The Rășcanu Weekly Update Lesson 62: Serve the pubic good, even when it costs you. Hi friend, Have you ever done the right thing and suffered losses because of it? William Peyton Hubbard did. And he kept going anyway. Hubbard was born in 1842 in a small cabin near what is now Bloor and Bathurst, the outskirts of Toronto at the time. His parents, Mosely and Lavenia, had escaped enslavement in Virginia and made their way to Canada via the Underground Railroad just two years earlier. From those...
5 days ago • 3 min read
The Rășcanu Weekly Update Lesson 61: Your Bucket List belongs on the calendar. Hi friend, There is a lot to be thankful for right now. It’s easy to feel weighed down by the headlines: the economy, politics, and the complexities of our physical and digital security. But the truth remains: we are here. We have the opportunity to make a positive impact in the time we have. Whether it’s loving our families, building a business that solves real problems, or acting as intrapreneurs for the common...
12 days ago • 1 min read
The Rășcanu Weekly Update Lesson 60: How to Lay Foundations That Endure Hi friend, While preparing for the upcoming Riverdale historical tour, I spent time reading a carefully researched paper by T.A. Reed titled “The Scaddings, A Pioneer Family in York” Reed begins with a sentence that feels remarkably contemporary: “In these modern days we are prone to forget those who went before, to whose vision, foresight and courage we owe the foundations which were so well and truly laid.” That...
20 days ago • 4 min read
The Rășcanu Weekly Update Lesson 59: Build where you are Hi friend, What if success looked less like movement and more like staying put?What if wisdom sometimes meant building slowly instead of chasing the next opportunity? This is the story of Sarah Ashbridge. In the late 1700s, Sarah Ashbridge was a Quaker widow living in Pennsylvania.She had lost her husband and was responsible for a large extended family.They came from modest farming backgrounds and were used to hard physical work. In...
30 days ago • 2 min read
The Rășcanu Weekly Update Lesson 58: What is your life’s story? Hi friend, What is your life’s story thus far?What is your family’s history?What is your city’s history?How are these three stories woven together? Most of us move quickly through our days.Work, responsibilities, commitments, deadlines.We rarely stop to reflect on where we came from or how we arrived where we are. That pause for reflection is what led me to start #ExperienceTO. Since July 2022, I have been hosting free, in person...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
The Rășcanu Weekly Update Lesson 57: Plant what will outlive you Hi friend, While researching in preparation for the #ExperienceTO: Leslieville Historical Tour, I've been thinking about a man whose work still touches Toronto in a surprisingly practical way: George Leslie Sr., the namesake of Leslieville. George Leslie was born in 1804 in Scotland. He immigrated to Upper Canada (now Ontario) with his family, with sources commonly pointing to 1824 or 1825, and they settled first in what is now...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
The Rășcanu Weekly Update Lesson 56: Reflect on who has positively impacted your life Hi friend,Today I turned 40 years old. My wife, children and I had a small celebration in the morning, and the rest of the day involved many tasks relating to our house in the Upper Beaches now being available for sale (if you know anyone looking to move close to the Beach, kindly let them know about it) and other family responsibilities. Once I got some downtime this evening, I realized that it would be...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
The Rășcanu Weekly Update Lesson 55: We'll Overcome This Challenge Hi friend,If you're paying attention to the news, you know that Canada's past and present experience of living beside the U.S.A. is a fascinating one. Today's The Globe and Mail editorial provides a helpful summary of Canada's story within this context: "For much of our country’s history, relations between Canada and the United States have been less than intimate, and yet our country grew and prospered. Despite all the drama...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
The Rășcanu Weekly Update Lesson 54: Impact Starts with Listening to the Community's Needs Hi friend,Happy new year!If you’re like me, you’ve set goals (or “resolutions”) for 2026. You may have goals that relate to your faith, your family, your work, your health, your finances, your personal development, and your impact in the lives of friends and the broader community. Through this life lessons-focused weekly e-newsletter (here are all the past 50+ editions of it) and through the monthly...
2 months ago • 2 min read