Mark Cameron's Blog

Hello out there! This is a final message to anyone who has subscribed to my markofwords blog over the past eleven(!) years. I am blogging again, but I’ve now consolidated all of my posts on a ghost.org site at https://www.acomplicatedworld.com. If you’re interested in hearing from me again, please visit that URL and subscribe to my new blog.

Despite my lack of public-facing content in recent years, I’ve been working hard to reinvent myself as a writer and creative writing instructor. I’ve spe...

Hi markofwords readers,

I hope this message finds you well. It’s hard to believe that it’s been almost four years since my last blog post. It would take days to summarize what I’ve been up to since then, so I’ll spare you the details and get to the point of this post…

Despite my radio silence here, I haven’t stopped writing during my extended blog break. I spent three years at the University of British Columbia, where I earned a BA...

A few days ago, one of my Facebook posts went viral—at least by my not-so-lofty standards of social media reach (88 shares is roughly 85 more than my previous record). When I first noticed my post was attracting an audience, it felt like I’d downed half a dozen shots of Southern Comfort. My insides felt warm, and I was kind of giddy. But it didn’t take long before queasiness set in, and by the next day I felt the dull fog of a hangover.

For all the hours I’ve spent drafting and re-draftin...

It’s been almost two months since I escaped a flaming ferris wheel, taking leave from the carnival where opinions circulate amidst truths, lies, and everything in between. I had long been a passive participant at the Facebook Fair, ducking in and out of its various houses. I found the fun house enjoyable and silly, while the haunted house was both scary and oddly engaging. The house of mirrors forced me to look at myself from different angles, in ways that I had never before imagined. But my...

It’s been almost two months since I escaped a flaming ferris wheel, taking leave from the carnival where opinions circulate amidst truths, lies, and everything in between. I had long been a passive participant at the Facebook Fair, ducking in and out of its various houses. I found the fun house enjoyable and silly, while the haunted house was both scary and oddly engaging. The house of mirrors forced me to look at myself from different angles, in ways that I had never before imagined. But my...

This morning I was called an arrogant dink and a pompous ass. I figured it would come down to this. I might have even deserved it.

In the past few weeks, I’ve engaged in social media like never before. Called to both listen and speak out, I went deeper than I have ever gone in reading, researching, commenting and debating content that scrolled through my Facebook feed. I knew I was in trouble the moment I broke my own rule — the one that said not to engage in polarized discussions on a pl...

This morning I was called an arrogant dink and a pompous ass. I figured it would come down to this. I might have even deserved it.

In the past few weeks, I’ve engaged in social media like never before. Called to both listen and speak out, I went deeper than I have ever gone in reading, researching, commenting and debating content that scrolled through my Facebook feed. I knew I was in trouble the moment I broke my own rule — the one that said not to engage in polarized discussions on a pl...

It’s times like these you learn to live again
It’s times like these you give and give again
It’s times like these you learn to love again
It’s times like these time and time again

Times Like These, Foo Fighters

There has never been a time quite like this. And yet we are trapped in a cycle within a cycle: the monotony of pandemic isolation within the endless repetition of pandemonium.

As America burns, the world burns with it. We burn with anger, with helplessness, with despair. We burn in supp...

It’s times like these you learn to live again
It’s times like these you give and give again
It’s times like these you learn to love again
It’s times like these time and time again

Times Like These, Foo Fighters

There has never been a time quite like this. And yet we are trapped in a cycle within a cycle: the monotony of pandemic isolation within the endless repetition of pandemonium.

As America burns, the world burns with it. We burn with anger, with helplessness, with despair. We burn in supp...

In this society where ambition is celebrated and achievements are worn as badges, the quest for perfection seems like an honourable pursuit. Who hasn’t told a prospective employer — or anyone else they wish to impress — that they are a “perfectionist”?

There are countless studies and articles espousing the negative effects of perfectionism on mental and physical health. It isn’t hard to see how setting impossibly high standards sets us u...