We love the idea of having an opponent. It’s reassuring to think that you have a competitor against whom you must organise to preserve order and your interests. This is, however, a very divisive approach to social life. It encourages us to think of others with suspicion. It makes us want to turn those around …
Continue reading “Life-Love #24: Welcoming someone different from you.”
We are surrounded by selfishness. We judge one another by what we wear, who our parents were, how good looking we are. We objectify and categorise the people around us. This isn’t human and it feels empty. It makes us chase the empty chalices of fashion and prestige. But sometimes we are shocked back into …
Continue reading “Life-Love #23: The moment you realise that love is happiness.”
Time walks on, the rhythm of its steps is the heartbeat by which we gauge how our lives are going. Some of the most powerful symbols of the passing of the days and the months are all around us, in nature. Spring, summer and winter all bring changes in climate that change our habits, our …
Continue reading “Life-Love #22: Watching the leaves change colour”
I am not a morning person and it can be a challenge for me actually disconnect my head from the fluffy paradise of my pillow in the morning. Sleep is such a luxurious time in these days of running and faxing and phoning and shopping and meeting. It’s that blissful time when the eyes and …
Continue reading “Life-Love #21: Being woken up in the morning by a pet’s little face”
There are moments in life when you feel broken or hurt. You may have been abandoned by someone you love. Perhaps someone has disappointed you. It could be that you have been humiliated by another. You feel like you are spinning and lost and disoriented. Your self-confidence is low and you don’t feel as though …
Continue reading “Life-Love #20: Someone’s compassion when you feel hurt”
When I lived in Paris in 1997-98, my friends and I would often drive out to the Northern French coast and look at the ocean, walking on the beach gazing at the dark water and the powdery grey skies. If you picked the right time of year and the right moment of the day, you …
We all want to be understood when we are making a point. I am a professor at a university and I spend a lot of time explaining things to people. The subject matter that I teach can be quite technical – I teach media measurement, public relations and political communication. Sometimes the subject matter can …
Continue reading “Life-Love #18: The moment when people understand your point”
Air travel is, in many ways, a mind-bending activity. You enter the airport from your departure city, in-tune with its unique rhythm and its texture. Scenes and sounds from the day ricochet around your mind as you settle into the departure lounge with your coffee or tea and glance, perhaps furtively, at the other passengers …
Continue reading “Life-Love #17: The first step off the airplane”
Many of us dread meetings. Either because they can be boring or often full of people who are full of themselves, or who have hidden agendas. We have meetings at work, at our places of worship and when we volunteer. Sometimes, though, when your facing down a tough crowd, or making an unpopular point, someone …
Continue reading “Life-Love #16: Getting unexpected support in a meeting”
We spend the greater part of our lives tired. We go to bed too late, we wake up too early. Sometimes sleep comes only as we collapse into bed worn out from stress, worry, annoyance or loneliness. We have so much on our minds, that we actually forget that exquisite feeling of waking up refreshed. …
Continue reading “Life-Love #15: Waking up refreshed and calm”
