Escape the Empire; March 4 2026

Why hello, you’re looking at the blog of someone who’s just been certified by the Canadian Training Institute in Crisis Intervention! I’m coming to you this week having had a pretty great weekend, followed by this workshop. I learned a lot!

Friday, I saw my first burlesque show – a very nerdy parody, ‘The Empire Strips Back’ – and I’ve got to say, the technical skill of the dancers and the production value… They were just fantastic. I went because I knew someone on the crew, but had a better time than I expected!

I also did an escape room at Casa Loma with some of my best friends. It was reportedly one of the hardest ones – we escaped with 2 minutes and 38 seconds to spare, so I’m actually pretty proud of us. Granted, every math puzzle I encountered, I was quick to point out to someone else so I could abandon it in favour of the word-related ones, but I think that showed my intelligence in its own way.

Wisdom is knowing when you’re slow at multiplication.

Today, I’m having a rough time, physically. Having to miss class, which makes me incredibly anxious… I don’t like feeling so behind. I also missed out on yesterday’s lesson. Hate that for me.

I also don’t like chronic illness. That’s a given.

There’s also the Everything going on in the world making me anxious, but… Literally nothing we can do about that. I don’t know. I’m feeling off both physically and emotionally, and I’m chalking a lot of it up to the world being what it is.

Separate from that, I’m struggling with writing lately. I haven’t had the time to write much, and I’ve submitted a few short stories and poems around, but there’s been such a long stretch of having no publications… It’s giving me a strong sense of imposter syndrome.

When it comes down to how I spend my ‘free’ time, I’ve got to prioritise school. But maybe there’s a better balance I could be going for?

Something I’ve got to give some thought.