“To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history based not only on cruelty but also on compassion, sacrifice, courage and kindness. “What we choose to emphasise in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst,Continue reading “Comforting Thought: Live now, as we think human beings should live @jhalifax”
Tag Archives: intelligence
Comforting Thought: Loneliness is a doorway to belonging
Loneliness is a place from which we pay real attention to the voices other than our own. Being alone allows us to find the healing power in the other. The shortest line of an email can heal, embolden, welcome home and enliven the most isolated identity. Lonely human beings are lonely because they are madeContinue reading “Comforting Thought: Loneliness is a doorway to belonging”
Comforting Thought: Doubt is a virtue, certainty is blinkered tunnel vision
If I know, then I don’t need to listen “In our risky society, you have to be sure about things to be heard. You need to issue out confident proclamations: ‘Research shows that serotonin deficiency in the brain is the cause of depression’; ‘We now finally have a diagnostic system that deals with mental illness.Continue reading “Comforting Thought: Doubt is a virtue, certainty is blinkered tunnel vision”
Comforting Thought: ‘Being yourself’ has no intrinsic value whatsoever
It is without a doubt better to be an inauthentic Mother Theresa than to be an authentic Anders Breivik. Indeed, being yourself has no intrinsic value whatsoever. “On the other hand, what does have intrinsic value is fulfilling your obligations to the people around you, with whom you are connected (i.e. doing your duty). WhetherContinue reading “Comforting Thought: ‘Being yourself’ has no intrinsic value whatsoever”
Art shows us that not all scars are ugly
Art has a strange negotiating ability between people, including people who never meet and yet who infiltrate and enrich each other’s lives. It create intimacys; it does have a way of healing wounds, and better yet of making it apparent that not all wounds need healing and not all scars are ugly.
Book Review: Into the Silent Land by Paul Broks
Genre: Non-fiction, Neuropsychology, psychology. Rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Publisher: Allen and Unwin *No spoilers. Into the Silent Land is a non-fiction book about neuropsychology that explores the vast and unknowable terrain of people’s minds. Paul Broks is an English neuropsychologist and writer. This book was shortlisted for the Guardian First Book award. InContinue reading “Book Review: Into the Silent Land by Paul Broks”
Book Review: The Memory Code by Lynne Kelly
Genre: Non-fiction, archaeology, history. Rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Publisher: Pegasus Books Historian and writer Lynne Kelly has created a fascinating book with a realistic theory its heart – that ancient monuments – Stonehenge, the Ring of Brodgar and also smaller hand-held objects (Lukasa, Coolamon) are actually memory aids. She believes that these objects largeContinue reading “Book Review: The Memory Code by Lynne Kelly”
Book Review: Consolations: The Solace, Nourishment & Underlying Meaning of Everyday Words by David Whyte
Genre: Non-fiction, Spirituality, Philosophy Rating: 🌟 🌟 🌟 1/2 stars *Contains no spoilers In this slim and elegant volume of philosophy and inspiration, writer David Whyte tackles the big topics and words that rarely get any airtime in our society, the kinds of things that haunt people but that are difficult to resolve and soContinue reading “Book Review: Consolations: The Solace, Nourishment & Underlying Meaning of Everyday Words by David Whyte”
Book Review: How to be A Good Creature: A Memoir in Thirteen Animals by Sy Montgomery
Genre: Non-fiction, conservation, nature, spirituality. Publisher: HMH Books Rating: 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 *No spoilers This is an extra special book. It’s filled with nourishing and kind-hearted stories of one woman’s relationships with a lifetime’s worth of unique and amazing creatures. Author Sy Montgomery’s relationships with animals mirrors so many other people’s stories andContinue reading “Book Review: How to be A Good Creature: A Memoir in Thirteen Animals by Sy Montgomery”
Comforting Thought: The appetites of the soul by Aldous Huxley
Two great appetites of the soul – the urge to independence and self-determination and the urge to self-transcendence – were fused with, and interpreted in the light of, a third – the urge to worship.~ Aldous Huxley, The Doors of Perception and Heaven & Hell We live together, we act on, and react to, oneContinue reading “Comforting Thought: The appetites of the soul by Aldous Huxley”
