Comforting Thought: We pretend we aren’t vulnerable, but this is an illusion

We pretend we aren’t vulnerable, but this is an illusion. We are incarnated in a delicate body, intertwined in the community of life. Our senses have evolved to be exquisitely tuned to the ever-changing world of pleasure and pain, sweet and sour, gain and loss.

Comforting Thought: Love is not ‘out there’ waiting for you

What my marriage taught me is that real love is only what you give. That’s all. Love is not ‘out there’, waiting for you. It is in you.

Comforting Thought: Procrastination is the beginning of an idea brought to life

What is worthwhile carries the struggle of the maker within it. A piece of art or a creation that is wrought into the shape of earned understanding. Procrastination helps us to be a student of our own reluctance, to understand the hidden darker side of the first enthusiastic idea. To learn what we are afraidContinue reading “Comforting Thought: Procrastination is the beginning of an idea brought to life”

Comforting Thought: Saying sorry will go a long way

Kuoa rongo ake au… Akakoa iti noa te kuru pounamu He taonga tuku iho kia kaha, kia toa, kia māiai, kia mataara kia manawanui I have learned… A thoughtful note to someone you’ve avoided Saying sorry will go a long way

Comforting Thought: Polish is a secret language

“There are countries out there where people speak English. But not like us – we have our own languages hidden in our carry-on luggage, in our cosmetics bags, only ever using English when we travel, and then only in foreign countries, to foreign people. It’s hard to imagine, but English is the real language! OftentimesContinue reading “Comforting Thought: Polish is a secret language”

The activist’s call to action: Believing that people are essentially good…you are compelled to act and resist

If you are an optimist about the capabilities of other people to overcome corruption, evil and injustice in this world, then this also means that you believe resistance and fighting back are worthwhile. This imposes an obligation to act. What makes us so eager to believe in our own corruption? Why does the veneer theoryContinue reading “The activist’s call to action: Believing that people are essentially good…you are compelled to act and resist”

Comforting Thought: Be a restless shark

“Clearly I did not inherit whatever gene it is that makes it so that when you linger in a place you start to put down roots. I’ve tried, a number of times, but my roots have always been shallow; the littlest breeze could always blow me right over. I don’t know how to germinate, I’mContinue reading “Comforting Thought: Be a restless shark”

Comforting thought: Night is the original place where we all come from

“Then you realize: night gives the world back its natural, original appearance, without suger-coating it; day is a flight of fancy, light a slight exception, an oversight, a disruption of the order. The world in fact is dark, almost black. Motionless and cold.”― Olga Tokarczuk, Flights

Comforting Thought: The people we know by smell alone

“Out of the millions of people we live among, most of whom we habitually ignore and are ignored by in turn, there are always a few that hold hostage our capacity for happiness, whom we could recognize by their smell alone and whom we would rather die than be without.”― Alain de Botton, A WeekContinue reading “Comforting Thought: The people we know by smell alone”