I’m not a religious person but I’m certain that organised religions bring a great deal of joy and comfort to those who follow them. In my darker times I’ve wondered if life might have been easier had I possessed a little faith.

Some of the greatest atrocities and the vilest of behaviors are committed under the banner of religion too of course, but for that’s how life goes — no single force is universally good or bad.

Religious or not there’s much about our lives, our conventions, customs and the things that we do and say that have been shaped…

I took my first tentative steps as an art collector when I bought my first limited edition print.

I chose the piece because I liked how it looked and related to the subject matter — it was a limited edition print of a tour poster for the band The Raconteurs, created by artist Rob Jones. Its rarity value was of secondary importance to me but I’d been schooled by my mother — herself an accomplished artist — that a limited run print is worth paying a little more for. And so I did.

A few years later and I’ve no…

As long as money has existed there have been con-artists trying to trick victims into handing it over. Whether thieves resort to theft, forgery, coercion or deception the effects are the same for those who are scammed — all that changes is the techniques and the technologies that are exploited.

The internet has changed much about life including how thieves attempt to get their hands on our money. What hasn’t altered is the role that human emotions play in the process.

Scams tend to focus on making victims feel a certain way and prey on specific and innate instincts that…

My ex-wife and I didn’t divorce until a few years after parting. But the day my marriage ended is indelibly preserved in my memory —the day we moved out of our family home.

It was 15 years ago when we removed the last of our possessions from the house where we’d lived after marrying, where our second daughter had been born.

She would remain in the town where our daughters — aged three and six — were settled in school. …

In his bestselling book, author Richard Carlson advises that we “don’t sweat the small stuff.” The punchline? That when we zoom out a few levels and look at the bigger picture, “it’s all small stuff.”

As a hook for grabbing the attention of readers, it’s catchy, for sure.

The sentiment probably helps those who are prone to analysis-paralysis — the creators who get bogged down in choosing the perfect word or the ideal colour and prevent themselves from ever shipping their creations.

It might also help those who struggle to get started because their goal seems insurmountable. …

I was late to the Bitcoin party. Since arriving I’ve been determined to enjoy what were left of the good-times.

I’ve listened with rapt attention to those who arrived unfashionably early. I’ve enjoyed the mounting excitement as others arrived after me, until it reached its current crescendo of hands-in-the-air good-times.

I’ve dined hungrily at the buffet of Bitcoin, picking up every tasty morsel of information that I could lay my hands on. I’ve invested what I could afford, all while feeling grateful to at least have had a taste of the good stuff.

At this point I’m slumped in the…

I lay down to sleep on Sunday night with a sense of peaceful contentment and satisfaction — it had been a good weekend.

Plenty of time spent relaxing, reading, and watching a little TV;
A few beers and a takeout meal on Friday evening;
A 10km run on Saturday morning and a couple of walks in the sunshine;
The obligatory Zoom-based quiz with distant family;
Some writing to keep the creative engine ticking over.

All-in-all a solid couple of days of leisure.

My body felt tired but fulfilled. My mind felt energised but at peace. My heart was full.

Amidst…

In an ideal world everything we do would bring the magic out of our minds. We’d leap from our beds inspired by each new day bringing another chance to make a difference through our work — unfortunately few of us feel this way.

As kids we dreamed about what we’d be when we grew up. Few of us ended up fulfilling those childhood fantasies.

A 2012 UK survey reported in the Guardian newspaper showed that 2 in 5 adults say they’ve never achieved their childhood dreams in adulthood. …