheels.

Richard spent months at a time learning German as an adult. He moved to different cities in Germany and would study, explore and absorb the culture. Richard saw me making the attempt to make my life happen and he cheered me on. He saw my drive and he suggested I take a similar life-changing journey like he did when he was younger. Paris, Quebec City, Montreal, Lyon – he opened my eyes to where I could end up studying.

The lessons I have learned from Richard are a commitment to living my life to the fullest. It’s a promise to live with love, to be scandalous when the situation calls for it, to pull the stick out of my wheels and, ultimately, to make my life happen – because no one else will take on the job. Take a chance on life, and it will take a chance on you as well. Take Richard’s words of wisdom and connect with the world around you, say yes, and find the beauty in each day. The advice from the 12th floor has yet to fail me, because as Richard says, “I don’t remember the last time I was wrong”.

CAPU, WHAT ARE YOU WEARING?

Mayumi Izumi - Columnist

Before majoring in communications at Capilano University, I studied fashion design at the International Academy of Design and Technology in Toronto and fashion merchandising at VCC (Vancouver Community College). Fashion was my first love. Now, I am on a mission to find out what the CapU community is wearing, what influences the fashion trends on campus and discover who the people are behind the great OOTDs (outfits of the day).

Niko Williamson is a very energetic second year interdisciplinary major, dedicated CSU (Capilano Students’ Union) Women Students Liaison, and self-professed thrifter. We both attended the September Social Mixer for Mature and Parent Students that I organized with the CSU staff and CapU student volunteers. At the event, she donned a great outfit that was worth asking about.

What first caught my eye was her Ukiyo-e designed shirt – a Japanese art form that originated in the 17th century during the Edo period. She had paired it with faded men’s jeans from Winners, a navy blue CapU sweatshirt tied around her waist and pink Air Force 1 sneakers.

When asked how she would describe her style and if she had any favourite designers or brands, Niko said, “I’m not really sure how I would describe my style. I tend to dress based on my mood and with comfort in mind. I can’t really think of any favourit designers but I love watching videos of people making their own clothes on TikTok. Crochet videos and upcycling videos show up on my FYP [For You Page] all the time.”

Niko’s love for thrifting is undeniable, when asked where she shops the most she burst out, “I love thrifting! I found some of my favourite clothes thrifting. I love one of a kind clothes.” On a particularly lucky thrifting day, Niko found a handmade jacket made from upcycled jeans. Its lack of tag, and uneven stitching makes it unique and has become one of her favourite jackets.

Upcycling became popular in the1990s, but actually started in the1940s when there was a clothing ration during the war and fabric scraps were made into clothing, and old clothing was recycled and repaired. According to Forbes magazine, Gen Z (18 to 25 year-olds) are the leaders of shopping for upcycled products.

Niko graduated from Mountainside Secondary which is an alternative high school in North Vancouver. There, students showed up to classes in pyjamas while others came attired in platform heels and a face full of makeup. The CSU student leader said, “I had my fair share of both. My high school was generally very accepting of alternative styles and people were comfortable to express themselves through style.” Niko and her friends could be found around the school campus, faces covered in glitter. She eventually became known around school for her long blue-purple coat (they called it her wizard cloak) that was worn all through winter – as well as the pink and purple dyed hair that matched.

She began CapU in the Fall of 2021 because she wanted to attend in person classes rather than online for the beginning of her university career, and chose Interdisciplinary Studies as her major so that she could enjoy the freedom of selecting whatever courses interested her.

“I started as the Women Students Liaison in May 2022 and it has been amazing.” Niko explained when asked what her experience has been during her time as a student leader.“I recently went to Victoria with the CSU and the Alliance of BC Students to lobby the provincial government on how they can support post secondary education.” Prior to her role, she felt like her voice didn’t matter and it felt impossible to fix the problems she saw in the world. Niko feels like she is making a difference now and is excited to see where her role will take her.

Her term as one of the CSU board of directors has been so pivotal, that she has aspirations to run for an executive position in the next general election. However, Niko is not sure about her future plans and admits, “That’s why I [chose] interdisciplinary studies. When meeting with MLAs in Victoria, one of them said she had a masters in interdisciplinary studies and it was so inspirational. I thought to myself that I could be an MLA too! I’m not too sure what I want to do, but I know I want to advocate for people and make a positive difference.”

If you would like to find out more about Niko, follow her on her Instagram @niko_williamson.

CAPU, WHAT ARE YOU WEARING?

Mayumi Izumi - Columnist

Before majoring in communications at Capilano University, I studied fashion design at the International Academy of Design and Technology in Toronto and fashion merchandising at VCC (Vancouver Community College). Fashion was my first love. Now, I am on a mission to find out what the CapU community is wearing, what influences the fashion trends on campus and discover who the people are behind the great outfits.

I had the pleasure of meeting Mia Cullivan during English 295–Literary Publishing in October when she and the Capilano Cut team (Jay and Judah) came to film the in-class production of The Liar. They interviewed Sophie Navarro, former Liar editor-in-chief; Ry Forsythe and myself. Mia joined Capilano Cut in her first year at CapU to “meet other people in different programs and to collaborate on projects that would connect different parts of the university to the campus community.”

I admired her style and felt compelled to ask her where she shops. Mia said, “Most of my clothes nowadays are thrifted. I love secondhand clothing because it gives clothes an extended lifespan and it makes me a lot more considerate of what I choose to buy.”

