January 2020 | Urbanicity Hamilton

Chain mail of the mind Germaphobia, excessive tidiness, and perfectionism — are these the traits you think of when you hear the acronym “OCD”?

For many who are unfamiliar with the realities of obsessive compulsive disorder, they likely make up the totality of it. Maybe you’ve found yourself saying, “that makes my OCD go crazy” when you find it irritating that a picture is crooked as it hangs on the wall, despite not having suffered from OCD at all. I can’t completely fault the general public for misunderstanding OCD or misusing the disorder’s name — after all, how is one supposed to take the illness seriously when mass retailers like Target and TK Maxx are among those who have been feeding us holiday-themed pillows and sweaters reading “OCD: Obsessive Christmas Disorder” for years?

For some sufferers of OCD, the characteristics I mentioned above are the reality of their experience with the mental illness, but not the entire picture. One of my favourite onscreen portrayals of OCD is a simple 5 second clip from a 1998 Friends episode where Ross’s coworkers are confessing secrets in the lunchroom and one man announces, “I have to turn a light switch on and off 17 times before I leave the room or else my family will die”. I had never heard one sentence encapsulate OCD so well, all while being comical.

In OCD terminology, this character engages in the compulsion (or ritual) of flicking the light switch to calm the obsession (stemming from continues on page 11

FIVE NEW BUSINESSES WE'RE EXCITED TO SEE OPEN IN HAMILTON THIS YEAR

WHY THE WAY YOU SPEAK TO YOURSELF MATTERS

THESE WILL BE INSTANT FAVOURITES

A DISCUSSION ON SELF-DEPRECATING HUMOUR

HOW RUNNING CAN IMPACT YOUR MENTAL HEALTH FOR THE BETTER

THE 10 BEST RESTAURANTS THAT OPENED IN 2019

THE EFFECTS ON THE MIND ARE JUST AS POWERFUL AS THE BODY

TOP LIVE PERFORMANCES TO SEE IN HAMILTON THIS MONTH PLENTY OF MUSIC AND THEATRE HAPPENING THIS MONTH

DON'T HESITATE MAKING YOUR RESERVATIONS!

8 ONTARIO LAWS THAT TAKE EFFECT NOW THAT IT’S 2020 IMPORTANT CHANGES ARE CURRENTLY UNDERWAY

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P U B L I S H E R + E D I TO R Robert Cekan robert@urbanicity.com

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HAMILTON TRIVIA 1. What famous candy was produced by the BeechNut Company of Hamilton in 1933?

2. William McMaster, who founded McMaster University in 1887, was the first president of what company? Stelco, Hudson’s Bay, or Canadian Bank of Commerce?

3. The former James Street Baptist Church is being converted to a condominium project where the church facade will be integrated into the front entrance. What is the name of this proposed project?

4. The first railway built through Hamilton had the initials GWR — what did this stand for? Grand Way Rail, Great Western Railway, or Global Works Railway?

Answers on page 15

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JANUARY 2020 | THE MENTAL HEALTH ISSUE

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Why the way you speak to yourself matters

negatively about yourself or your life, even as a joke. Your spirit doesn’t know the difference’. Paraphrased Twitter philosophy aside, this got me thinking about positive self-talk and some of the exchanges I have with myself throughout the day.

MICHAEL ADEBO

Jack-of-all-trades, master of none. When I’m not writing, you can find me taking photos, listening to music with my dog Tux, or getting too heavily invested in a Raptors game.

You’re not sure when it started, but now it’s almost like a reflex. Maybe you’re in a semi-uncomfortable situation with people you don’t know. There are no obvious exit routes and to leave the conversation would be more awkward than staying. So, without fail, you contribute the only way you know how — by making a self-deprecating joke. It goes over well, you get the laughs, and you’re a little more at ease. But it came at a price: you had to put yourself down a bit, and like they say — there’s a little bit of truth to every ‘just kidding’.

It wasn’t unusual for me to beat myself up over the way I’d said “hello” to someone that morning, how I could have done or said the right thing at a specific moment, and other situations that had me saying to myself — “why are you like this?”. That same self-talk bleeds into our everyday conversations as well. My friends and I exchange selfdeprecating jokes all the time and we’re constantly bombarded with memes making light of depression and anxiety.

Once I took a step back, it was hard not to see a bit of an echo chamber.

I’m not saying that self-deprecating humour is bad. But it relates to a piece of mental health that I think gets overlooked in the self-care portion of the conversation.

I’m not a doctor. Any advice I’m about to give is what I’ve found works for me.

That being said, I encourage everyone to practice mindfulness and examine the words that they use and the way that they speak to themselves. My first foray into positive self-talk started with identifying negative thought patterns and phrases — check. Next was reframing those thoughts and phrases. This proved a little more difficult.

More specifically, I want to focus on self-talk, positive self-talk that is. This is highly anecdotal, but I once saw a tweet that said — ‘Stop speaking

Take a common self-deprecating thought starting with “I am…” and fill in the blank. It's so easy to gravitate to ‘dumb’, ‘worthless’, ‘a mess’, ‘a failure’,

‘probably going to screw this up in ways I didn’t know possible’. Even jokingly these thoughts can be damaging to our mental health and self-esteem.

