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  February 14th may not appear very relevant to single people but in fact the day is really not just about couples any more, it’s about love. Love in all its forms, love for one’s parents, siblings, friends, classmates, pets – you name it – and, of course, love for a romantic partner. It’s also big business with almost everyone trying to cash in. But the key word here is ‘love’.     We bandy this word about with abandon, just as we do its opposite ‘hate’. We love chocolate and hate broccoli (or vice versa, depending on your tastes). I reluctantly admit to having claimed just this morning to love my new vacuum cleaner – how sad is that? Obviously we don’t really feel such deep emotions for food items or household appliances; at best we strongly like/dislike someth ...

But wait, didn’t we just celebrate New Year a month ago? Well, guess what, now we have a second chance. Living in a diverse city such as Vancouver, where we have large Asian and Iranian populations, we actually get to celebrate three New Years: January 1, Lunar New Year (February 8 this year) and Iranian New Year (on the first day of spring). Actually both Lunar and Iranian New Years are, among many other things, spring celebrations, a sensible time – arguably – to celebrate the start of a new year, a time of rebirth.     So, yes, if you made New Year’s resolutions in January and failed to keep them (does anyone actually manage to keep them?), don’t worry, you have a second chance! And with spring just around the corner, it does indeed seem more like ...

Tuesday is Groundhog Day – a somewhat whimsical tradition where predictions about the length of winter are made according to the shadow cast by a cute furry rodent. The fact that this tradition is often celebrated in parts of North America where, at the beginning of February, six more weeks of winter are pretty much a given, makes it even more bizarre. However, I digress! I was thinking more of the 1993 movie Groundhog Day where the unlucky protagonist, played by Bill Murray, is forced to relive the same day over and over and over again – until he finally gets it right. Of course, this is Hollywood but the point is that he does – eventually – get it very right indeed. However, to do so he has to gain insight into his life and make changes. Can’t argue with Ein ...