• On October 5, 2021, I had a heart attack. It happened at lunch time, as I stood up from my desk; I work at home. A sudden tension in my chest, tingling in both arms, and quickened breathing like I never felt before. My back seized up, and I mistakenly thought that was the problem. [...]

  • Movember selfie of Neel

    Shaving. Man, there’s a whole world of options and information out there. For decades, I was a Gillette guy. Easy, does the job, and I don’t have to think about it, like, at all. I learned early on to shave only against the grain, and suffered many years of razor bumps on the left side [...]

  • Rock band Beige Shelter at the Rivoli in Toronto

    As part of the indie rock band Beige Shelter, I collaborated with our lead singer Adi Aman on a song encouraging men to be more open about their feeling and issues. The song was inspired by Movember’s tagline for their 2018 campaign. The movement asked all men to be “A Man of More Words.” Their [...]

  • Movember selfies Days 1-6

    I’m a creative and intellectual guy first and foremost. I’d much rather be writing songs, playing piano, reading, watching great movies, and learning new things than going for a jog or doing a workout. I feel like this is hard wired in me, so I have to hack my way to engaging in physical activity. [...]

  • Movember Days 7-12

    Mental health and taking care of your emotions is so essential to everyone. It’s a great feeling to learn about yourself to the point of knowing the things that work for you and give you joy. I’m still on my journey, and have a long way to go, but here are a few things I’ve learned so [...]

  • Movember Days 19-24

    Sometimes I have an easier time around women than men. I’d rather talk music, philosophy and health than sports, cars, or tools. Of course, these are just stereotypical interests of the genders, based on conventional views of gender identity. I like to think I’m neither stereotypical nor conventional in my thinking. I’ve been told, only [...]

  • Movember days 25 to 30

    I was brought up to believe that any discussion about sex was so taboo, that this belief was never even expressed; it was just strongly implied. So this topic, even to this day, is a tough one for me to talk about. Sometimes the ceilings that are built for us as children are hard to [...]

  • Light Your Way cover art - watercolour painting of tulips

    As part of the indie rock band Beige Shelter, we were approached to write a new song for a youth gang prevention event. Although we declined to perform for the event, we realized our new song was also a great message for mental health awareness and conversation. My friend and Beige Shelter frontman Adi Aman had [...]