But we can reframe these negative thoughts and feelings by changing our perspective on the circumstances that cause them.

or a spoken conversation, either with yourself or a person you’re comfortable with. By processing your self-talk, you have an opportunity to make connections between your thoughts. Surprisingly, you may even find that not everything that we think about internally is logical.

For starters, we can remind ourselves that we are capable of many things, including the matters that cause our anxiety. If you find that a new task or situation is causing you to doubt yourself, it’s important to keep in mind that at some point every experience was new to us. New and daunting experiences will come and go. You can and will handle them, some will be mastered, and others won’t. This brings me to my next helpful tip for reframing — allowing yourself to make mistakes.

Again, in my own experience, I’ve found that a negative thought I’ve had about myself doesn’t hold the same weight when I’ve written it down or expressed it to another person. Our perception is not always reality, and it’s critical to remember that when developing our self-talk.

Mistakes, like new experiences, are a part of life, and an integral part of our learning. In my experience, the most important lessons I’ve learned and the qualities I’ve built were through mistakes. Embrace mistakes and realize that they’re a part of the process. Identify what works and what doesn’t and use it to make improvements. By doing this, you’re using failure to your advantage and spending less time dwelling on it and more time living in the present.

The final point I want to make about reframing is expressing your thoughts.

Translate your self-talk into writing

There you have it, a crash-course in positive self-talk. These are just the methods I’ve found that work for me, and you might find your own way of identifying and reframing self-talk.

I think that no matter what strategy you choose, remember that you are a deserving, valuable person.

I strongly believe that when we develop positive relationships with ourselves, we can do the same with others in our community and the outside world. So, give yourself a break and get to know yourself. You can’t expect everyone else to cheer for you if you won’t cheer for yourself first.

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Five new businesses we're excited to see open in Hamilton this year

MICHAEL KRAS

Michael is an award-winning writer, theatre artist, actor, producer, and craft beer lover addicted to all things Hamilton.

Most recently, his acclaimed Voaden Prizewinning play The Team premiered to sold-out houses with Essential Collective Theatre and Theatre Aquarius.

THE G L AS S JA R R E F I L L ERY Vegans and lovers of sustainable living are going to be thrilled: a new shop that sells exclusively zero-waste products is opening very soon in Hamilton.

The Glass Jar Refillery is set to become the city’s one-stop shop for sustainable gifts and products, as well as a spot where you can fill up your own reusable containers with a wide variety of curated personal care and household products that are as earth-friendly as the containers housing them.

The shop, opening in Barton Village in the new year, will also have reusable containers available for purchase, that you can bring back again and again to get refills on your favourite products without a single scrap of single-use waste.

The Glass Jar is set to carry ethical, sustainable, plant-based products from a wide range of providers including Lunah Life, Birch Babe Naturals, Green and Frugal, Two Acre Farm, Earthology Food Wraps, Wild Craft, Niu Body, Two Sisters Naturals, and more.

Sustainable practices are on the rise, with increasing awareness of vegan eating and eco-friendly living becoming major driving forces in our culture. Local spots like The Glass Jar Refillery are responses to that cultural shift in ways that will be welcomed in Hamilton with open arms!

The Glass Jar Refillery is set to open this January at 335 Barton St. E, inside of Suru Studio. Check out their Instagram @theglassjar.refillery for updates.

pork, smoked brisket, fried chicken, and much more.

and get your first glimpse of one of Hamilton’s most exciting new restaurants!

To more closely tie the Toronto establishment to its forthcoming Hamilton location, the King William restaurant will be dubbed Steeltown Smoke and add itself to a Hammer-based BBQ scene that already includes Saltlick Smokehouse and the newly-opened Uncle Ray’s Food & Liquor just down the block.

Reserve your table at MaiPai Tiki Bar by emailing salar@maipai.ca.

Check MaiPai out on Instagram @maipaitiki for more details.

The nitty-gritty details of Steeltown Smoke’s opening are yet to be unveiled, but Hogtown Smoke’s operating partner Glen Tymchuk expresses hopes that the restaurant will open in Hamilton around March 1st, 2020; or even earlier, if all goes smoothly.

While some locals may lament the loss of Wendel Clark’s, ward councillor Jason Farr believes the closure is a sign of changing times for King William’s burgeoning Restaurant Row. “It was the odd one out. There are obvious themes happening on King William, and a sports bar isn’t necessarily meeting that theme,” Farr explains.

If you’ve been walking along King Street East recently, you may have noticed a brand new, chic-yet-unassuming presence about to open up shop in the International Village.

That would be Brothers Grimm Bistro, a new high-end, Euro-style eatery and bar taking up residence in the former Sandbar Tavern space. Located at 193 King Street East, Brothers Grimm is set to be the cozy new neighbour of popular lunch spot 193 Bench Kitchen.

While many of the details of the new bistro remain an enticing mystery, Brothers Grimm is promising a “Belgian-style cellar bistro, serving Eurofusion designed to complement our barrel-aged beers and VQA wines.”

R A PSCA L L I ON & CO. Rapscallion, a spot which put emphasis on a playful nose-to-tail dining experience, and Two Black Sheep, an approachable hang-out for late-night charcuterie and cocktails by candlelight, each said goodbye to John Street South last year, setting their sights on something more sizeable.

