Dear friend It’s the last month of the year. Today’s letter is only soul. It’s longer than normal and breaks our normal format. It’s more contemplative, a lot more. I felt that as we approach the possibility of pausing for a…
Good morning my friends Please forgive me, I have meandered a little today. I will return to our tighter formula next week. Winter has arrived in the Cape. The days are soaked by long steady rains, interrupted only by moments of…
Some of you have asked me to include the images of the artworks I reference. You want to see the art but don’t want to leave the words. I’m still thinking about that. For now, I want to keep the…
Good morning everyone I am grateful to Buddy Wells for his club The Blue Room. Each city needs a few good music venues. The rent really should be paid by the city, it is – to my mind – a public good. I…
I got a little enthusiastic with this week’s topics, so we’ve got to jump right into it. It’s a bit long today. I think it’s worth it. I hope that you agree. But before we do, we must pause to…
Good morning I have been overwhelmed by the response to last week’s letter. Many of you shared it with people that you care about and they, in turn, shared it. Thank you for all the messages I received. Many of you…
Good morning In Coaching to the Human Soul Alan Sieler cites psychiatrist R.D. Laing’s observation, that “The range of what we think and do is limited by what we fail to notice. And because we fail to notice that we fail to…
Good morning Today is South Africa’s Human Rights Day. In my 6 December letter, I promised to share my reading of Charles van Onselen’s The Night Trains in January. I haven’t been able to find my way into. The year has felt so…
March is Cape Town’s best month. A less generous soul might say that it is the only few weeks of the year where Cape Town’s weather approximates its beauty. This work by Nigerian artist Ayobola Kekere-Ekun, although not about Cape Town, gives…
Good morning everyone Thank you for all the messages I received in response to last week’s letter on burnout. It is clear from the number of messages that I received that everyone is taking strain. I will take cognizance of this…
By now you know that South African Tatjana Schoenmaker has set a new world record for the 200-meter breaststroke. If you haven’t seen the moments after her win, scroll to the 2 min 20 sec mark and watch, it will make your…
A couple of years ago, Ralph Freese Chief Executive Director of the African Leadership Initiative suggested that I would enjoy The Overstory, winner of the 2019 Pulitzer-Prize,. He was right. Central to the book is the insight, that in our…