I am still really taken with the idea of social isolation as the cause of many of the problems in the world today, as I discussed in my recent blog post. I want to follow on from this by drawing attention to the real causes of addiction and the Rat Park experiments from the 1970s, […]
The Consciousness Revolution
By June 10, 2015 14 Comments
I am unapologetic utopian. I have complete faith that we can collectively create an incredible world in a relatively short period of time. The truth is – we have to. Humanity stands on the edge of the abyss. We face huge existential threats now: from the impending collapse of the global currency system, to the […]
Isolation
By June 3, 2015 10 Comments
‘Isolation’ – this is the word that an unidentified graffiti artist in my home nation sprayed on all the green telecoms cabinets, some years ago. It is an art project that goes unnoticed and unmentioned, but every time I see it and read it, it resonates deeply with me. It haunts me in some way. […]
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 […]
One Candle
By April 29, 2015 4 Comments
This week, I turned 39. I have always found birthdays pretty odd – arbitrarily celebrating days because of a particular orbit of a particular planet around a particular star. In relation to everything else that’s happening in the universe, it is a pretty odd phenomenon, to be honest. As someone who tries to have a […]
The Skunk Works
By April 22, 2015 4 Comments
To take bold steps, to achieve audacious goals, and to cope with rapidly changing times – for me, every organisation, and individual, should be creating their own skunkworks. What do I mean by ‘skunkworks’? To explain its name, I need to go back to World War II. As air battles raged and America felt the […]
Is Monogamy Bad For Your Health?
By April 15, 2015 15 Comments
It has been a while since I have written a post that takes me beyond my own comfort zone. It may take many others beyond theirs, as well! Not since I took on writing on the subject of religion have I felt challenged like this. Monogamy and marriage are, for the majority of people, an […]
Fixing The Broken Triangle
By April 8, 2015 4 Comments
There is a broken triangle in my community – and in most communities around the world, in fact. The relationship between people, politics and the media is broken. Nobody is happy. Each one is dissatisfied with the other. And the trouble is, the breakdown is getting worse and worse. Our communities are as unhappy and […]