We are born into perilous states, and we end by dying – so, have a nice day! – James Hollis I am a life coach. That wasn’t easy to say. I can’t help but look at the life coaching industry with skepticism: so much flakiness and shim-shammery dished out in slick sales pitches. And yet … More on life coaching
I’ve done some work with rocks and what I’ve learned is that their primary consciousness is of silence. It’s much easier to feel that with a boulder. You might try this, go find some boulders, the bigger the better, and feel them blasting silence. When you tune into it it’s really powerful… A pebble is … More on silence and otherwise
“Singing brings joy to people. You just need to look at people’s faces when they sing.” Maryam Ghaffari, founder of Got Soul choir It’s becoming more and more difficult these days to look at the world around me with joy. As the problems mount, and the news drips out its steady beat of grim stories … More music and joy
My friend Steve of 21soul and I have both experienced recent bereavements, though in very different ways (a close family member in his case, a beloved family pet in mine.) Both deaths involved the culmination of a long period of illness and decline. The heaviness of the sickroom so gradually accumulates that one doesn’t realise … More on soulmaking
In Tristimania Jay Griffiths tells the story of her struggle with a year-long episode of mental disturbance caused by bipolar disorder. Struggle indeed: the entire narrative bristles with her tension, bitten-down fingernails of reason digging down to keep a thin grip on sanity. She writes beautifully, skillfully, documenting every subtle aspect of her plight with … More traveling beyond on the bipolar express
Today marks the launch of Unpsychology Magazine Issue 4: the Climate Minds Anthology. When Unpsychology founder Steve Thorp invited me to co-edit this issue, I was delighted with the opportunity to get involved in a project with so much heart and soul behind it. It touched me especially to help address the elephant in the … More environ-mental health
Two women have been on my mind today. I’ve not met either of them, but they have both been instrumental in teaching me about feminism and about compassion. I toast them both, in honour of International Women’s Day. Woman #1 was an online critic of mine. Her tone was scathing, I would say withering. The … More two women
When my daughter was 10 months old, as I held her in my arms – in a bookshop in Louisville Kentucky – she was touched inappropriately by a man in late middle age. He approached us and commented amiably on her sweetness and I smiled in return and made some innocuous reply. Then I realised … More me and my daughter too
Edinburgh in August becomes a swarm of performers and tourists and buskers, there are posters and flyers plastered onto every available fence or lamppost, and the pavements are littered with dropped handbills and ticket stubs. With hundreds upon hundreds of shows and concerts and talks and gigs on offer, it can be overwhelming. Choosing what … More Frankie Vah meets Laurie Penny
I grew up in a midwestern American suburb, with neat rows of houses each on their own patch of tidy lawn. It was still a fairly young housing development, perhaps twenty years old. The trees of the neighbourhood were beyond the sapling stage but not yet grown to their full height or strength. Ornamental bushes … More climate minds
