I moved to Cayman and immediately felt at home on a small island and found a blend of over one hundred nationalities.
Writing I Love
We can all be refugees
In memory of Benjamin Zephaniah, the brilliant “We Refugees” poet, who passed away this week. His passion for equality unites us all.
Joy and wonder through untranslatable words
I simply love untranslatable words, by which I mean both words that have meanings that cannot readily be simplified in definition, and also words from…
Land the plane
Consider how different your experience of the world might be if you engaged in every activity with the attention you might give to landing a…
Be Curious and Learn Widely
Learning widely aids the ability to both imagine and to connect the dots. To be imaginative takes a variety of thinking and voracious curiosity in…
Different forms of intelligence
The truth is, there are different forms of intelligence. Multiple paths to wisdom. And information is not the same thing as knowledge.
Read great books twice
The list of great books I have read twice is long, so today I will give you some that I have read more than twice,…
Write what you don’t know
Write what you don’t know yet. Write what you sincerely care about. Write what your heart boldly tells you to write even though your mind…
These are the better days
We spend our whole lives searching for better days. These are the better days.
Some ideas may resonate
Some ideas may resonate. Others may not. A few may awaken an inner knowing you forgot you had. Use what’s helpful. Let go of the…
Exquisite writing has Unparalleled Beauty
I leave you today with a passage of Cormac McCarthy’s writing: exquisite writing of unparalleled beauty indeed.
Happiness in the simple things
It is easy to take moments for granted, but we can choose to find happiness in the simplest of things.
Balancing the Intuitive and Rational Minds
The intuitive mind is a sacred gift. The rational mind is a faithful servant. This phrase from Iain McGilchrist captures the essence of his work…
Speaking truth to stupid
Words matter, and stories matter. Oh, and what a line “speaking truth to stupid” is! May you enjoy some beautiful words and moving stories today.
Buy the damn book
This is one of the page-long chapters in Nick Parker’s “On Reading”, a book that changed my relationship with books and reading.
Leadership, vulnerability and the wildness and preciousness of life
Today is a guest post from Melissa Case: Leadership, vulnerability, and the wildness and preciousness of life.
Alan Watts and knowing what is not so
Alan Watts, from the beautiful small hardback “There is never anything but the present – & other inspiring words of Wisdom”
The only way to avoid criticism
Aristotle puts it best: “There is only one way to avoid criticism: do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing”. I choose instead #BeMoreYou.
Writing is a Behaviour
Writing is a behaviour. It is something I do, otherwise the crush of thoughts in my head would have nowhere else to go. If writing…
Connection is the feeling of landing in the present tense
Kae Tempest Around three years ago on this blog, I wrote: "the longest writing. can be one line", itself a line from poet Nayyirah Waheed, and containing multiple powerful single-line texts. This week Roland Harwood of WeAreLiminal shared this with me: Connection is...
Trust is greater than fear. Fear is the Mind-Killer.
So, for today, I give you a key passage from Dune around transcending fear, then close with my favourite quote of all time, from Marianne…
Those who know it do not speak about it
Verse 56 of the Tao te Ching translates to: Those who know it do not speak about it. Those who speak about it do not know it. Anna Kiesenhofer winning the 2021 Olympic Road Race My Twitter profile reads: Sounding Board, Dad, FINA Referee (not in that order). Measure...
It’s just a ride
Earlier this week I had kind of a "Bill Hicks" sort of day, existentially pondering on the point of life and where we find meaning. Thinking of the mighty Bill Hicks I remember two things and both of them re-centre me, always. First, life is about the difference we...
The simple things are also the most extraordinary things
“The simple things are also the most extraordinary things, and only the wise can see them.”from "The Alchemist" by Paolo Coelho, absolutely one of my very favourite books Yesterday my riding buddy and I went out exploring for a couple of hours, routing around new...
Deep connections going beyond conventions
I'm deeply grateful for those deep connections that come to effortlessly blend business and friendship, they enrich my life in all facets. “I understand now that boundaries between noise and sound are conventions. All boundaries are conventions, waiting to be...
Apricity – the warmth of the sun in Winter
Apricity - the warmth of the sun in Winter. Regular readers of this daily blog know how much I love beautiful language, words, their etymology This week am reminded of the word apricity, dervied from Latin and meaning the feeling of the warmth of the sun in Winter....
Write to discover your thoughts
Write to discover your thoughts. Exoskeleton to give strength, from the movie Elysium I am often asked what my processes/systems/habits for writing daily are, most recently by Rick Carabba of Brainbank, so this is for you, Rick, as my reply explained that, well, I...
Nothing is finished
Wabi Sabi: Nothing lasts, nothing is finished, nothing is perfect, and therein lies its beauty. Courtesy Sketchplanations, words from Wabi Sabi Simple An episode from a BBC radio series "The Death of Nuance" starts out with a list of "untranslatable" words, reminding...
The Hill we Climb
Amanda Gorman, the youngest inaugural poet in history, shared her poem, The Hill we Climb, at the inauguration of President Joe Biden. For there is always light,if only we’re brave enough to see it.If only we’re brave enough to be it.Amanda Gorman, The Hill we Climb...
The gift of Time
This reminds me of my late grandfathers old watch. One of my greatest treasures was the gift of time we spent together. What will you choose to do with the gift of time this holiday season? For many of us our Christmas holiday celebrations will be much simple, much...
What opportunities do you see in your challenges?
My favourite all time quote by the author of Man's Search for Meaning Today in London it is cold, wet, dark. The sun has disappeared and, when the grey light appears, it does so for only a fleeting part of the day at this time of least daylight. We are also, as we...
Can fear be beneficial?
Apolo Ohno, Olympic Gold Medallist, yawning before the start of a race. This week I was part of a terrific group looking at how fear can hold entrepreneurs back from innovation. One person asked, around getting us to take action, to innovate: "can fear be helpful?" My...
Probably the best joke I’ve read all week
Curating a brilliant joke from the latest weekly newsletter from Nick Parker. Bleak, eh? Sunday morning, sitting at my desk (you know, the cool Victorian writing desk from earlier blogs?) at 10am watching the rain pour down outside on a bleak day that can't decide if...
It is the questions, not the answers, that truly matter.
It is the questions, not the answers, that truly matter. If you "get" this image, you are clearly a fan of one of the ultimate cult novels, "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" by Douglas Adams. So many life lessons (who knew towels were so important?), including:...
Only love can drive out hate
Only love can drive out hate “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” This morning I wake up to the US Election news. Whatever the final result my heart sinks to be reminded that around half of...
The Menu is Not the Meal
As we move into winter in this "Pandemic now", a key focus for us (and in my writing) is on "Proactive Resilience". Some thoughts today to support each of us with our resilience. I have been musing recently in my daily posts around layers of context and language. This...