It matters because there does appear to be the collective wisdom to consider the impacts

New parent myself – but more importantly in light of the Syrian refugees placing their children in scary waters in the hope of providing their children a better life in Europe.

Living with mental illness (my own and that of my husband), I am bombarded with jingoistic slogans like ‘R U OK?’, parroted by gurus of ‘Mindfulness’, and by their minions who wave yellow balloons in my face, or consultants who advise employers to host endless parties, or feign empathy in exchange for docility, or friends who assume we need an ideological revamp. If wellbeing crusaders really cared how we felt, they would be quieter and let us have our contemplation; or ask a complete sentence with rounded vowels, including the last two letters of ‘you’. If a person cannot ask ‘How are you feeling?’ without abbreviating it into an acronym, clearly they have no time to hear us. If we had the power to define mental health, perhaps it would differ from current expectations? Who would the ‘sick’ ones be then?

Who gets to be an expat, and what makes them different from an immigrant? Why do we label new arrivals as immigrants with an implied scorn, while choose to label white, wealthy immigrants as expats?

When I was young and read Macbeth In highschool I was obsessed with humanity’s ‘black and deep desires’, and since growing up I’ve realised they are closely woven with emotions that are positive. Examples of this are the idea that suffering is always an element of desire, that control and love are so linked, and pain brings greater joy. As I’ve become more articulate about the tumble of emotions that reside within me like a thunderstorm, I’ve discovered that destruction is a temptation of love. And I won’t to know why.
(PS I am a big fan of Cheryl Strayed and want her to tell me a life story that will explain this).

People who travel on Melbourne trains are now “customers”, we’re no longer “passengers”. At many service organisations, people with a disability are no longer “clients”, they are “customers”. The change of language, driven by Marketing, is leading to many problems.

I believe that we are moving toward a world where altruism is not just a nicety, but a necessity. I’m interested to know what it is that makes people want to help. Is it a case of not knowing that you’re helping? Or is it a more conscious act?

Yay for discovering water on Mars and flying past Pluto and all that, but should we be looking at WTF is happening on our own planet a bit more?

The lyrics are the last thing that matter to me when I listen to a piece of music (if I can even understand them it’s a plus). But for others they seem to be the most important thing of all (weirdos). Why is this so? Probably it doesn’t matter – I’m just curious.

It seems to be a common pattern, and one that creates waste.

I feel like wombats are underrepresented in our top-level fauna.