Here’s Ed, though I like to call him “Eddie”. He faces more than most of us can imagine. The cerebral palsy has brought with it a life of immense difficulty. Eddie turns 40 soon, and has already surpassed the life expectation of what most doctors gave him as a child. He lives on, fights on, …
Midday on the train, and I gaze with wonder at a baby sitting opposite me. He is possessed of a curiosity and joy, at least I think it is a boy by virtue of what he is dressed in, dark blue and green colours, not that it matters, his humanity preceding his gender. Should it …
There’s something utterly terrifying about the depressed mind, how it ravages the sense of self. Any semblance of self-worth or self-love — I mean the latter not in the narcissistic sense — crumbles, as the mind, perhaps the devil within, shames, blames, abuses and torments. It’s curious how the mind, this great gift and friend, …
The burden of care increases, as my sons’ disease takes its course. Non-ambulant and wheel chair bound, both now struggle to lift their arms. When will they be unable to feed themselves? Might this be the next milestone that me and Klara, their parents, face? Grief is ever-present, as another vital function is taken from …
Culture is not unique to humans, even though they use this notion to mark themselves out as superior to us, their ape cousins. Culture is the stamp of humanity, they proclaim, animals do not possess it – they have the unfortunate habit of forgetting that they too are animals – and there is no tribe …
It is late summer, the sun shines its light on him, his face reflected on the water’s surface, the yellow lilies dwindling, as Luca, my youngest son, sits on the top wooden step leading into the pond, and marvels at the large green dragonfly, which circles and surveys its domain, this great insect, the apex …
How I love this young man, perhaps my greatest teacher. He can quash my anger with his smile, melt any resentment, as he holds my gaze. What he gives me when I hold his stare, to let him witness me, not as his father, but as another human being, full of wonder. There’s a great …
I lie on the decking by the pond, a hot English summer’s afternoon. My brow sweats, my mind churns with dread. A persistent feeling the last few hours… lost, sad, broken. Theodor is away, on summer travels and adventures with his mummy. But I think of him, as I often do, my first born. His …
It is as if I, and a few others, inhabit an alternate universe, when the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, despite being in possession of the most recent reports from the IPCC and United Nations, both of which point to a devastating future should we not immediately curb and cease fossil fuel usage, proclaims …
The most effective and moving film on climate change to date, from someone who has witnessed it firsthand over the past ninety-three years. We are in the midst of the sixth mass extinction, the anthropocene extinction, which we, human beings, are responsible for. Things are dire. I am terrified for future generations. If we carry …