They will be combining elements of both former restaurants in a new James North location as Rapscallion & Co. Matt Kershaw will be the chef there, so the food will be very ‘Rapscalliony’, but is adding some classic favourites like steaks, seafood towers, and other fun things. The bar will also have classic cocktails and oysters, channelling the spirit from Two Black Sheep.

With this big and sudden change happening to that Lister Block restaurant space, here’s hoping Steeltown Smoke is the ideal fit for Restaurant Row and for Hamilton’s food scene as a whole.

M AIPAI TIKI BAR Offering hungry Hamiltonians yearround summery vibes with a unique, Hawaiian tiki aesthetic accompanied by a rum-stocked bar and pizza-stacked menu, MaiPai is promising a singular food & drink experience through their digs at 631 Barton Street East in the burgeoning east end of Hamilton.

Through the next few weeks of January, MaiPai will be running a $35 or $55 fixed price menu and offering seating by reservation only, so eager Hamilton foodies can get their first taste of the tiki bar’s forthcoming offerings in advance of an official grand opening.

While longstanding sports bar Wendel Clark’s has closed the doors of its Lister Block location on King William Street, a new restaurant is already preparing to take their place and set the local food scene ablaze.

While Hamilton has no shortage of particularly prime pizza options, MaiPai Tiki Bar will be doing something a little different with their menu by crafting Detroit-style pies: rectangular, thick ‘n delicious slabs of cheesy, greasy goodness. If noshing on some ‘za and sipping on some rum while surrounded by tiki-themed awesomeness doesn’t sound appealing to you, I guess that means we can’t be friends.

That would be Hogtown Smoke, a popular Toronto fixture serving up Southern style barbeque dishes like pulled

Many dates for the soft-opening seatings of MaiPai Tiki Bar are already filling up, so grab your reservations now

S TE E LTOW N S M O K E

B ROTH E RS GR I MM BISTRO

By the sounds of it, this attractive new nightlife spot is aiming to blend old and new-world food and drink styles in its cozy King East quarters, in ways unlike anything Hamilton has seen before. A hard opening date has yet to be set, but the wait shouldn’t be long; Brothers Grimm’s social media indicates service beginning early 2020!

SEE WHAT’S HATCHING AT NEST! Unique Canadian handmade gifts and home decor items for animal lovers.

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JANUARY 2020 | THE MENTAL HEALTH ISSUE

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How running can impact your mental health for the better

had ever been before in my life. Naps became a regular part of my routine, less so because I was tired and more so because it was an escape from the feeling of doom that too often circulated through my brain.

SHAWN SMITH

Shawn is a writer from Hamilton. He enjoys sports, music, and reading. His work has appeared in The Globe and Mail and on Bleacher Report, Vice Sports, and Sportsnet.ca.

When Urbanicity said that they have an annual edition on mental health, I was instantly excited. Being someone who has used exercise as a coping mechanism for anxiety, it felt like the perfect opportunity to explore the topic further.

In February of 2019, I found running. That sounds like a weird thing to say; obviously I was aware of running before this and had heard of the drastic benefits it could have on someone’s physical and mental health.

What I mean is, I found running’s purpose in my life and how it could help to shape me as a person.

At the time, I was drastically overweight. The scale touched nearly 300 lbs and I was more anxious than I

supported me and helped me grow both as a runner and a person. I joined both Air Up There Run Crew and the Sketchy Run Club, two of the prominent run groups that frequent downtown. I’ve also become friends with members of the Lower City Runners, another group that has helped promote activity through running in Hamilton.

And so, I found a treadmill at the local gym and started jogging. Slow at first, nothing crazy. I would do two or three minutes at a time, as much as my body In November, I did something I thought could handle. Three minutes became I would never be able to do; I ran a halfmarathon. In early five minutes and September after runfive minutes THE FEELING OF ning my first 10-kilobecame 10. Before JUBILATION IN metre race, encourI knew it, I was CROSSING THAT aged by the running doing 20 minutes community I did without stopping.

LINE IS IMPOSSIBLE something crazy and TO DESCRIBE. IT’S signed up for HamilIn May I ran my THE CULMINATION ton Marathon weekfirst 5-kilometre OF HARD WORK end’s half-marathon. race since a failed UNLIKE ANYTHING attempt to fall in I HAD EVER DONE It didn’t feel like love with running BEFORE IN MY LIFE. something I was a few years before. capable of but leanCrossing that fining on the experiish line, even for a ence of the runners around me, I put 5-kilometre race, felt incredible. together a running plan that worked Since February, I’ve lost 70 lbs thanks for me and did what just months before to running. But more importantly, felt impossible by running the 21.1-kiloI’ve found a clarity in my life that metre distance for my hometown race. wasn’t there before. I’ve found a purpose and become more driven than The feeling of jubilation in crossing I had been at any time previously. that line is impossible to describe. It’s I found a running scene that has the culmination of hard work unlike

anything I had ever done before in my life. To set a goal and work every day towards that goal for more than two months is something we don’t get many opportunities to do.

