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I am writing this letter in a coffee shop in my new neighbourhood. My apartment—where I have lived for less than a week—has a bed, a functioning bathroom, and a great view, but not much else. In contrast, the coffee shop is comfortable and easy, funky and cool. Gentle jazz on the speakers, an excellent latte, and a steady stream of locals chatting, smiling, and giving good energy.
We know that our environment affects our mental and physical health. My renovation journey has been a conscious effort to consider more than functionality: I want to wake up and smile, to start each day with a moment of joy.
It’s a tiny dip of my toe into neuroplasticity, itself part of the larger discipline of neuroscience—a field with leading research being done here in British Columbia. In this issue, we talk to some of those involved and explore the idea of rewiring your brain by making small, consistent efforts and changes in order to feel alive and thrive.
The ability to see people and places and capture them with an artistic point of view is something few of us snapping away with our phones ever muster. Vancouver photographer Greg Girard is blessed with an eye that recognizes moments in time that, when captured, tell us more about the world and how we interact with it. For five decades, he has travelled and chronicled places and people, building an extraordinary cultural catalogue of artworks. We talk to him ahead of a major exhibition at The Polygon Gallery featuring more than 160 of his images.
So much of who we are in B.C. is informed by our relationship to the landscape that surrounds us. Artist Takao Tanabe turns 100 in September. His paintings of this province are instantly familiar: the mountains, the sea, the light all speak to the essence of this place, evoking the taste of the precious air that we breathe. His work based here and beyond is this summer’s focus of Audain Art Gallery in Whistler, the journey along the Sea-to-Sky providing the perfect precursor to experiencing his masterful oeuvre.
Vancouver’s urban landscape will receive a temporary makeover this summer with the arrival of the FIFA World Cup. The MONTECRISTO Magazine office, like most in the city, is a diverse team with several national allegiances. We can all, however, come together to support our chosen home’s squad.
Before he transferred to English club Norwich City at the turn of the year, Ali Ahmed was a key member of Whitecaps Football Club. We spoke to him on his new turf about his career so far, his optimism for the growth of the sport here, and his excitement to play for Team Canada on the world stage. We wish him and the rest of the players a great tournament.
Read more from our Summer 2026 issue.
