A Scott Movember
Scott and his business partner Evan running on the beach
Every November, something small but visible starts to happen across the city: mustaches grow, conversations get a little more honest, and taboo topics become a little more approachable.
It’s not a big shift, but it can make a big difference.
Just one month every year, we can put a little extra thought and care into the lives of the people around us. For some people, that means advocating for prostate health, one of the leading causes of death in men worldwide. But for me, the mental-health side of Movember is what really hits home.
Years ago, I found out that the grandfather I never knew had fallen victim to suicide. I found out this monumental thing about my dad’s life, something that had to have shaped him, well into my adulthood, for the simple reason that we just don’t talk about things like that.
I’ve had a few friends over the years fall victim to suicide. Friends that I never suspected were struggling, which is how it always seems to be, isn’t it? No matter how much we’re dealing with on the inside, we force ourselves to fake an outward appearance; social media has made us more connected than we’ve ever been, yet sometimes it feels like we don’t really know how the people around us are doing.
We talk a lot about self-care in terms of what we can do alone: workouts, spa days, solo resets. But for a lot of men, the most important version of self-care is actually connection. Not surface-level, not transactional; real conversations, shared experiences, and the kind of support that doesn’t require perfect wording.
In Canada, men account for roughly three out of every four suicide deaths.
Our annual Movember event is my way of creating safe spaces for the people around me. Movember isn’t just about facial hair. It’s about changing the way men show up for themselves, and for each other.
For the people in my life, showing up looks like a polar dip in Lake Ontario, followed by a well-earned warm-up at a local bar.
It sounds intense, but that’s kind of the point.
There’s something about doing something uncomfortable, together, that breaks down the usual barriers. You show up, you take the plunge, and suddenly conversations feel a little easier, a little more honest.
Research consistently shows that social connection is one of the strongest protective factors against depression and suicide. So Movember isn’t about a single month; it’s about building habits that last all year.
No one should be going through a hard time alone.
Sometimes, the first step to changing that is as simple as standing beside someone; it doesn’t matter whether that’s in freezing cold water or across a table at a bar.