Running has become my meditation on the move. It’s an escape from the stress of school, work, and life. For an hour or two, I can forget about that overdue bill or assignment that needs to be in tomorrow. It is an intense act of selfcare that forces us to slow our brains down and focus on taking the next step.

Thankfully, we live in one of the most beautiful running cities in Canada. If you’re a trail runner, there are plenty of those around. If you prefer the streets, there’s lots to see as you run across the city.

My favourite spot is Bayfront Park. The flat, paved walkways are perfect for the mindless running that I’m often aiming for. Over the next few months you’ll see a lot of me down there, escaping the world for a few hours at a time as I prepare for the famous Around The Bay road race.

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JANUARY 2020 | THE MENTAL HEALTH ISSUE

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The

Best

restaurants that opened in 2019 O S T EN B EERH A L L 1103 Cannon St E, Hamilton (905) 312-4510

The new next-door neighbour of Shorty’s Pizza, Osten Beerhall features an open kitchen that cooks up elevated Euro-style fare for lunch, brunch, and dinner, from smoked fish plates to pierogies to burgers to brisket.

But of course, the main draw here is the beer list, and Osten has a stacked one. On top of a heavyweight line of Ontario craft beer options, Osten has also got a sturdy selection of European imports on draught for that extra touch of authenticity.

I ND U S T RIA P IZ Z ERIA + BAR 69 John St S, Hamilton (289) 389-4847

Playful pizzas and other Italian indulgences await at this multi-location Quebec staple and recent Hamilton import.

Recently taking over the massive space previously occupied for years by Tailgate Charlie’s on John Street South, Industria has forcefully added itself to Hamilton’s already-thriving Italian food scene.

Shareable pizza pies and plates fill a large menu, with inventive takes on classic Italian dishes like gnocchi poutine, Bic Mac-style pizzas, spinach & goat cheese arancini, and a dizzying array of hearty pasta dishes.

1 1 01 CAFE B AR

1101 Cannon St E, Hamilton (905) 312-4510

A decidedly different feel from Osten, 1101 Cafebar is an aptly-named cafe by day and cocktail bar by night.

A modern & minimalist, sleek Scandinavian aesthetic plays host to freshly brewed espresso and coffee selections complementing cafe-style lunch bites like sandwiches, soups and salads. Then, at night, HiFi music fills your ears as hand-crafted cocktails fill your mouth and happiness fills your heart. Dreamy, right?

B RE W E RS BL AC KB IRD 375 Wilson St E, Ancaster (905) 648-8863

U N CL E R AY’S F OOD & L I QU OR 10 James St N, Hamilton (905) 546-9999

With a sizeable space near the prime corner of King and James, Uncle Ray’s is offering elevated takes on fried chicken, shrimp & grits, collard greens, and succotash to bring Hamiltonians a massive menu of sophisticated Southern comforts. Pair those delicious delights with some inventively twisty cocktails and nostalgic beer options, and Uncle Ray’s is already a heavy hitter for your local soul food fix.

EAR TH TO TABL E: BR EA D BAR JA MES 14 James St N, Hamilton (905) 522-2999

A complete reinvention of classic fine dining staple Rousseau House, Brewers Blackbird has taken a decidedly more modern approach to its inviting and laidback restaurant space. The brewpub serves up a menu featuring sandwiches, salad bowls, and share plates, with something for everyone in your group from vegan to carnivore.

Okay, okay: some of you reading this entry might consider it a cheat. After all, Earth to Table: Bread Bar has long established itself as a Hamilton mainstay, specializing in fresh farm-to-table cuisine on Locke Street for a number of delicious years, and the new James Street North location has many of the same dishes on their menu.

But the real star of the show here are the made-toorder, wood-fired pizzas that are perfect complements for Brewers Blackbird’s starting line-up of house craft beers, which include an easygoing pale ale and lager.

But when a restaurant is this good, who cares? Bread Bar’s newest location near King and James is a classy stunner, serving familiar local favourites ranging from salads to sandwiches and, of course, their famous stone baked pizzas.

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With a dense onslaught of newly-opened food spots in 2019, here’s our list of the top 10 restaurants that opened in Hamilton this past year.

B ON T EM P S

61 Young St, Hamilton (905) 523-7177

Bon Temps is a decidedly more modern offering that puts emphasis on French cuisine in its rotating menu, which includes decadent family-style shareable offerings like charcuterie, oysters, seafood, and premium cuts of meat prepared with seasonal accompaniments.

Combine these dishes with a handcrafted cocktail or expertly-curated wine selection, and diners can expect the very definition of ‘good times’ at Bon Temps. This is a great spot to bring someone special if you're looking to wow them.

CASTE LLI C UC INA

EL ECTR I C DI N ER

337 James St N, Hamilton (289) 389-3065

96 George St, Hamilton (905) 526-9512

Taking up tasty residence in the dearly-missed WORK Restaurant, Castelli’s homey vibes are matched by a menu of Italian fare inspired by deep family tradition; dinner options that thrive on simplicity with zero sacrifice on flavour or quality.

Pizzas, pasta dishes, antipasti, salads, and charcuterie boards await to be shared with your favourite friends and family.

