Lockdowns and subsequent lows The week governments ordered people to remain at home, over two years ago, was one of the toughest moments of the Coronavirus pandemic. On a general population level, there have been multiple moments since then that have caused just as much disruption, if not more so. New lockdowns have been introduced […]
Why in some ways this feels like the toughest period of the pandemic Read More »
I fell for the same Edenistic charms that Melville, Gauguin and Robert Louis Stevenson had all succumbed to. Tahiti, it was then.
Tahitian tales (and the selfish desire to sail away) Read More »
I guess what tribe I belong to can’t only be explained on scientific, or genealogical lines. Maybe I simply shudder in a particular way when I hear the name ‘Adolf Hitler’. Maybe Jews aren’t related just by blood but in our synapses?
It’s just a place (What I’ve learnt about being Jewish in strange new places) Read More »
There’s pride for some of us this Pride Season. For others, such terrible, corrosive shame remains. Worse, prejudice and, yes, punishment remains for countless millions, simply on account of their being lesbian, bi, trans or gay.
Pride, shame and some pride today (and still shame) Read More »
When I was in the Royal Free hospital, recovering from my kidney operation, I needed to search for my story. I was releasing painkillers into my body every five minutes: the pain stabbed at my sides. Sleepy, I thought to myself, ‘why am I here, why have I chosen to donate my kidney, and what comes next?’
We’re all storytellers. You might not know it yet. Read More »
I’ve been called various things throughout my 39 years.
At school I was called ‘Pinocchio’, ‘Igor’ (the character in cartoon, ‘Count Duckula’) and ‘Gonzo’ and various other nicknames, owing to my prominent nose. I now plan to reclaim my family past, reclaim my name from its early 20th century past. I’m coming out as Andrew Kaufman.
What’s in a name? Coming out as Andrew Kaufman Read More »
Memoir can and must be written because each of us has our own created version of the past. We own it, no one else does, no matter how incoherent our history is.
The power of remembering (and not letting others distort our stories) Read More »
As well as providing career coaching and wellness coaching, I am now setting myself up to provide a ‘life story’ service. Put simply, I’m drawing on the extensive body of evidence that demonstrates that storytelling can be good for us.
Why it might be time to tell your story Read More »
What a life of thoughtful reflecting and resetting can do is help us feel more in tune with ourselves. We can reconcile ourselves to our family histories. We can realise not everyone or everything else around us is to blame for how our lives have gone to date. Instead, we can look within and ask ourselves what we’re going to be accountable for in our own futures. We can commit to change.
39, six feet tall, not feeling willowy Read More »
I imagine many of us are feeling unmoored, lost, adrift, at sea. 2020 was not meant to go this way. We weren’t meant to see our lives turned upside down.
Curling up in a Covid World (and yes, taking back control) Read More »