I wrote last week about the need to acknowledge and recover from the trauma inflicted on us all thanks to Covid. In a similar vein, Psychologist Adam Grant has an insightful article in the New York Times on what is being called ‘languishing’. Here’s how Grant describes it: “Languishing is a sense of stagnation and emptiness. It feels a...

“Wisdom is not knowing more, but knowing with more of you, knowing deeper.” I came across this quote from Cynthia Bourgeault in one of Fr. Richard Rohr’s Daily Meditations some weeks ago. I love this idea of knowing deeper. So much knowing today feels shallow; a mere endless collecting of more information. Many of us are getting smarte...

I’m a big Apple TV fan. The little black box sits under each TV in our household. Its centralised organising of all our family TV watching is pretty much perfect. Every major provider here in the UK, apart from Netflix, now integrates with the Apple TV app. And it makes for a great overall experience. Sure it’s pricey, but I don’t thin...

Behavioural Science has an absorbing interview with Morton Schapiro and Saul Morson about their forthcoming book Minds Wide Shut. The authors take on the subject of fundamentalism, helping us broaden our understanding of its reach. We tend to associate fundamentalism with religion and politics. But fundamentalist thinking stretches int...

I’ve written previously about friendship. And one of my spiritual mentors, Fr Richard Rohr, has further stretched my understanding and appreciation of what true friendship is. In a recent Daily Meditation of his, he wrote: “Most people also have colleagues with whom they work or associates with whom they spend regular time. But this st...

I wrote yesterday about our need for a recovery plan from the trauma of the last year. And then, later in the day, I came across this quote via James Clear, from the book Wintering by Katherine May: “We are in the habit of imagining our lives to be linear, a long march from birth to death in which we mass our powers, only to surrender ...

How many of us would acknowledge that we’re suffering from trauma as a result of this last year? And that we need a recovery plan to address what we’ve been through? If you’re anything like me, you’ll answer with something like, ‘It’s been tough, but I’m fine. It’s not trauma though. That’s something other people who have had it far wo...

I love writing. I love learning about writing. Playing with words and finding creative ways to craft sentences and paragraphs is a joy for me. Though I’ve had my fair share of compliments about my ‘way with words’ over the years, I never stop looking for ways to improve my writing. The most significant book I’ve read that’s helped me w...

Introvert? Not looking forward to the return to ‘normal’? You are not alone! This, from an article in the Washington Post, captures the feelings of many: “And now we’re returning to the pre-pandemic world, or as close as we can get. Like everyone else, introverts are excited about seeing family and close friends in person, dining in re...

Years ago I heard a preacher say, ‘Love unexpressed is a pretty useless thing’. It stayed with me. Making the point that it’s not enough to feel love towards others; we have to show people and tell them. Don’t assume they know. Or that saying it in the past is enough. We need to continuallyexpress love to the people we love. I was remi...

It’s official: I’m leaving Facebook. I’ve toyed with the idea for several years. Dramatically reduced my usage in that time. Stopped following many of the people I’m friends with. (Sorry, not sorry!) It didn’t feel like a good use of my time. The best bits for me (and the parts I’ll miss) are interactions with international friends, or...

Let me be honest: I was hesitant about picking up this book. Was it going to be another actor attempting to – badly – try their hand at something else. Using their fame to sell a few copies of something bang average. And would I be able to see past Ethan Hawke and get lost in the story? Even though this isn’t Hawke’s first novel, I was...

National Geographic recently published an article on the effect of the pandemic on our procrastinating. If your procrastinating has been getting worse over the last year, you are not alone. And you have something other than yourself you can now blame! Before delving into why, let’s remind ourselves what procrastination is. From the art...

I tend to read two types of books. Either it’s a novel, or it’s a book on a subject I want to learn more about. It’s fair to say, I read a lot of both types. Typically around forty, evenly split, on any given year. But when it comes to the books I’m learning from, I’ve always had a problem: I don’t retain as much as I’d like to. I fini...

Until two weeks ago I’d never heard of Mick Herron. Nor his series of spy novels. It was Om Malik who drew my attention to him, writing about the newest book in the series. My curiosity was piqued and I ordered a copy of the first book. I’m glad I did. I’ve never been a big reader of spy fiction. No real reason. Just haven’t. I read – ...