Electric Diner has 80s nostalgia and elevated diner dishes on its mind. In a space adorned with a vintage aesthetic of bright pastel pinks and neon, Electric Diner looks and feels like the cast of Miami Vice decided to open a restaurant in Hamilton’s Hess Village. The menu options, from all-day breakfast to lunch to dinner, pay homage to traditional diner favourites while also offering contemporary twists.

R I S E A B OV E P IZ Z ERIA 274 James St N, Hamilton (289) 389-2642

ranked in the

D L r o W — according to

Rise Above Pizzeria, an offshoot of a restaurant and cafe in St. Catharines, is pure pizza and wings heaven. The intensely flavourful food options are unfailingly filling, the portions are huge, and the ingredients and toppings are fresh as can be.

Did I mention that the entire menu is also 100% vegan? Don’t let that scare you off, though; Rise Above Pizzeria knows what they’re doing. Their fully plantbased pizza and wings options are as flavourful, hearty, and deeply satisfying as the meat-and-dairy real deal.

If you’ve never had wings made of seitan, a broth-boiled wheat gluten product playing the role of chicken, you’re in for a treat; especially when they’re slathered in Rise Above’s house-made sauces like buffalo, maple garlic, or sriracha lime.

These cruelty-free renditions of your Friday night favourites are so delicious, you won’t miss meat and cheese one bit.

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JANUARY 2020 | THE MENTAL HEALTH ISSUE

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Top live performances to see in Hamilton this month

BEYOND JAMES

Launched in 2019, Beyond James is an independent blog focusing on news and reviews of the Hamilton arts community.

Passionate about the power of the arts and culture to unite communities, Beyond James recognizes that great art isn’t confined to one space or one street in Hamilton: it’s everywhere.

January can be so unpleasant. The presents are open, holiday lights are being taken down, a New Year’s hangover may linger, and it’s still cold outside (with a few more months of darkness to go).

Fortunately, Hamilton artists and organizations have a number of offerings this month that will help you start 2020 off on the right foot. Here are our top picks for January.

H PO COM POSE R FE STIVAL The Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra (HPO) focuses the fifth edition of its composer festival by taking a dive into the work of Tchaikovsky. Known for his ballet music including Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker (which you may have heard over the holidays), the HPO has a variety of events scheduled from January 14-18th for every taste, including a culminating concert composed by Dina Gilbert, one of Canada’s fastest rising conductors and featuring renowned pianist Jon Kimura Parker.

If a full concert isn’t your thing, try the Happy Hour event on January 16th, cohosted by Dundas’ Shawn & Ed Brewing. Featuring specialty brews, an HPO ensemble, and a guide into the music through composer Abigail RichardsonSchulte, this casual event is the perfect sampler.

CAISSIE L EV Y

CI N QU EF OI L

Hamilton-raised Caissie Levy has a Broadway career that most artists can only dream of. From an early start as Maureen Johnson in Rent and Penny Pingleton in Hairspray, she has since played some of Broadway’s most iconic starring roles, including a turn as Elphaba in Wicked, Fantine in the 2014 Broadway revival of Les Misérables and originating the role of Molly Jensen in Ghost the Musical. Currently, she plays Elsa in Frozen on Broadway, a role she originated. She’ll be sharing stories of her career, as well as select songs in the main theatre of the Burlington Performing Arts Centre on January 25th. For emerging artists considering their own professional musical theatre path, this evening promises to be inspiring and entertaining, at a price that is much more affordable than a Broadway ticket.

If your New Year’s resolution involved exploring different types of music, look no further than the Cinquefoil series.

Their concerts are eclectically programmed, with each event curated among a different theme and often by a different individual who gathers five artists to play for roughly ten minutes each. Audience members sit on either side of the stage, surrounding the performers, creating an intimate setting reminiscent of a house party. Assisting the party atmosphere is the extended intermission and after-concert party at the venue, in which artists and audience members mingle while enjoying drinks from Fairweather Brewing Company. Be warned: with approximately sixty tickets available for each concert, expect the January 17th event to sell out quickly. The series is held at Church of St. John the Evangelist at 320 Charlton Ave W, Hamilton.

SW E AT Winner of the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and nominated for the 2017 Tony Award for Best Play, Theatre Aquarius couldn’t have programmed this production at a better time. The plot takes place in the year 2000 in an industrial town in Reading, Pennsylvania, as the town’s main factory prepares to move operations to Mexico. Identity, race, and economic factors are all highlighted during the production, which inadvertently explores a demographic

that was significant to Donald Trump's 2016 presidential win. Considering the recent public closure or decline of several industries (closing presses of the Hamilton Spectator, the shutting down of the GM Plant in Oshawa and Magna closures, to name a few), it’s likely that this play will hit close to home and find relevancy among local audiences.

Overall, this should be an artisticallyrewarding choice when it starts playing January 29th at Theatre Aquarius.

FROST BITE S F ESTI VA L Hamilton’s site-specific theatre festival enters its fifth year with the 2020 edition, which will be held at the Hamilton Waterfront Trust (47 Discovery Dr, Hamilton) beginning on January 30th.

