January 29th 2026 The waters of our soul The waters of our soul The ocean never lies One day calm The next enraged Home to a world of worlds Pretty, then deadly She will embrace you, swallow you or spit you out And in her depths, currents move That few see For her surface entrances The Ocean never lies She is the waters of our soul. Written June 18th 2012 Photo Taken January 29th, 2020, Article published January 29th 2026 Were you forwarded this email? Get on the list. To ONLY receive Beauty...
2 days ago • 1 min read
January 28th 2026 Happiness and despair, complementary pairs Happiness and despair, complementary pairs Much has been written about happiness in recent times. While I am a fan of being happy, why place the search for happiness at the centre of our existence? For one to know true happiness, one must also know the depths of despair. Yet we avoid despair, and when we are in despair, we see ourselves as if we have a nasty disease. Yet it is through the lens of sadness and despair that we find...
3 days ago • 1 min read
January 27th 2026 Crying over a chicken Crying over a chicken I am howling with grief as I write this. We had to euthanise little Stephanie, the chicken. She was such a fighter. One of her legs did not work, for a reason not known to us. We hand-fed her for nearly a week. And still she persisted. Even after being attacked by a huge goanna. The shock would have killed most animals of her size. I am aware that my grief is a flood of tears from all the grief of these past two months. I watched...
4 days ago • 1 min read
January 26th 2026 There is too much to take in There is too much to take in My heart is broken. There is too much to take in. In random order… The recent death of my father and his wife and all that comes with that. The terrible murders of two people in Minnesota and the knife-edge that exists politically, where people are goaded by the government to incitement to riot, as a desired outcome. Today in Australia, some call it Australia Day. Others call it invasion day, as on the day in 1788,...
5 days ago • 1 min read
January 25th 2026 A hierarchy of grief A hierarchy of grief Acceptable grief for some. Nothing for others. The asymmetry is the injustice. In my country, domestic violence kills nearly two women a week. In the state of New South Wales, there were 12 deaths of our indigenous people in custody in 2025. Not the front of the news. No rush back to Parliament to amend laws. No minutes’ silence. Total silence. The hierarchy of grief divides us. It reinforces a world where some people are seemingly...
6 days ago • 1 min read
January 24th 2026 Kleptocracy Kleptocracy Let us call it what it actually is. A kleptocracy. To rule by a class of thieves. Coined in the early 19th century, this term describes a government where leaders abuse political power to personally embezzle or expropriate a nation’s wealth. As the brilliant and prescient Sarah Kendzior has written, Trump is a kleptocrat more than a fascist. He is only interested in stealing all he can for himself, his family and his inner sanctum. He cares not a wit...
7 days ago • 1 min read
January 23rd 2026 Finding the Strength Finding the strength I think of the women in Gaza who have been under siege for two years (and all the years before), almost certainly homeless, almost certainly moving from place to place seeking sanctuary for themselves and their children. I think of the men and women on the front lines of Ukraine, 4 years into a war they didn’t ask for. I think of the children around the world facing violence at home every day. I think of those people carrying the...
8 days ago • 1 min read
January 22nd 2026 Ludicrous Ludicrous Imagine you are a community or city, and someone from far across the oceans insists they know better how to run your community or city. They have no interest in consulting you, asking what you think, or even being open to the potential that your community knows how it wants to live, work and build a life and future. They think they know best. Or, they simply do not care. Or, they have an ulterior motive – they want something you have. This is the scenario...
9 days ago • 1 min read
January 21st 2026 Buying entry to the castle Buying entry to the castle I have come to regard the Nobel Peace Prize as stupid tokenism. When the recent winner gave her prize to Donald Trump, it was clear she was seeking to fawn her way into power in Venezuela. Selling our souls. Another form of prostitution. (With no disrespect to the working prostitutes of the world, who know exactly who they are and what they are doing, and therefore are far more honest than the countless examples of...
10 days ago • 1 min read