feel it. the thing you don’t want to feel. feel it. and be free. nayirrah waheed I have been curious about humans and liminal spaces for many years now. It was my own life experiences that drew my attention to this concept that was first introduced to the field of anthropology in 1909 by…Continue reading 2020: The Year the World had to Let Go!
Category: Anthropology
When Global Crisis Comes Knocking at our Door …
… you can say “it’s a hoax” and “it will go away”, but like world leaders have found out, this was not the case for COVID-19. A crisis does not go away because some demagogue wishes it so. A crisis like a pandemic knocks at the door, then bashes it in and unleashes hell. COVID-19…Continue reading When Global Crisis Comes Knocking at our Door …
Life Atlas Therapy and the Reclaiming of Precious Memories (Part 2)
“There are, of course, many forms of memory, some of which are constructive, some of which are destructive and some of which are redemptive.” -Fr. Michael Lapsley (The Healing of Memories: An Interview) Dear Reader – if you have not already done so, please read Part 1 of this BLOG post in order to understand…Continue reading Life Atlas Therapy and the Reclaiming of Precious Memories (Part 2)
I Weep and I ‘Remember’
“Whether we and your politicians know it or not, Nature is party to all our deals and decisions, and she has more votes, a longer memory, and a sterner sense of justice than we do.” – Wendell Berry – The walks on the beach are not always pleasant these days. There are mornings when I…Continue reading I Weep and I ‘Remember’
Haunted by Hell: Part 2 – Our Addiction to Retributive Justice
“There are different kinds of justice. Retributive justice is largely Western. The African understanding is far more restorative – not so much to punish as to redress or restore a balance that has been knocked askew.” -Desmond Tutu – Dante’s hell, as discussed in Part 1, fuelled the human imagination. Eternal flames, endless pain, torturous…Continue reading Haunted by Hell: Part 2 – Our Addiction to Retributive Justice
The Table of Life: Despair and Hope
“Despair is the price one pays for self-awareness. Look deeply into life, and you’ll always find despair.” ― Irvin D. Yalom, When Nietzsche Wept – Lately, I find the world increasingly loud and overwhelming. I flinch as I scroll through my various social news feeds: The faces of the destitute that have been stigmatised as…Continue reading The Table of Life: Despair and Hope
Neither Here nor There – The Many Voices of Liminality
‘Jesus, on whom be peace, said This world is a bridge. Pass over it but do not build your dwelling there.’ (Inscribed in Persian on Buland Darwaza, the main gateway to the palace at Fatehpur Sikri, south of Delhi, India by the Moghul emperor Akbar I in 1601) Last year, I had the opportunity…Continue reading Neither Here nor There – The Many Voices of Liminality
Who were the Celts?
“Their aspect is terrifying … their hair is blond, but not naturally so: they bleach it, to this day, artificially, washing it in lime and combing it back from their foreheads. They look like wood-demons, their hair thick and shaggy like a horse’s mane. Some of them are cleanshaven, but others … shave their cheeks…Continue reading Who were the Celts?
Challenging the Formidable Twins: Laziness and Stereotyping
“Once you label me you negate me.” Soren Kiekegaard Sometimes they just creep up on you, don’t they? The associates of Prejudice never sleep. A few years ago, I was travelling home on the train after a very long day at work. I was forcing myself to stay awake even though I was exhausted,…Continue reading Challenging the Formidable Twins: Laziness and Stereotyping
A Tyrant called Should
“Stop Shoulding on yourself!” – Albert Ellis I don’t know how this tyrant found me. Somewhere in the more hazy, early years of my life, it arrived amidst whispers of fears of belonging and identity that are part of human existence. It settled like a squatter in the shaping of who I was becoming.…Continue reading A Tyrant called Should