Featuring seven local artists who will create and produce “bite-sized” performances, Frost Bites provides both audiences and artists with the opportunity to experiment with concepts, ideas, and scripts. The result is an exciting energy where some shows may be further developed, while others will stand

alone or may never see the light of day again. For these up-and-coming artists as well as audience members, there is also an element of endurance. With no single performance being longer than twenty minutes each, every performance is repeated multiple times each evening, making it possible for audience members to attend as many performances as they can into a single night.

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CONTI NU E D F RO M FRO N T PAG E an intrusive thought) that his family will die if he doesn’t. I imagine that for most fans of the show, Friends’ connection to OCD would be through Monica and her excessive tidiness, though I never really viewed her as having OCD at all.

For years, I tried to find a simple way to describe OCD to friends that would easily break through the misconceptions.

Then I realized it’s just like one annoyance we’ve all experienced — chain mail. No, not medieval armour. Rather, those terrifying e-mails that haunted any internet-savvy tween’s inbox during the early 2000s. These often contained bogus threats like the summoning of some kind of demon that would suck the life out of you while you slept if you didn’t forward the note to 10 of your friends. Most of us had the common sense to know these threats were empty. How on earth would forwarding an email to 10 people save you from doom? Despite this, we forwarded them just in case. Taking a minute to forward an email seemed like a small price to pay to avoid a lifetime of bad luck, a parent dying, or whatever the threat happened to be.

OCD turns you into the inbox and sends you a never-ending flow of terrifying threats that demand small tasks be done in exchange for them to not come true. For the majority of OCD sufferers, the physical compulsions are tied to an obsession (a.k.a. an intrusive thought that holds some kind of weight to the sufferer). For example, OCD sufferers don’t usually organize excessively out of a simple desire to be tidy — there is almost always an ‘or’. I have to keep my notebooks in this particular order, or I’ll fail this class. I have to read every licence plate I see, or my house will be broken into. I have to rewrite this sentence until the letters look perfect, or my mother will develop cancer. Those are a tiny selection of the thoughts OCD plagued me with during my tween and teenage years.

If you’re thinking to yourself, “I’ve had thoughts like that before”, it’s because you probably have. In fact, my last therapist told me that 90% of people have intrusive thoughts. The difference with someone who suffers from OCD is they can’t move past these thoughts like your average person. Someone without OCD

can say, “that was a weird thought” and go on with their day. OCD sufferers toil with and punish themselves for the same thoughts, fixating on them and giving them power — a constant “what if” that they can’t let go of.

In my experience, these intrusive thoughts asked seemingly small rituals be completed to make them go away.

Rewrite a word, flick the light switch on and off, or express the thoughts to someone and have them tell you everything is okay. Just like chain emails, none of it realistically makes sense or is connected. OCD sufferers know it doesn’t make sense. That’s part of what makes the illness so fascinating.

Despite knowing better, the obsessions and compulsions still hold power over us.

crack and bleed. These compulsions were what I consider to be more “related” to the obsessions, as they were fears of illness and disease. But compulsions don’t always make sense in relation to an obsession, as I mentioned earlier. Often, the fear is seemingly completely disconnected from the compulsion. Yes, I would wash my hands because I was afraid of contamination, but I would also wash my hands if I saw something frightening on the Internet.

When I think back to how I overcame my most difficult years with OCD, I don’t have a simple answer. It was the combination of a few things. Hitting rock bottom helped, surprisingly. At my worst, I was unable to do anything but lay in bed and cry, my mind seemingly purposely coming up with as many horIf I happened to think about a classmate rific threats and scenarios as possible, whose father recently passed away as each worse than the last, challenging I walked through a doorway, my OCD me to reach new levels of self-loathing would fill me with and doubt. When I the need to go back tried to stop them, OCD TURNS YOU and walk through it more would come. again to somehow One of my first INTO THE INBOX “undo” the thought therapists told me, AND SENDS and ensure my “if I tell you not to YOU A NEVERfather wouldn’t also think about a pink ENDING FLOW pass away suddenly. elephant, you’re OF TERRIFYING It seemed harmless going to think about and a small price a pink elephant”. I THREATS THAT to pay to keep the hated my brain, but DEMAND SMALL things I cared most it was only human.

TASKS BE DONE about safe. But over IN EXCHANGE FOR time, these intruEventually, it wasn’t THEM TO NOT sive thoughts asked humanly possible for more. Sudto carry out all the COME TRUE. denly I was spendcompulsions my ing entire weekOCD asked of me. ends writing a one-page assignment by One of my most common compulsions hand because of my need to erase and was reassurance seeking — my poor rewrite every word at least 3 times. I’d mother would have to hear about all hand my assignments in with holes in my intrusive thoughts and tell me it them regularly. was going to be okay, otherwise they’d come true. I could see the mental toll My life became a living nightmare at it was taking on her, and her being so only 11 years old. I had constant fears overwhelmed pushed me to ease off my that the worst possible thing was going oversharing. When I forced myself to to happen, and it would be my fault lessen this compulsion for the sake of due to not having completed my com- my mother’s sanity, I saw firsthand that pulsions correctly or at all. On the bad things were no more likely to haprare occasion I was unable to com- pen if I didn’t seek reassurance from plete a compulsion, the anxiety became her. crippling.

