Syntropic World - a new operating system for changemakers with a reverence for all life
Beauty of Beginnings - January 30th - Normal
NormalNormal What is normal, I ask myself? Is there such a thing? When we were younger, we took more risks. As we age, this little rock of fear finds its way into our architecture. We don’t jump. Climb. Learn a new skill. Or throw caution to the wind. Normal is a rollercoaster. The beauty of age is that most people who make it past five decades have the scars of life. We know that life serves up horror, hardship, breakdown, injustice, cruelty. Often all on the same plate at the same time. We know joy because we know despair. We laugh, even as everything is destroyed. Not because it’s funny, but because laughing is sanity against the impossible. In my thirties, the hardship was real, the textures and contours different. I endured and became richer in every way because of the experience. In my fifties, the hardship was real, the textures and contours were different yet again. At some point in time, wisdom has us realise that the hardship is not personal. Universe, God or the machine doesn’t have it in for you. Life is. Normal is everything. Not smooth. If we take the lesson and learn, there is great value to be found in the hardship. How we respond is where the richness is found. Yesterday evening, in tears of frustration at a tech issue that was not of my doing and that had occupied the entirety of my day, I said to the support person, I cannot do this anymore. This issue is taking away from what is most precious. Evening time with my beloved. The tears and frustration were compounded by months of stress and frustration. The issue remained unresolved. I pulled myself away. Precious moments were being lost, and the price was too high. What is normal? Perhaps the truer question is, when will there be some peace? Or, when will these times of intensity settle again? Photo Taken January 30th, 2026, Article published January 30th 2026
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Syntropic World
Syntropic World - a new operating system for changemakers with a reverence for all life
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...
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...
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...