When asked who or what has been her greatest fashion influence, she informed me that she is inspired by the content creators @best.dressed and @gigi.mw whom she follows on Instagram. She admires their unique mix of coquette pearl and lace, and streetwear leather and oversized denim. Mia elaborated, “While I love dainty tops, surfing also influences my style both because of the culture and practicality.”

We are living in a time when regular people on social media platforms, not celebrities, are setting fashion trends and influencing their audience to buy certain brands or garments by offering their discount code in their profiles. Home of Hershel, Vessi, Lululemon, Aritzia and Arc’teryx, Vancouver has several local fashion influencers with thousands of followers – @ chloeyvr, @vancouverprgirl, @ohh.miaa and @haleyvillnea.

Mia is not only a member of Capilano Cut, but is also the CSU Surf Club President. She is originally from the United States and learned to surf while she was still at Jesuit High School in Portland, Oregon. She took over the CSU club after the previous president became involved with the CSU Ski Club, but admits that she didn’t become good at surfing until last summer when she worked at a surf shop and started practising regularly with her coworkers. She is grateful that she learned so much from them.

I asked Mia what her favourite outfit is and she told me that it’s one that is almost entirely thrifted. She loves pairing her black Gap leather jacket and white Brandy Melville top with Briggs New York pants and white Vans. The only part of her outfit that is not thrifted is her footwear.

Mia admitted that her interest in fashion did not start until she became a university student, which aligned with her starting to shop at thrift stores. During her secondary school years, her clothing choices were based on whether they would keep her warm or cool, depending on the season.

She credits thrifting as having influenced her wardrobe. “I’d say my personal style is definitely still evolving but I feel the most like myself when I’m wearing an outfit that has a blend of softer accents with darker, more vintage pieces.”

The CSU Surf Club President came to CapU straight out of high school and into the MOPA (Motion Picture Arts) program in August 2021. She remarked that she feels fortunate to be studying a true passion of hers – one that stemmed from childhood. “It’s such an amazing experience to be constantly surrounded by people interested in film as much as you are because I never had that experience back home. I often made films entirely on my own, so I love being able to make films with others to see how much richer a visual story is with collaboration.”

Mia enjoys the university but suggested students would benefit from more activities and clubs in the campus community. Her overall experience has been a positive one, because she actively tries to involve herself in the clubs and events that are offered. She believes doing this allows her to make the most of her experience at CapU.

After graduating, Mia plans to work in the Vancouver film industry and in five years, she would like to direct short films and have her own independent production company. She added, “I’m still not exactly sure what I’d like to do as I have so many interests, but I do know that I want to tell stories that make a difference.”

If you would like to find out more about this talented and multi-faceted CapU student, you can follow her on her Instagram @mia.cullivan..

Photo credit: Mia Cullivan

THE MAGICAN (REVERSED)

Has someone been dimming your shine? Or perhaps been draining you of your passion and power? Although things may seem tougher than you imagined, know that the power to the outcome of this situation is in your hands. People are not as they appear, and that includes you! Power may be a big theme for you right now, who has it, who wields it, who deserves it, how one keeps it. But most importantly what one does with it. There may be a wake-up call on your horizon or a moment you experience amidst your shaky situation that opens you up to the falling puzzle pieces of what you need to do to succeed. Trust that you have the wisdom and the just moral compass to do what is necessary without sacrificing yourself or your values. Remember that self-betrayal is the ultimate form of giving your power away. Don’t let it be taken by fear or insecurity.

For others, The Magician reversed may be an indication that a spiritual calling is being ignored. You may have recently had a passed over loved one communicate to you somehow, or even predicted some event in your day, that although mundane in occurrence, genuinely shook you because of your accuracy. Denial of spirit or at the very least, forces beyond our understanding, is useless once you’ve been faced with it. Further denial only makes the calling louder. There is no need to be afraid, you are simply being asked to pay attention to what direction you are growing and how. The why will be revealed soon enough. But know that the answers are rarely ever straight-forward. You have or will have all the tools needed to understand though.

Carrying Black Obsidian might be useful at this time, especially if you are struggling with seeing truth, staying grounded, or needing clarity amongst illusion and delusion.

Emma Mendez (she/they) // Tarot Reader Kelsea Vance // Illustrator

KING OF PENTACLES (REVERSED)

The King of Pentacles reversed usually makes for a frustrating reading. But what is coming through is more about understanding where you are now, rather than beating yourself up for it. Some of you may have some struggles or stagnation in a relationship (of any sort does not have to be romantic) with a Taurus or someone with strong Taurus placements in their birth chart. What may have seemed promising before now seems like a dead end or as if it’s souring quite quickly. Although things may seem dead or stuck it’s important to remember that building something with someone takes time and has its difficult periods. We are human after all, and the King of Pentacles reminds us of that. While the King may be grounded and surrounded by plenty, sometimes they find it hard to appreciate all they have within themselves and outside of. Be mindful of hanging onto a goal or pedestal that is unrealistic for the both of you. Taurus, the astrological ruler of this card, is about comfort, loyalty, stability, and connection. Don’t lose sight of that in your own life and with others.

Pay attention to the signs and synchronicities that you experience this month, they may be guiding you towards a more compassionate path. Particularly to repeated and or divinely timed sightings of owls, blue roses, lady bugs, and vultures.

Emma Mendez (she/they) - Tarot Reader Kelsea Vance - Illustrator

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