It’s wise to look ahead, to anticipate difficulty and consider your response. But it’s a step too far to imagine intractable conflict without a clear hint that this will be so. You stop thinking about ways to defuse or improve a situation, and turn instead to how to deny or avoid it. Changing the world demands influence, not abstention. Kindly, keep going. Continue reading Imagined difficulty

My beloved and I are re-watching Columbo episodes from 1971 and really enjoying watching each protagonist collapse under the weight of ‘just one more thing’. The portrayal of many female characters hasn’t gone unnoticed though. We talked about how some old TV series are full of behaviour that’s unthinkable now, but neither of us really picked up back then. While there’s so much still to … Continue reading Detecting progress

There’s not an ideal world. There’s almost certainly not a perfect solution. Values and principles are academic if you don’t contribute, so what will you do now to make progress? Continue reading Ideals and progress

A colleague told me today that they’ve heard more people have now been vaccinated against Covid than have been infected by it. They didn’t know the numbers, but felt very reassured by this, after struggling with anxiety over the course of the pandemic. They did say that the absolute level of risk hadn’t changed and recognised the numbers of infections were still going up, but … Continue reading Numbers and narratives

I’ve often thought what two, four or six words I’d send back in time to a younger me. Today I settled on six that I like. Learn patience. Experiment more. Keep learning. What would you pick? Continue reading Four words

When I was younger, I made a lot of bad choices. Often in hopes of a good outcome, but an objective observer would’ve seen them for folly. Now, I think it was because I didn’t respect myself enough. Self-respect teaches us not to pin contentedness on a forlorn hope or unrequited love. I’m pleased to be more comfortable with who I am today. To know … Continue reading Respectful choices

I watched a documentary on Minimalism a couple of weeks ago, and loved its message. Can’t really say I loved the documentary. A bit less of the book tour would’ve been thematically consistent, I think. This isn’t the criticism that it may sound! Thinking about the message, alongside the incongruity of what felt like nudge to buy something, helped turn the idea over and over … Continue reading Less would’ve been more

Some days when we go to bed tired, we’re contentedly exhausted. Other times being feels more like we’ve been drained. Is the difference how you spent the day? Did it have purpose? Did you make progress? Do the answers help you choose what work to do and how hard you can push? Course correct by all means, but keep going. Tired isn’t necessarily a bad … Continue reading Tired and content

Just five or six days ago I felt I didn’t have enough time to do the things that form a good self-care routine for me. Having got going again, I’m not sure how I could’ve felt there was no time to spare. If you’re feeling there isn’t time for what you consider a priority, ask yourself if it’s really time you’re in need of. Continue reading Not enough time

I disagreed with a colleague today, on quite an emotive topic. The crux of the issue was what it means to be a ‘trusted supplier’. If something is a very bad idea I feel there has to be latitude to decline new contracts with integrity. To take it because that’s the ‘reliable’ thing to do will, over time, degrade the relationship from partner to merely … Continue reading Trusted to say no