Tapestrywith Mary Hynes

Shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic began, Dene artist Melaw Nakehk’o packed up her three sons, left their home in Yellowknife, and set up camp with her parents along the Dehcho River. She says physical distancing in town left her feeling disconnected, but isolating on the land gave her family an opportunity to reconnect with their traditional lifestyle and each other. Khristi Lauren Adams is an ordained Baptist minister and youth advocate who has devoted her life to working with young black women and girls. She says they often struggle with the belief they can’t be anything but fierce. She works to help them feel ‘seen’ and cultivate their self-acceptance.

Trying to work, parent, home-school the kids, put three meals on the table every day, keep the house clean AND keep your sanity in check? Ann Douglas is a writer who specializes in parenting issues. She offers moral support and honest advice to parents struggling during COVID-19 isolation.

If this were a normal Ramadan, Imam Sikander Hashmi would be inviting people into his mosque every night for prayers and the communal fast break. Instead he’s been advising people how to make their own home mosques.

Author and parenting expert Ann Douglas offers her signature blend of compassion and practical advice to parents struggling to care for their children during COVID-19 isolation. Sikander Hashmi is an imam and community leader in Kanata, ON. He shares how he is guiding his community through Ramadan celebrations despite physical isolation.

At this time of physical isolation and uncertainty, music can offer a powerful balm. Tapestry is crowdsourcing songs that will lift your spirits and calm your nerves. This week, musical offerings from Dene artist and activist Melaw Nakehk’o.

When COVID-19 struck, Aisha Ahmad recognized very few people around her had lived through a large-scale disaster. Despite being a professor of political science, she found herself acting as an online counsellor, sharing wisdom she earned living in conflict around the world.

Aisha Ahmad is a political science professor and an advisor to governments and international organizations on global security policies. During the pandemic, she has become a sort of online guide, advising her more than 19,000 Twitter followers how to stay centred and positive during the pandemic. Ahmad draws on wisdom she earned while living in conflict zones around the world, including Afghanistan, Somalia, Pakistan, Mali and Lebanon. Professor Ahmad and Tapestry listener Suzanne Picot add music to our Soundtrack for the Soul.

Dr. Alice Chen argues that being sociable and connecting with people is like a kind of muscle. And she warns that while we’re isolating during the COVID-19 pandemic, it may be starting to atrophy.

Dr. Alice Chen warns that isolation and physical distancing, while necessary now, could lead our social muscles to atrophy. She offers simple tips to keep those muscles strong and prevent a social recession. Sophie Châtillon is a pharmacist outside Montreal who’s pregnant with her second child. She shares the two songs that are helping her through this strange time.

We’re all in this together. But it’s important for all of us ━ and especially those on the front lines of the pandemic ━ to look after our own mental and physical health. A senior medical officer at the First Nations Health Authority in Vancouver shares some ways to alleviate stress.

Now that sports have been temporarily suspended due to COVID-19, rugby commentator Nick Heath has begun narrating the everyday events in his neighhourhood. His funny play-by-plays — of everything from pigeons to pedestrians — are offering moments of levity to people around the world.

Rugby commentator Nick Heath does funny play-by-play on everyday life. Psychiatrist Nel Wieman offers practical advice for staying centred during the pandemic. Plus four new additions to Tapestry’s Soundtrack for the Soul.

One introvert tells Tapestry how her journey to live life like an extrovert has been upended by the coronavirus pandemic, just as she had become skilled at the “whole leaving-the-house thing.”

I’m a hard worker. He’s a sloth. I’m an introvert. She’s a social butterfly. It’s easy to label yourself and others. But writer Dan Brooks says typecasting yourself can curtail your life.

Introvert Jessica Pan reflects on her ‘nightmarish’ quest to live like an extrovert for a year. American freelance writer Dan Brooks cautions against typecasting yourself. And, a Moncton couple recommends a song for our Soundtrack for the Soul that made them “laugh out loud.”

Tapestry host Mary Hynes spoke to Joanna Macy in 2006 about the power of collaboration, our deep connection to all life and the universe, and the importance of allowing ourselves to feel whatever emotions arise. Fourteen years later, as we move through this pandemic, her thoughts are more relevant than ever.

Marjorie Harris is one of Canada’s best known garden writers. But for Harris, gardening is more than a job — it’s a spiritual practice and one of her most powerful teachers.

Buddhist scholar Joanna Macy and gardener Marjorie Harris offer guidance on finding the sublime in the smallest of things.

Rabbi Denise Handlarski’s “Secular Synagogue” was ready to spend this Passover miles apart long before physical distancing became a reality. Handlarski created the group after reflecting on the deep bonds she had formed in other online communities, including parenting and fitness groups.

Tapestry launches its Soundtrack for the Soul, a collection of songs to lift your spirits and calm your nerves during the COVID-19 pandemic; and rabbi Denise Handlarski leads SecularSynagogue.com, an online Jewish community.

Journalist Talia Lavin is a supporter of Bernie Sanders for many reasons, including the fact that he reminds her of a zaydie — the Yiddish term for grandfather. Lavin reflects on what it would mean to have a Jewish president and wonders if America is ready.