The question of whether we can make a difference in the world seemed particularly important as I walked through Plaka on Monday
Detroit state of mind
Perhaps one of the most important things about Charlie LeDuff’s book on the former boom town is how much he is changed by what he sees
Will the revolution will be feminised?
Talking to Nieves and Maria in Cafe Molar, it struck me that something revolutionary could be happening, that Spain’s women could be both visible, and fully involved, in shaping the country’s history
The process of recovery
After loss there is a need to retreat and reflect before deciding what path to take towards the future, but nothing in the culture of Westminster politics appear to allow for this
Breathing space
Sitting outside The Black Lab in Clapham, enjoying a cup of coffee on a sunny day, it seems that loss has left me entirely out of sync with the rest of the world
From a distance…
With plenty of time to read and think while away in Yorkshire, I thought a lot about the appeal of soulful, brooding artists like Ian Curtis and the young wife who he treated with increasing disdain
Awakening the spirit of attention and love
I hope that, ultimately, my experience of grief will enable me to be more attentive to what Simone Weil describes as the “silent cry, which sounds only in the secret heart” of the afflicted
Capitalism and women’s discontents
The words Marilena Simiti used often to describe people’s state of mind in Greece when I met her at Filion were ‘anxiety’, ‘resignation’ and ‘depression’
The art of belonging
Walking around Athens, feeling that I don’t belong anywhere, I found myself drawn to the familiar Starbucks logo
On a road to nowhere..?
Our relationship to the future requires an understanding of the past, but we may need to go further back and deeper, before we can start imagining a better one