Reading the resurrection story in John’s gospel this morning, I found myself drawn to a few of the words in the opening sentence: “While it was still dark.” Isn’t that how it feels a lot of the time? Dark. Uncertain. Hopeless. It’s the moment we’re most tempted to cave in. The sun has set. Darkness is overwhelming. Fear surrounds us. I...

I stumbled across a beautiful short essay on friendship earlier today. It was an evocative reminder of the power of friendship and our need for it. It’s by the poet and Christian mystic David Whyte, and I’ve included the middle segment here: “Through the eyes of a real friendship an individual is larger than their everyday actions, and...

As soon as I heard Cal Newport had a new book coming out tackling digital messaging, I was sold. I’ve read two of Newport’s previous books – Deep Work and Digital Minimalism – and found them both stimulating and challenging. Do I agree with everything he says or suggests? No. But I appreciate his prodding me to think hard about life an...

Why is alcohol a taboo subject when talking about controversial issues in society? I wrote last week about what men can and should be doing to look out for the women around us. How we men can help women feel – and be – safer. But isn’t it interesting how the worst behaviour towards women happens late at night, after people have been dr...

For over a year now we’ve been talking about the things we’ll do, ‘when things get back to normal’. Whether at home, or at work, it’s been a recurring theme. But will that ever happen? Will, specifically, our work environments ever be the same again? Time only ever moves forwards, and I can’t envisage any scenario where our world goes ...

I had a bit of a dilemma yesterday. A notice went around various WhatsApp groups saying a doctor’s surgery near me was looking to use up Covid vaccine stock. They would have to throw it away if it wasn’t used by the end of the day. The surgery was hoping people in the vulnerable groups and the over fifties would snap them up. But they ...

I shared on Instagram several weeks ago that I was reading Learning to Pray. And, in that post, I wrote about my struggles with prayer in recent years: “I spent the first three quarters of my life with an understanding of prayer that was mostly about asking God for stuff. But... that fell apart for me as a method of prayer. And I've ne...

There was a good article in The Economist last week exploring the link between personality and success. It focussed on introverts and extroverts. And this advice for managers on the running of meetings resonated with me: “...managers need to think about the different personality types when conducting meetings. It is easy for meetings t...

Ever since Sarah Everard’s death, I’ve been reflecting on what I can do to help women feel safer. And, as Caitlin Moran writes in The Times (£), I’m not alone: “Violence will find women everywhere: in their home; at work; on a bus; walking home, at night... Sarah Everard’s death, though, seems to have changed something. Something has s...

I’ve been struggling to keep my fiction reading pile stocked up lately. I’m not sure why, but whenever I do some hunting around, little is seizing my attention. Thankfully, my friend Claire came to the rescue last week. She recommended The Catch. As soon as I saw it, it looked exactly the kind of quick, easy read I was after. (I enjoy ...

Who am I writing for? Does it matter if anyone else reads what I write? These questions came to mind when I stumbled across the words below from the poet Amanda Gorman. They’re from a recent interview in the New York Times: “Being an artist is about how and why you touch people’s lives, even if it’s one person. Even if that’s yourself,...

I love a good quote. And this from British novelist and teacher Amelia Barr is a fine one. In her essay,A Successful Novelist, she writes: “Everything good needs time. Don’t do work in a hurry. Go into details; it pays in every way. Time means power for your work. Mediocrity is always in a rush; but whatever is worth doing at all is wo...

The Psychology of Money is one of those books that has been drifting on and off my radar for several months. I’ve seen various people on Twitter recommend it. And several authors I respect – Daniel Pink and James Clear – gave it a strong endorsement. I don’t get at lot of my reading ideas from Twitter, but in this case I’m glad I did! ...

In a recent meditation, Fr. Richard Rohr quotes Bishop Michael Curry, the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, on the subject of ‘loving the “true you”’: “There is a Jewish proverb, “Before every person there marches an angel proclaiming, ‘Behold, the image of God.’” Unselfish, sacrificial living isn’t about ignoring or denying or...

Here in the UK, we’re approaching the anniversary of our first Covid-induced lockdown. And we’re currently taking tentative steps towards coming out of our third and, hopefully, last. Though the government keep telling us it is about ‘data not dates’, they have laid out a series of dates from now until June for granting greater freedom...