Perhaps now, as a society, we can cultivate a healthier relationship with grief and mourning?

I don’t know about you, but 2020 confronted me with death more than any other year that I remember. And, actually, the majority of those deaths were not from COVID, although I can’t say for sure that the huge stress of major life changes and distance from loved ones didn’t play a role in some of them.

I get the feeling that, as a society, we are not comfortable talking about death and grief. I’m guilty of it, too — when I learn that somebody…

I don’t trust other people to do things right

I have a hard time relaxing when other people are doing things. I am a terrible passenger — a fair number of my friends have snapped at me for cringing, flinching and yelling “red light!” from beside them while they’re trying to concentrate on the road. I hover around other people when they’re cooking, wondering what they’re up to, casually stirring the pot when they look away.

In a team, I was probably a pain the ass. Over the years, I’ve learned to sit back and try to let other people shine, but my usual MO has been to either…

When I was a child, one of my favourite things to do was stare at the night sky. Privileged enough to live out in the countryside, my grandfather would often come sit with me and show me the constellations, the milky way, and together we would look for shooting stars. While we sat there, he would tell me about how far away all those little specks of light were — how we would never be able to reach them in our lifetimes.

He would tell me about how the scene that we were looking at was actually a portal back…

I don’t want to start a debate about climate change, but here are the facts, as far as I know: According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, things are really bad. However, in his controversial paper Deep Adaptation, Professor Jem Bendell claims that the reports are conservative and don’t tell us the full scope of the problem — the very beginning of his report states:

“(My) synthesis leads to my conclusion there will be a near-term collapse in society with serious ramifications for the lives of readers.”

A few weeks ago, Sir David Attenborough (aka natural historian, presenter of…

I’m going to say this before we start: there is no substitute for professional therapy. While some claim that good friendships, exercise, medication, spending time in nature, or their spiritual practice provides them with all the therapy that they need, others have issues that require professional intervention, and in fact trying to “fix yourself” or save money by approaching untrained coaches or ‘lightworkers’ could end up doing more harm than good.

Saying that, it’s 2020 — we’re in the midst of a global pandemic, climate collapse has already started playing out, and mental health issues are skyrocketing. But not everyone…

One of my fondest, clearest memories of my grandmother is from a warm, winter’s day where we had gathered to celebrate her birthday. I remember playing among the trees and the crisp, crushed leaves with my friends and neighbours, while the adults sat around the table laughing, talking and singing, as they usually did.

My grandmother was always smiling and laughing, the kindness radiating through her eyes. She seemed happiest when she was surrounded by people, leading them in song, listening to their woes, guiding a prayer or meditation — in particular, she was one of the ones who would…

And yes, there are people who want to learn it

I went from someone who just happened to speak Welsh to a mini-Youtube star who is able to live in the beautiful city of Prague, mostly from the income that I make from teaching Welsh. How did that happen?

Firstly, what is Welsh?

Wales is part of the UK — while not technically a sovereign nation, it does have its own Senate, flat, capital city, and historical identity. …

Type “travel ruins your life” or something similar into Google, and you’ll find a whole list of articles that claim that travelling has ruined their authors’ ability to live a normal existence. They’re mostly written tongue-in-cheek, coming to the conclusion that yes, travelling means you will never again be able to return to “normal” life, to dull office jobs and conversations about the weather with old friends, but that this destruction of the status quo is ultimately a positive thing that you will be the richer for.

The internet is overflowing with articles and blogs enthusing about how travel will…