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Here’s What I’ve Learned About Myself Since The Coronavirus Crisis Started

Let’s talk about the Rona

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coronavirus, covid-19, covid 19, pandemic, china virus, montreal virus

The Deeper Darker Conversation About The Coronavirus We Won’t But Will Have

As the world is going nuts, people losing their jobs, misinformation spreading like wildfire and your neighbor thinking he became Dr House overnight; I can’t help but to realize that this Coronavirus crisis stirs up something in me and the rest of the world that we all probably never had our finger on.

Read: I Got Nominated For Gala Dynastie & Here’s How I Really Feel About It

While you’re probably Quarantining & Chilling as you read this, I’ve spent most of this pandemic outside for work obligations.

Self-employment is great on paper, I swear it is.

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You wake up when you want, nobody is barking at you about things you don’t really care about; I mean on paper it’s all fun and games untill…

Well! Until….you realize that it really takes a psycho to walk that path knowing that you’re on your own if shit hits the fan (or in such case if someone sneezes in your face perhaps).

This pandemic to me has a whole 9-11 vibe to it.

I was actually 11 at the time and I can remember vividly where I was and how I felt when the towers crashed.

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One thing that stuck with me was how confused I was as to what this meant either for me or the rest of the world.

18 years later, I’m looking at this crisis with the Mom What Is This? expression on my face that my 11 year old self once had.

I was just like you, him and her at first.

I was laughing at the memes.

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I was clicking  on all the ”What The Government Don’t Tell Us..” links on Youtube.

I was giving myself a pad in the back because allegedly black people couldn’t get it.

Just like you, him and her; after the jokes faded,

SHIT GOT REAL (ACTUALLY TOO REAL)

Businesses shutting down, people ”strongly recommended” to stay at home and elderly people walking like Dexter cleaning a crime scene.

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Celebrities getting it, Justin Trudeau‘s wife getting it, Trump being Trump and people just realizing that Instagram Live existed.

THEY SAID THE REVOLUTION WON’T BE TELEVISED BUT NOW I KNOW THE END OF THE WORLD WILL BE INSTAGRAMMED FOR SURE!

I often sound crazy in my delivery, my takes are wild and I have a unique perspective about life or what does or doesn’t matter to me.

Since I made a vow to tell the truth and nothing but the truth on this blog,, I won’t shy away from the fact that none of this really bothered me UNTIL my BOTTOM LINE got bothered.

I was losing clients left and right, couldn’t get payments for previous work done and I was contemplating homelessness in a foreseeable future (not really but anxiety will make me say anything).

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If you read this, let me share with you a secret I only reveal either when I’m drunk or when the vein on my left temple is about the burst.

I look calm, cool and collected all the time but deep inside I’m what Stressed Eric would’ve looked like if his melanin percentage was higher.

I was literally walking around my apartment like a junkie hooked on both speed and morphine .

Sometimes I was rationalizing with the dumbest arguments and other times I was thinking about who to erase or to add on my last will.

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Spent 2-3 days like this, dreamed about reincarnating Will Smith in ”I Am Legend” and then woke up sweating like a pig in the middle of the night.

I looked at myself in the mirror for a hot minute.

I looked tired, washed, overworked and defeated.

I went outside for a walk only to cruise down empty streets and somehow felt like Rick Grimes in Walking Dead when he first got out the hospital.

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It wasn’t looking too good in my phone either. Reports, testimonies and alerts.

People arguing,  people panicking, people laughing about people panicking and most of all people pointing out the people arguing over the people laughing about the people panicking.

In that instance my not-so-friendly-neighborhood felt so calm and safe.

I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, expired and something happened.

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Something that was profound, meaningful and seem to come from an higher power.

It wasn’t in the physical form, it wasn’t something I could see, feel or touch,

It was a sentence, a mantra, my own version of ”I Have A Dream”.

Once I expired, the words came out effortlessly like a skilled choir singer hyperventilating for the whole congregation.

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the words were:

”FUCK IT!”

It was a response to everything that was going in my head.

Short on money? Fuck it!

People are nuts? Fuck it!

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The unknown is scary? Fuck it!

You look crazy screaming FUCK IT in the middle of the streets? Well Fuck it! Fuck it! Fuck it! And Fuck it again!

I never thought that 2 simple words could make me feel so free.

2 words I should’ve said earlier in situations that were not so crazy.

2 words that’ll follow me for the rest of my journey whenever shit hits the fan

Kanye West once told Sway that he didn’t have the answers and unfortunately for my avid readers, I don’t either.

I don’t know how long this Coronavirus thing is going to last.

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I don’t know if the world is coming to an end.

I don’t know if the book 1984 was predicting what 2020 would be.

All I do know though is that everyday I have a choice to make.

I can choose to freak out or just take precautions.

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I can choose to isolate myself or just reconnect with my people.

I can choose to worry or just hope for the best.

I can choose to pay attention to every report or just focus on what really matters to me.

One thing that the times we’re living in has taught me, is that we need to let go of the illusion of control.

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You can be prepared all you want but my guess is that Coronavirus got you sidetracked still.

I try to focus on the good whenever the good, the bad and the ugly comes up.

Spending more time home made me realize how much I didn’t took the time to actually make it home.

Seeing some of my closest people get paranoid or struggle made me realize how fragile life is.

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Seeing politicians being politicians reminded me how we’re really all we got at the end.

Above all and probably the most important of it all:

”5$ For Gaz Is A Thing Again!”

All jokes aside and in closure, I don’t know if my newfound zen state is here to stay. I’m taking it day by day and trying not to make my heartbeat skip whenever someone coughs around me.

