Comforting Thought: Disruptive Creators Versus Custodians & Curators

“If we were all disruptive artists all the time – nothing in society would be coherent. No one would be obliged to do anything other than follow whatever short term whims took their fancy. Fortunately- many people are instead curators. Those who set up permanent exhibitions based on unifying themes and help to rein inContinue reading “Comforting Thought: Disruptive Creators Versus Custodians & Curators”

Film Review: Sensitive

Are you someone who blocks your ears when you hear the emergency services drive past? Are you someone who gets freaked out in crowds? Do you seem to intuit and understand other people and all of their problems in a very sophisticated way, without really trying? Do you easily take on the energy of otherContinue reading “Film Review: Sensitive”

Celestial ceilings and soaring skies in Poland

Poland in the summer is filled with enveloping sunlight, as bright and life affirming as a hug. Vibrant life, bees and flies take a circuitous route through fields of barley, poppies and wheat in the countryside. The air filled with drifting dandelion and pollen. A cacophany of bird song fills the countryside accompanied by aContinue reading “Celestial ceilings and soaring skies in Poland”

Intricate and endearing chirimen crafts in Kyoto

What is Chirimen? Chirimen is a beautiful and intricate weaving technique that was developed in the late 16th century in Japan. Silk is folded to generate soft wrinkles in a technique called chirimen. According to a pamphlet I picked up from the Chirimen Craft Museum in Arashiyama, “the wrinkles are created by alternating two typesContinue reading “Intricate and endearing chirimen crafts in Kyoto”

Arriving at your own door by Derek Walcott

The time will comewhen, with elationyou will greet yourself arrivingat your own door, in your own mirrorand each will smile at the other’s welcome, and say, sit here. Eat.You will love again the stranger who was your self.Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heartto itself, to the stranger who has loved you all yourContinue reading “Arriving at your own door by Derek Walcott”

Travel: Among the Irish Faeries and Norse Gods

Many years ago, I went hiking in Ireland in Glendalough I saw some magical landscapes. Ireland has a beautiful soft light in the summer. The diffused sunlight is speckled with clouds that pass over the vast valleys and mountain-sides. It’s possible to sit there all day and just watch the way the light travels overContinue reading “Travel: Among the Irish Faeries and Norse Gods”

Comforting thought: You shouldn’t want it all

You shouldn’t want it all by Piet Hein You shouldn’t want it all You are only one part You own a world in the world You need to make it whole Choose just one path, and be as one with it. Other paths must wait. We always come back. Don’t hide from troubles. Confront themContinue reading “Comforting thought: You shouldn’t want it all”

Comforting Thought: In adversity, we show our true colours

“If you want to get an idea of a friend’s temperament, ethics, and personal elegance, you need to look at him under the tests of severe circumstances, not under the regular rosy glow of daily life.”
― Nassim Nicholas Taleb, The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable