Of all the qualities inherent to humankind, I think that the two most essential to our collective nature are fear and hope. Standing above greed, love, anger, courage, or even curiosity, it is hope and fear that drive us, that hold sway over all that we have done and all that we might yet do;… Read more »
Emily Dickinson, one of my favourite poets, once wrote that “‘Hope’ is the thing with feathers”. Well, after the results of Tuesday’s U.S. election, I think there are many of us in the world who are feeling well and truly plucked, covered head-to-toe in goose flesh, with the cold November winds howling right up our… Read more »
Time. There is never enough of it, and often too much. There are all sorts of stripes and shades of it. Time that is beautifully wasted discussing soccer teams and foreign films over plates of cake and cups of coffee at the table of a sidewalk café in Paris or Brugge is a very different… Read more »
I’m not saying the apocalypse is upon us, or even necessarily imminent. But, what with one thing and another, it doesn’t feel entirely out of the realm of possibility, either. For all I know, humanity’s best days may be yet to come. Perhaps, outdoing old King Canute, we will find a way to turn back… Read more »
Fear is in the air. This is the season of shadows, of dark and anxious thoughts. Monsters lurk in every corner. The flesh crawls, the blood runs cold, and nightmares rule the night. I only wish I was referring to Halloween. But I am referring, instead, to the weeks leading up to the forthcoming U.S.presidential… Read more »
Freeways, corporate efficiency experts, optical fibre internet, rapid transit, executive MBAs, electric bikes, fast food, instant fashion, and bullet trains. Everything, it seems, is moving at a velocity that’s difficult for the human soul to bear. A friend of mine listens to all audiobooks at 1.5x or 2x speed, so that it sounds like the… Read more »
“Nashville sucks! It’s just like somebody built a theme park in the middle of a slum.” This pronouncement was made by my personal stylist, creative consultant, and frequent traveling companion, the Rt. Honorable Ms. Delilah McQueen, in what I imagine she imagined was a sotto voce fashion, just steps after we exited a massive three-level… Read more »
I was in Manhattan a few days ago, walking down Lexington Avenue, when I spotted one of Elon Musk’s new Cybertrucks stopped at an intersection. It looks even stupider and more bombastic in the real world than it does in the promotional images, which is really saying something. I was tempted to take out my… Read more »
I think, as human beings, we have a tendency to put a disproportionate amount of emphasis on all the big-ticket items that we believe will bring us happiness. The prestigious and lucrative career, the ideal partner, the perfect family, and all the trappings of success. But it’s been my experience that it’s the smaller, more… Read more »
As mentioned in the two columns prior to this one, I find I love the idea of social gatherings far more than the actual events themselves. Not to generalize, but I am convinced absolutely everybody else on Earth feels exactly the same. So, as my modest way of promoting conviviality, global peace, and universal joy,… Read more »