Life-Love 31: A friend who tells you the truth

We like to be liked. Often our friends will spare our feelings by keeping mum about a problematic romantic relationship, a questionable financial choice or a fashion crime. Sometimes, however, a friend will take you aside, shuffle in his or her seat and look down at the ground a little awkwardly. You ask your friend …

Life-Love #30: Monday Night Football

Growing up, many of us, men and women had football as a part of our Autumn Sundays. Waking up late, going to Church, watching Sunday morning political talk shows and then a lazy afternoon of game after sunny game of football. The drone of the crowd, perhaps a beer or two, snacks and easy, light …

Life-Love #29: Pulling on a pair of jeans fresh out of the dryer

Ah, the chilly mornings of Autumn. I tend to keep my house cool at night, since I find it hard to sleep in a very warm room, so I often shiver a little as I pull off my covers a feel the tingly skin and goose bumps spread up my arms. I often feel the …

Life-Love #28: Group-work late into the night

Working late alone can be a trial. The night grows longer, your lids grow heavier and droop. Your head nods from the fatigue and you catch yourself drifting off, just as your chin alights on your sternum or shoulder. Working late in a group is different. If you’re working to deadline on a project, and …

Life-Love #27: A moment of synchronicity

There are moments in our lives when all of the parts seem to be moving together, in orchestra. You’re walking and you see that the rhythm of your steps matches the clicking of a woman’s heels which is on alternate beats to your heart. You put your foot onto the curb just as the light …

Life-Love #25: A sunny moment on a cold, grey day

Cold weather can be so pleasant. A chill breeze sets your cheeks afire, makes you feel things more acutely. Your muscles contract to warm you, your skin awash in waves upon wave of goose bumps that come with an electric thrill. However, on the odd grey, humid day, your skin can feel a little clammy, …

Life-Love #24: Welcoming someone different from you.

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 …

Life-Love #23: The moment you realise that love is happiness.

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 …

Life-Love #22: Watching the leaves change colour

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 …