I recently came across an inspirational TED talk on How Childhood Trauma Affects Health Across a Lifetime, by Doctor Nadine Burke Harris, a pediatrician in southeastern San Francisco. She began to wonder if there were wider reasons for the trends she saw in children developing illnesses and conditions. She said, ‘A lot of kids were […]
The world will keep on improving without me
By September 16, 2015 6 Comments
Last week, I blogged about how the world was actually getting better every day and the importance of having gratitude for that fact. This week, I want to share something to which I give much consideration whenever I reflect on what I am doing. The world is on an unstoppable path of improvement. There are […]
Look How Far We Have Come
By September 8, 2015 6 Comments
For someone like me, who is deeply focussed on helping to create a wonderful future, it is hard to spend much time thinking about the past or the present. This can be deeply challenging for those closest to me and the people I interact with. Living with a perpetual mindset that everything can be greatly […]
The Rebirth of Trust
By September 2, 2015 1 Comment
There was a time when our world was ‘local’. When you knew your neighbour well. When you could let your kids play in the street without fear. When you trusted people. In many ways, we have lost that trust. Even at a local level. Access to global information and the use of negative media to […]
The Impact Pledge
By August 19, 2015 10 Comments
There often comes a time in many people’s lives when they have achieved success, made a great deal of money and they now feel that they want to ‘give back’ to society and to those less fortunate than themselves. But I wonder about the efficacy of philanthropy in general – whereby trusts and foundations are […]
Hygge
By July 8, 2015 10 Comments
I spent the last week in Copenhagen for a family wedding. It is a place I visit often, and it always inspires me in my mission to make my home nation of Guernsey the best place to live on earth by 2020. Denmark has been deemed to be the happiest place to live (in 2013 […]
No Lonely Old Age
By July 1, 2015 7 Comments
I want to tell you about one of my favourite projects in the world, one that inspires me and fills me with hope. It is just one example of community connection that begins to address an important issue preoccupying me at the moment. I truly believe that isolation and loneliness is at the root of […]
The blind man who can see
By May 27, 2015 3 Comments
I recently read a fascinating story that really highlights the arbitrary limits we place on people. And how we limit ourselves. The story that captivated me was of Daniel Kish – the blind man who taught himself to see. Kish has been blind since he was 13 months old, but ‘sees’ his surroundings using tongue […]
The Power of Creativity
By May 13, 2015 4 Comments
I have just spent the weekend with Michael Strand – the subversive potter. He uses his pottery to make an impact on broken systems. One of my favourite projects of his is Cuplomacy, which plans to send each US Senator a non-matching cup and saucer, whether Republican or Democrat. It encourages them to go across […]
If every handshake became a hug
By May 6, 2015 5 Comments
At the beginning of every talk I give, there is a technique I use that helps me get over my fear of public speaking. It’s a quirky trick I came up with after room dynamics were explained to me by a great public speaking coach, David Roylance, who told me: “The first thing you have […]