Reflections on life and the world around me.
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On Mourning.
To mourn the loss of something or someone – not just as a result of death – is a perfectly natural experience. But as with any other stress-inducing situation, we should be mindful of how we are mourning, and the impact it has on us and the people and world around us. It also indicates…
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On applying myself.
What is the use of gaining skills and knowledge if one does not use them? There’s nothing wrong with learning purely for the sake of learning, but when you are subsisting, and struggling to create a better life for yourself, it seems a bit masochistic. What is it that stops me from utilising the things…
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When the wind blows.
“The green reed which bends in the wind is stronger than the mighty oak which breaks in a storm.” ― Confucius While I think this quote captures with beautiful simplicity our need to reflect on what it means to be strong, I believe there is a time for being the green reed, and a time…
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Weathering the storm.
I’ve been exploring the need for greater resilience in my life the past six months or so, and of course Covid-19 comes along and shines a spotlight on the lack of resilience in my income. Unfortunately there are many of us who do not currently have the finances to weather a storm such as this.…
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On Words and Actions.
Every word we speak and action we take has a consequence. I learnt this at a very young age, and chose, having experienced suffering at the hands of others, to strive to minimise the suffering I caused others. Knowing pain, I didn’t want to consciously, knowingly inflict it on others through my own words and…
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Being human.
@: 20th Aug 2019 I believe we are all children existing within ever-ageing bodies. Who we are now has been formed and moulded by the experiences of our childhood. Those experiences dictate how we act and function as an adult. Whether we like it or not, no matter what age we are, our thoughts and…
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Business as usual.
Colonisation did not end with the fall of empires – it is very much alive, and more pervasive, destructive and exploitative than ever before. The colonisation of land and communities across the globe may no longer be directly carried out by the political or ruling classes of foreign states, but instead by proxy through foreign-owned…
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Destiny of Nations.
Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin wrote in his book ‘The Physiology of Taste’ (1825), reputed to be one of the most famous books on food ever written, that ”The destiny of nations depends on the manner in which they feed themselves.” This simple statement brilliantly captures the importance of our food system, and the impact of how we…
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Smoke and Mirrors.
There has been an increased awareness in the UK about plastic waste – the unnecessary use of single-use plastics, plastic straws and plastic bottles in particular. But the British public tend to be easily distracted – manipulated even – by big business, the media and politicians. These news-generators all know the half-life of a particular…
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Why the UN SDGs are doomed to fail.
In 2015 the member states of the UN decided to create the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which they see as “a plan of action for people, planet and prosperity.” They state that eradicating poverty “is the greatest global challenge and an indispensable requirement for sustainable development.” But this simply isn’t true! Anthropogenic climate change,…