Somewhere I hope my experience can guide you through and if you’re still wondering what this whole Coronavirus is about, a good friend of mine recently did an interview with someone who caught it.

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Jefferson is the guy you hate to love and love to hate, marginal and uncommon but he brings the right comment at the right time

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Myraï Lavoie Is Taking The Fashion World By Storm With The Glitch Fashion Show

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Myraï Lavoie

Myraï Lavoie Is Creating Her Own Universe And You’re Invited

What I appreciate the most about my work is the fact that I get to meet great minds & humans with a powerful story and this time around, I got to cross path with the talented Myraï Lavoie.

Read More: Tawhida Tanya Evanson: When Words Can Really Give You Wings

The city has been quiet fashion wise over the years and as platform that mostly talked about fashion in its inception, we’ve felt it the most over here.

There would be sparks of hope here and there but besides Festival De Mode & Design, not a lot of things really stood out.

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When I heard about ”The Glitch” it’s like I knew what it was about without nothing what it was about.

I mean good branding is good branding but it was more so who’s behind the good branding this time around. I had the chance to work with Myraï Lavoie in the past and one thing I can is : there’s a method to her madness.

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Every artist has an eye and that eye is shaped by our views of the world and life experiences. Myraï had an interesting life.

One where being different is actually the move. One where if you don’t fit somewhere, you don’t try to get in the mold, you bend it.

For all the lack of support or misunderstand she got in Montreal, she found a place to be creative working or being in room with the likes of Paris Hilton & P. Diddy to name a few.

What she’s learned from coming out of her shell and experiencing the world she’s about the share it with us with her own fashion called ”The Glitch” tonight.

”The Glitch” is exactly what I thought it was going to be. A standout experience and experience and something you’ve never seen before just like its creator.

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The 50th Anniversary Of Les Grands Explorateurs Presents A Touching Documentary Exploring Africa And Its Wonders

An Amazing Story by Amazing Creators!

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Milan Bihlmann et Muammer Yilmaz. les grands explorateurs

Les Grands Explorateurs Is Celebrating Africa In A Real Way!

Curiosity has to be the most incredible human quality there is and Les Grands Explorateurs has been putting it on the forefront for the past 50 years!

Read More: Isabelle Mugwaneza Desmarais: An Unlikely Journey For An Unlikely Unique Success Story

We are now entering an era where we want to know more about what is going on on the other side of the world.

How people are living, their culture and what is their reality compared to ours.

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Sometimes the depiction of such reality is either unfair or made to look down at somebody. Other times, filmmakers have the challenge to depict a reality in a way to uplift what other cultures are bringing to the table.

Milan Bihlmann and Muammer Yilmaz are two filmmakers who know where they stand when it comes to that.

Rêves D’Afrique” is the epidemy of that. The two filmmakers decided to go to 7 countries in Africa to not only paint the picture for the world but to give the good people out there something we forget to give one another : ”a piece of yourself’.

Armed with a backpack, film gear and true altruism, the duo spread love and good deeds wherever they could throughout their trip.

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Watch The Trailer

Les Grands Explorateurs being this platform to uncover the world made the right choice by adding this beautiful piece to their program.

Up until November 1st, you still have the chance to see the beautiful piece in theater and then online starting November 2nd.

Tickets Here

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Isabelle Mugwaneza Desmarais: An Unlikely Journey For An Unlikely Unique Success Story

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isabelle mugwaneza desmarais

A Change Is Coming…Finally?

I grew up in the 90’s and although we can only realize it now but seeing people like Isabelle Mugwaneza Desmarais striving in a space where not a lot of us do is what was missing this whole time.

Read More: Lobster Season Has Arrived And The Homard Gaspésien Is Still The Best You Can Find On The Planet

The thing about representation is that you won’t know you need it until you need it. As most of us were just looking at society, we didn’t see ourselves but also normalized it.

I think Isabelle saw something that we couldn’t see in ourselves. The truth is not at the extreme it’s right in the middle. The intersection between being different but also a part of the ecosystem was what she saw.

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Representation is not about doing what’s right because it’s right but more so because it needs to be done.

Starting her career in the public sector wasn’t a thrill anymore. Then she did some soul searching and probably came to the conclusion we all come to at some point in our existence:

Life Is A Joke

For her it was literal though. She figured out that humor and the business around it was her calling so what was the first step? Becoming a comedian herself and teach a thing or two to Dave Chappelle?

What about producing your own show with up and coming artists? Well, for Isabelle Mugwaneza Desmarais the start of this new chapter was simple as getting a non-paid internship.

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Just For Laughs became her new home and with that started her mission to be at the forefront of what the landscape in comedy was to become.

Through thick and thin, work and dedication, intuition and know-how, she pulled through and the big way too!

Isabelle Mugwaneza Desmarais became the director of ZooFest. With her pulse on the scene, she fought and pushed for upcoming talents that are more than just tanned.

We’re seeing more BIPOCs getting a chance on stage and I would like to believe that this is just the beginning.

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Speaking of ZooFest, if you want to see for yourself how this festival has grown in diversity and get a good kick out of it. You still have the opportunity to do so tomorrow as the last day of the celebration

With french performers like Lenny M’BungaAZMarine EllaMeryem BenouaAyoub Marceau & Hugo.

Live podcasting will also be a part of the last run of the show. In the corner of Jeanne-Mance & Maisonneuve, you can can get a good view, a good potential date, you get to see greatness in all shapes, size or color AND of course a good laugh!

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