Contemplations...

When describing resilience, I often draw on the example of trees. This is because my sense of this inner quality is an embodied one – in terms of both what it means and how it might be fostered. When an object (or human being) is bent out of shape by...

The morning after storm Corrie passed through, my neighbour went out for a run to examine the impact. Her verdict? Carnage. She’d used a similarly potent word after storm Arwen but on my usual walks after that weather event, I’d only been slightly hampered...

In a recent conversation about the painful consequences of certain actions, the word redemption popped into my mind. It’s not part of my everyday vocabulary and so it appeared without the textured understanding that comes from familiarity and regular...

Driving south from Inverness, a roadside sign caught my attention. It declared: ‘Independence is normal’ The context is the campaign to separate Scotland from the UK. As someone who tends towards the solitary and self-sufficient, I truly recognise the...

Recently, I’ve been thinking a lot about disagreement and how it arises. It’s a subject closely connected to my dialogue work – too many conversations begin with good intentions yet end badly as individual agendas collide. It’s evident that one root of...

I’m always searching for persuasive ways to convey the potential of dialogue practices in changing our everyday conversations. While I know, as an experience, the distinctive feel of a conversation shaped by the principles and practices of dialogue, I...