As we pass into the new year we do so knowing that in our privileged little suburban world the greatest hardship many of my friends and neighbours faced this past holiday season was the great sugar shortage of 2023.

Making light of the granulated white is fair in a world torn asunder by war and disease and climate change, but even a handful of people I’m connected to on the socials found themselves hugely impacted in their businesses by the shortage. Usually those business involved turning sugar into consumable treats, but business is business and it’s tough to run a bakery when your number one input is not only spiking in demand because of amateur holiday bakers but in short supply because of a labour disruption.

I am also making light of it because as January begins and the season of sweet delights fades into the memories of another year passed by, I am officially in mild withdrawal from my attempt to re-adjust my caloric intake after two months of candy, cookies, holiday baking, and copious sweetened beverages. I literally have a mild headache as I write this, and I am fully blaming it on the fact that I have had virtually no refined sugar for at least twenty-four hours.  

As I sat down to plot out the topics to include in this first edition of what I’m hoping will become a monthly newsletter (or routine posts if you’re reading this on my blog) I struggled with the idea of adding a “health” category. But the reality quickly overcame my senses that the third leg of my creative tripod is a healthy body and well-nourished corporeal being.  That means that what I eat and how I exercise and even how much I sleep plays a huge role in how able I am to put words onto paper—and thus is worth writing about.

I’m not a doctor, though, in case that fact was not clear from the other anecdotes shared here, so reflect on these opinions with a grain of salt…or a grain of sugar if you can find one.