In preparation for a class last night I found myself reading the thoughts of Paul Jose, a New Zealand-based American psychologist, on the psychology of happiness. He divided people into two groups – the ‘savourers’ and the ‘dampeners’, their names reflecting their relationship with positive experiences. Very simply, the happier among us savour the positive […]
Wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star at its rising. Matthew 2:1-2 I have always loved Christmas. Loved it. Is it the mischievous child’s grace period? Amongst other things, that was what it symbolised to
My world has changed. Three and half weeks ago I sat with my barely born daughter clutched to my chest and wept tears of joy, relief and awe at the gift that had somehow been delivered safely to our care. While my wife was in recovery I was led to a nursing room and directed
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“Food, glorious food! What wouldn’t we give for that extra bit more – that’s all we live for. Why should we be fated to do nothing but brood on food, magical food, wonderful food, marvellous food, fabulous food, (OLIVER) beautiful food, (BOYS) glorious food!” So go the lyrics to the song from Lionel Bart’s musical
When writing for this blog I typically start with the kernel of an idea in my mind that I trust will carry enough discursive and imaginative heft to justify the thousand or so words that follow. What I have discovered though is that by the time I press ‘publish’ that kernel may not be in
Where does our desire to tell stories come from? What exactly is it that we are trying to articulate and what fuels the conviction that there is an audience for the tales we tell? It’s surely not just a by-product of ego, a desire to impose ourselves on the world, an inner compulsion towards self-assertion.
The brain is a powerful thing. It’s our puppet-master, pulling our strings and leading us along a path we believe we have chosen for ourselves. The puppet-master is responding to a lifetime of familiarity, of intimate inner knowledge that helps it make decisions on our behalf – “This is what they want, this is where
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Today, a short story I wrote in 2011. This is dedicated to open water lovers and friends of the seas and oceans everywhere. The Swimmer We pulled up to the railway track in my old Golf. Visibility had been terrible as we wound our way down the road towards the coast and now that
Has there ever been a Miss World candidate who hasn’t declared her wish for world peace? How admirable, how marvellous, to behold the nobility and compassion of the bikini-clad, doe-eyed tiara-aspirant! Such ambition! Such gravitas! Such shiny teeth! But imagine the ripples through the universe of beauty pageantry if one of these paragons of female
Here’s a question. How angry do you think you are? You can give yourself a mark out of ten if you like – ten being volcanic, uncontainable rage, one being the last glowing ember in the grate. We may agree that the upper end takes lives while the lower end has the potential to give
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