Notes on a Nervous Planet by Matt Haig is a highly-readable and relatable collection of thoughts and essays on how we can deal with rapid shifts in society that, from an evolutionary perspective, we’re simply not equipped to cope with.
Read MoreWhat now? Reflections on an Up Men writing workshop
We are not heads of state and nobody will change anything based on what we said or wrote, but still it felt like a summit; a creative peak of a barren year to remind us of what can be achieved when people commune, share, listen and explore what the events of the year have meant individually.
Read MoreDown to earth with a bump: feeling let down by Zac Efron
Efron’s sparkling observations about the role of hydration in human health is as far as I’m going to get. The bonfire of my enthusiasm has been extinguished, had water poured on it, in little over an hour of programming. Who watched the final versions of these episodes prior to broadcast and said, “Yep, that’s exactly what we’re aiming for”?
Read MoreSound good? Singing in a group and the Up Men programme
I can share what it’s like to have a broad smile on my face during every session. I can offer a glimpse of what it’s like to be there for the moment that happens during the learning of every new song, when we perform the different harmonies together well, and there’s a collective sense of achievement and satisfaction in the room.
Read MoreBegin again: meditation and the art of being in the moment
Because it is easy to make meditation sound like a cult-ish thing. I’m aware that this post could easily make for strange or even uncomfortable reading. The first few times I tried meditation, I couldn’t stop myself from laughing at times, just because of how weird the whole thing felt.
Read MoreDiscovering Chicago
Almost any building you care to point to has its own story and identity. Whether it's an architect trying to get one over a competitor, an architect trying to outdo him or herself, or an architect responding to some social or physical constraint, there is personality in every pane of glass, every steel support, and every brick or block of limestone.
Read MoreWhat I Worry About When I Talk About Thinking
Being open, being vulnerable, is phenomenally difficult. Even more difficult than we often acknowledge. You can think you’ve got it cracked, only to come up against fresh obstacles and new insecurities - or the exact same old ones, just in a different guise.
Read MoreWhat I Think About When I Worry About Talking (4)
The optimism communicated by much of the book is infectious. Its compelling arguments for a brighter future almost help you to forget chapter one’s alarming summary of how it will take nothing less than significant action to avoid reaching a tipping point for the climate in 20 or 30 years.
Read MoreWhat I Think About When I Worry About Talking (3)
Why can’t I do that?
Maybe because I’m not interested in fine art and haven’t held a paintbrush since finishing a mediocre watercolour of an Italian villa for a school art exam when I was 14?
Why do I do this to myself?
Read MoreWhat I Think About When I Worry About Talking (1)
Our chats were stimulating and inspiring, taking me on rare conversational journeys and making me give voice to my own ideas and beliefs. Having settled into something of a comfortable routine recently, writing only for work, those two conversations left me compelled to commit thoughts to paper. They also left me with an altered perspective.
Read MoreWhen the Dust Refuses to Settle
Remember that this advice comes from people just as flawed as you. We do our best to practice what we preach. We don’t always succeed. But we’re better for trying, and knowing how good the benefits feel inspires us to keep going.
Read MoreReflecting on Man Up
When I told my brother I'd started rehearsals for the performance, he said, "It's not something I'd have expected you to do." He wasn't the only one. But I'd been with Man Up the whole way and, if I'd departed from it at the last, there was no excuse I could have given that I'd ever have been happy or comfortable with.
Read MoreHow are you today?
Appearing vulnerable, especially in certain social circles or in the workplace, is something that many of us feel we can’t do. We may not recognise the feelings to give proper voice to them, but that only makes it more important to be honest with the people around us.
Read MoreRaw Craft and Raw Emotion
Usually, my reaction to celebrity deaths reported in the news is one of detachment. It says a lot, then, that I was genuinely moved and taken aback by Bourdain's death last week. The world felt a poorer place; I felt upset and vulnerable. This didn't seem like something that should have happened to the person I saw in that video.
Read MoreMaking Yourself 'At Home'
The development of homes from single-roomed halls in which every household activity took place to multi-roomed houses is particularly fascinating. In the larger houses of the very wealthy, kitchens and dining rooms would be so far apart that one stately home owner resorted to installing a railway in his property in an effort to deliver food to the table while it was still warm.
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