January 5th 2026 How we grow up How we grow up We hold a view, opinion or perspective. We hold it tight. It informs our beliefs, actions and choices. The stronger the view or opinion holds us, the more fiercely we protect it from being revealed as a lie. Cracks appear. Small at first. Things do not stack up. We deny. Ignore. Smudge over. Cracks persist. They reach a dimension that defies ignorance. We peek into the chasm. The process of confrontation is hard. Brutal. Dreams and stories are...
1 day ago • 1 min read
January 4th 2026 The greater force The greater force The water is calm. The world is ripping apart. Bullies bully. In the current environment, the excuse for bullying is flimsy at best. But it matters not. People get away with their bullying because we let them. It always starts small. That first Little Atrocity. (https://syntropic.world/little-atrocities-the-path-from-integrity-to-self-deception-and-bad-business/)I have been accused, more than once, of being too pedantic, too particular,...
3 days ago • 1 min read
January 3rd 2026 Nothing is forever Nothing is forever Dark and gloomy are the clouds. The ocean is quiet, resting. The cooler temperatures are welcome. Life is tenuous. Yesterday, I had a Clean Communication (https://syntropic.world/clean-communication-living-and-working-light/) conversation with my 92-year-old father. It was complete for me. No residue at all, which means, simply, that I had not a whisker of lingering charge. While there was rage in my words, it felt good to speak them....
4 days ago • 1 min read
January 2nd 2026 Finding good Finding good New York City’s first Muslim and South Asian mayor was sworn in yesterday. I am a fan. Mayor Mamdani said, after winning the election, I also think that we have found exactly the way to defeat organised money, which is organised people. Organised people. That is us. You. Me. People who care for all-human justice. People who have the courage to stand against oppression, exploitation, racism, and bigotry, even at great cost. Valarie Kaur organises...
5 days ago • 1 min read
January 1st 2026 Never perfect Never perfect Nine years ago today, I started writing this daily blog. I made a commitment to write every day for one year. I have missed a few days, here and there. I may miss more going forward. Many times, the articles I hesitated to post are the ones that get the most comments. I have learned to write and publish. Never perfect. I know the power of small steps taken every day. The accumulated effects. Last year, I wrote 102, 028 words. Easily a good-sized...
6 days ago • 2 min read
December 31st 2025 What cleaning legacy do you want to leave What cleaning legacy do you want to leave I am supposed to write something smart on this last day of 2025. But I am out of smarts. Yesterday, my sister, her husband, my daughter and my partner spent a day cleaning the home – if you could call it that – of my 92-year-old father and his recently deceased wife. This on top of three full days of cleaning before this. They were both hoarders and clearly didn’t care enough about cleaning....
7 days ago • 2 min read
December 30th 2025 Hussam Abu Safiya Hussam Abu Safiya Has been held in detention for over a year. A pediatrician. No known charge. Held in unknown places, treated in an unknown way. By a regime that is known to detain health workers, a regime that is known to rape prisoners and then insist on the rapists not being charged. A regime that seizes the opportunity of Gaza as a distraction to seize more territory in the West Bank. A regime that refuses foreign journalists access to Gaza, as if...
8 days ago • 1 min read
December 29th 2025 I don’t feel like it I don’t feel like it This is the threshold question of life. An inflection point that determines character. When we do not feel like doing it, taking action, smiling when we are lost in despair because we are in customer service (and we are all in customer service), completing the task, whatever it is – what choice do we make? Are we able to dig deep? Or do we capitulate to the lazy, lacking responsibility persona? Sometimes, though rarely, not doing...
9 days ago • 1 min read
December 28th 2025 Digital despair Digital despair Digital despair is a new and sophisticated tool of class domination, where algorithms and artificial intelligence are methodically and imperceptibly used over time to spread content that fosters feelings of helplessness and resignation. Rezgar Akrawi Over the last few days, I have deliberately deleted almost every article in my news feed. I turned off the news radio and stopped any form of scrolling. I have no idea what is going on outside of...
10 days ago • 1 min read