WizeWorld Volume 98

Welcome to the 98th volume of WizeWorld: a collection of stories and sounds to round out your week, pique your curiosity, and widen your wizdom. 

This week’s theme is thriving.

Sometimes you want to do more than survive. You want to learn, grow, work, and thrive in a place you love. That’s why this week we’re bringing you stories filled with ways to get the most of everyday life—from the best outdoor fitness parks, to the cities that boast the best work-life balance. Crack a Wize iced tea and dive in.

We’ll be looking at:

• Vancouver’s best outdoor fitness parks
• An interview with drag queen Kendall Gender
• A celebration of the stunning diversity of plants
• Venus in Leo from Chels
• The best cities for work-life balance

Learn

Curiocity keeps things close to home (for Wize, at least) with a round-up of the best outdoor exercise equipment in Vancouver. You can enjoy everything from calisthenics and bodyweight workouts to scenic jogs absolutely free at a number of parks around the city. Not in Vancouver? Check to see if your local parks offer similar opportunities to switch up your workout routine when the weather is nice. 

Connect

Enjoy this interview with Canada’s Drag Race superstar Kendall Gender*, the stage name of performer Kenneth Wyse. She sat down with us last year to talk about her experience in the world of drag… which began as a hobby in 2014. Kendall’s ambition is to be the Oprah of drag, a lofty goal that doesn’t leave room for error. That’s why Kendall eschews caffeine- and sugar-heavy drinks (and even alcohol) in favor of Mango Wize iced tea to keep her energy up while prepping for a show.

*Kendall’s pronouns are she/her in drag, while Kenneth’s are she/her, he/him, and they/them when out of drag. As a result, we’ve defaulted to she/her for both.

See

From Colossal comes Seed Stories, a forthcoming book and exhibition from renowned photographer Thierry Ardouin. Ardouin sought to capture the wild and beautiful diversity of seeds across a wide range of plants, showing them at their most microscopic. Seeds are the very foundation of life, dating back hundreds of millions of years, and here he’s showcased them as many of us have never seen them before. They can be breathtaking, frightening, and even funny… but each is wonderfully and undeniably unique. 

Listen

Venus in Leo is the brainchild of Vancouver-based model, influencer, and DJ Chels. Best enjoyed with a Ruby Red Grapefruit Wize iced tea, the playlist is a prolific R&B mix that spans everything from Snoh Aalegra to Lucky Daye, Tems and much more.

Get inspired

To wrap things up, Positive News brings us a round-up of the 100 best cities for work-life balance, letting you earn money while also giving you the leisure time to enjoy it. It’s no surprise at this point, but Scandinavian and Swiss cities have snagged most of the top spots, like Oslo, Bern, Helsinki, Zurich, and Copenhagen. Canada came in at a respectable seventh place with Ottawa, while Vancouver was 16th and Toronto 19th. The rankings are based on a number of factors which include work intensity, societal structures, and liveability, as well as new factors relating specifically to the pandemic like the possibility for remote work and Covid impact. The takeaway: people are happiest in beautiful locations with flexible hours and supportive environments. Who knew?

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