Cognitive behavioural therapy also I also developed germ and contami- helped significantly. Seeing my wornation-related fears that would cause ries be proven wrong again and again me to wash my hands until they would through exposure therapy helped me

start to break the cycle. It’s exhausting and extremely unsettling to just “not do anything” and ride the wave of anxiety when in distress. OCD is like a temptress in your ear, reminding you that the anxiety would go away so much faster by giving into the compulsions. But when you don’t, you notice the world doesn’t end, and the anxiety eventually passes. The sense of control that comes from that is invigorating.

Though I no longer suffer from “typical” compulsions, I still suffer from some obsessions, or “pure O”. There are not many physical compulsions that can settle my intrusive thoughts, so it becomes a matter of these thoughts swirling around in my head until I somehow come to an internal resolve.

Pure O can be just as bad as typical OCD, clinging onto intrusive thoughts that make you doubt the core essence of yourself. To cope, my therapists and I have worked on helping me accept living with uncertainty, but that’s an article for another time.

I still occasionally get the odd chain email from OCD in my mental inbox.

When packing for a trip, my OCD will often kick in and tell me that my plane will crash if I don’t refold something so that it’s just right. Usually, I’m able to fight the urge to do the seemingly harmless action of refolding just in case. I know that one action could turn into thousands more, so I push myself to refrain, no matter the discomfort.

OCD will be a lifelong journey for me, fighting to be in control of how I let the endless thoughts I have as an individual affect me. I constantly remind myself that I determine the power I give to my thoughts. And I acknowledge that some thoughts require no power whatsoever — they’re just spam, after all.

ADRIANNE CEKAN

Adrianne is a lifelong Hamiltonian and owner of Clementine Club.

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13

Can you ever be “too healthy”?

ANONYMOUS

The author has been a Hamiltonian since 2008. She enjoys traveling, trying new foods, and exploring nature trails.

It all started with Freshman 15. I thought it was a myth, that every freshman would gain 15 pounds in his or her first year of university, but I started gaining weight. I had to do something about it, and when I did, my period stopped coming. I was proud of it.

I was on the all-you-can-eat residence meal plan. Some of you may know the residence as New College near Spadina Avenue. There were so many options to choose from: chicken fried rice, seafood risotto, veal parmigiana, and even waffle stations. How can one resist with so many choices and unlimited access?

I had to try everything, and of course, within the first few weeks, I gained a few pounds. Freshman 15 was real.

Unlike other university students, my program required us to take Physical Education (PE) classes. On days we didn’t have PE classes, I would go to the gym. Gradually, it felt like I wasn’t exercising enough in PE classes, so I would also hit the gym on days I had PE classes. Since group aerobic classes were fun and free, I started going to them with my friends, on top of my gym routine. I felt so accomplished that I was compulsively exercising for at least two hours daily.

Food wasn’t interesting anymore. A weighted stomach disrupted my exercise routine so I ate very minimal.

Around 8:00 am, I would have a boiled egg, ½ cup of oatmeal, half a grape fruit, ¼ cup of milk, three pieces of lettuce, and two slices of beefsteak tomato.

Around 11:30 am and 4:30 pm, I would have some salad and ½ cup of cooked proteins. It was the same food every single day and I didn’t care. If I accidentally ate anything “extra”, I would exercise extra to burn off the calories.

I would eat quickly to avoid the crowd.

I didn’t want to be judged on my food choices, and I wanted to get ready for my evening exercises. My weight started to decrease, and I was even more motivated to exercise and eat less.

Since social events included food and often interfered with my gym routines, I stopped participating. I would go as far as walking my friends to the restaurants, and then bail out last minute.

Each afternoon, I would have to nap from feeling fatigued. My daily routine would be so rigid that anything out of the ordinary would make me anxious and irritable. I didn’t actively spend money — everything I wanted I had on campus.

Within six months, I was already down 25lb, weighing 93lb, and I am only five foot two. I wasn’t sexually active, but my period stopped coming. The skin on my hands started to peel. My dad suspected I had osteoporosis because my wrist was very thin and soft. I didn’t make many friends either. I thought this was all normal because of studying.

When summer came, I moved out of residence and went home. Having my “normal life” back, I realized I had

been sick. Friends and family were concerned for my extreme weight loss. Not only did I not get compliments on how great I looked, I also got scolded for looking like skin and bones. I found out my conditions were called Orthorexia and Compulsive Exercise. They are two types of eating disorders, but not as famous as Anorexia or Bulimia. My attitude and behaviours of excessive healthy eating and exercise were signs that something was wrong. Over six years, my weight fluctuated between 93lb and 135lb because I would binge eat to “get healthy” from eating too healthy.

I still have moments when I don’t feel good enough because I don’t weigh lighter. My weight now fluctuates between 105lb and 112lb but I accept

that. That is the sustainable range I look and feel good in. I recognize that it is okay to put on some weight when it’s the festive season, to fast intermittently because that is the latest fad, and to maintain an appropriate gym routine.

I practice mindful eating. Occasionally I indulge in foods that I actually enjoy, but I don’t eat foods that just taste “okay”. I maintain 15 minutes of highintensity exercise 4-5 days a week, and I also try to brisk walk when I am taking breaks from work.

This lifestyle works for me, and I am happy I have finally found it after 12 years. I hope you have already found yours.

FOOD WASN’T INTERESTING ANYMORE. A WEIGHTED STOMACH DISRUPTED MY EXERCISE ROUTINE SO I ATE VERY MINIMAL.

JANUARY 2020 | THE MENTAL HEALTH ISSUE

14

8 Ontario laws that take effect now that it s 2020 With 2020 in full swing, here’s a breakdown of the largest legal changes taking effect in Ontario now.

E- S COOTE RS ON ROADS Ontario municipalities can now decide whether to allow e-scooters on their roads as part of a five-year pilot project. E-scooter drivers will have to be at least 16 years old and must wear a helmet.

DOG S ON RE STAURANT PATIOS Restaurant and bar owners now have the option to allow dogs on their patios in areas where low-risk foods are served.

FEDE RAL CARBON TAX RE B ATE S The 2020 federal carbon tax rebates, which must be claimed on 2019 income tax returns, are as follows:

$224 for a single adult or first adult in a couple

$112 for a second adult in a couple or first child of a single parent

$56 for each child under 18

$448 as the baseline amount for a family of four

FEDE RAL TAX C H ANG E S The amount most Canadians can earn tax-free has gone up to $13,229. The increase is being phased in over four years until it reaches $15,000 in 2023.

The changes can result in tax savings of up to $140 for Canadians in lower income brackets.

N O MOR E OU T-OF -COU N TRY OHI P COV ER AGE Ontarians who fall ill while travelling are no longer able to claim the $400a-day maximum coverage for inpatient emergency care or the $50-a-day maximum allowed for emergency outpatient services (such as an MRI or a CAT scan). Until now, both of these claims were covered by OHIP.

VAPI N G A DV ER TI SI N G R ESTR I CTI ON S The promotion of vaping products in convenience stores and gas stations has been banned. Specialty stores and cannabis shops, which are only open to those aged 19 and older, will still allow vaping to be promoted.

CHA N GES TO THE DI VOR CE ACT While the majority of the Canada-wide changes to divorce proceedings and family orders through the Divorce Act won’t be in effect until July 1, 2020, it has important ramifications for married couples who are in the process of divorcing.

The passage of Bill C-78 includes updated criteria to determine a child’s best interests in custody cases, as well as measures to address family violence when making parenting arrangements.

The changes will also make the family justice system “more accessible and affordable” for everyone involved.

U PDATI N G THE I N DI GEN OU S CHI L D WEL FAR E SYSTEM Legislation known as the Act Respecting First Nations, Inuit and Métis Children, Youth and Families will be used to update Canada’s Indigenous child welfare system. The Assembly of First Nations says the new rules are consistent with the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

URBANICITY.COM

15

Listen to understand, not to react

NAVKIRAT CHAUHAN

Navkirat is a passionate writer, avid reader, enthusiastic photographer, calligraphy artist, and on the path of learning & exploring more of this beautiful life.

My first encounter with mental health happened when I was 21 years old and had just entered my second year of graduation. My best friend, who was otherwise the most cheerful and bubbly girl of our class, started showing signs of being a mental health sufferer and none of us could make out what went wrong.

She suddenly stopped talking to us, lost interest in daily activities, and stopped studying — the latter of which resulted in her grades falling drastically. We would always find her sitting alone in a corner lost in her own thoughts. All my friends tried hard to help her in whatever way they could think of, but all our efforts were going in vain. It seemed she had vanished somewhere; we could feel her presence physically but mentally she was in some other world which we didn’t know about.

Eventually most of our classmates started ignoring her as they thought that despite their best efforts of cheering her up and trying to talk to her, she was still not going back to her old self.

Whenever they saw her, they tried to avoid her because they all felt negativity, not realizing that those cold behaviours towards her were harming her more, further worsening her already bad condition.

But somehow I felt maybe our approach was wrong and that perhaps we needed to try something else. I promised myself not to give up until I got her back healthy and hearty because, after all, she is my best friend and that’s what true friendship is all about. I then read as much as I could regarding the symptoms she was showing from whatever sources I could find, be it newspaper articles, magazines, or journal papers. I jotted down whatever I thought could

be of help and started applying it practically, not knowing what the outcome could be.

I would talk to her, told her how much I love her, ask her how she felt, what she thought, and tried to have her speak her viewpoints regarding various topics. I attempted to build her trust back in me so that she could pour her heart to me.

I just tried to be a good listener who listens to understand and not to react.

Finally, after continuous efforts over several weeks she slowly started responding — an achievement in of

itself. I used to tell her that no matter what, I believed in her. Slowly she started talking and smiling faintly.

Things started to become better.

Our circle of friends assured her that she is the same old friend to us and whether she is suffering from any mental ailment, that it won’t change her relationship with any of us. We accepted her the way she was and slowly we saw visible changes in her coming back to her own old self.

This personal experience taught me that people suffering from any type of

mental ailment are not much different — they just need to be accepted. Appreciating them for their small efforts towards recovery and allowing them to share what they think and feel goes a long way.

Do your best to not give up on them.

It may take a lot of time to regain their trust or have them open up, but have patience. Love and acceptance of our near and dear ones as they go through their challenging times is one of the most important things we can do for others.

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