Unique in all the World

I detest the xenophobic politics sprouting up everywhere these days. Nature thrives on diversity and all areas of society do too. If you work in a team you don’t want everyone to think the same way. Well you don’t if you want to promote creativity, innovation and resilience. You do if you want to impose conformity and control. If you want an institution, whether a school, university, health service or company, diversity is essential for adaptation and survival....

Xenophobic politics I detest the xenophobic politics sprouting up everywhere these days. Nature thrives on diversity and all areas of society do too. If you work in a team you don’t want everyone to think the same way…

We need more love in this world. Love is a word we can use too easily (“I love chocolate”) and/or not enough (how often do you tell your loved ones that you love them?) But I reckon it’s at the foundation and the core of a good life, of a good society, of a good relationship. I’m thinking of the love we feel and give without any expectation of return....

Love We need more love in this world. Love is a word we can use too easily (“I love chocolate”) and/or not enough (how often do you tell your loved ones that you love them?) But I reckon it’s at the fou…

I find it pretty depressing how immigration is presented as a problem in so many countries. It seems every far right political group on the planet wants to build walls around their own country and keep any foreigners out. Why? Because people who aren't born in the country where they now live are a problem to be solved? Personally, as an immigrant myself, I think everyone who live in the same street, the same village, town, or city, the same country even, should be treated equally....

What’s the problem? Immigration or integration? I find it pretty depressing how immigration is presented as a problem in so many countries. It seems every far right political group on the planet wants to build walls around their own country and …

All my working life I practised Medicine as holistically as I could. I never made sense to me to split a human being into parts, particularly into a "mental" part and a "body" part. I was trained to practice holistically, even if my teachers rarely used that word. They taught me to listen to a person's story, to listen with empathy and without judgement, in order to understand their illness, to make a good diagnosis and to plan what investigations and treatments should be considered....

Holistic All my working life I practised Medicine as holistically as I could. I never made sense to me to split a human being into parts, particularly into a “mental” part and a “body& #822…

I've read that we live in an attention economy. Marketers, producers, companies and individuals are all competing for our attention. They pay the social media companies to promote themselves to us using attention grabbing, and attention holding tools and techniques. "Influencers" can only influence if they attract attention, so they do whatever they need to do in order to achieve that goal....

Paying attention I’ve read that we live in an attention economy. Marketers, producers, companies and individuals are all competing for our attention. They pay the social media companies to promote themselves …

"Informed consent" is a fundamental principle of good, ethical, medical practice. In the UK, the General Medical Council has specific guidance about informed consent in its guide to shared decision making, which begins - This guidance explains that the exchange of information between doctor and patient is essential to good decision making. Serious harm can result if patients are not listened to, or if they are not given the information they need - and time and support to understand it - so they can make informed decisions about their care....

Informed consent “Informed consent” is a fundamental principle of good, ethical, medical practice. In the UK, the General Medical Council has specific guidance about informed consent in its guide to sha…

I guess war has always been mass murder. After all, every war involves at least one group of human beings killing another group of human beings. In fact, if the killing was one way, just one group being slaughtered by another, then we'd call it "genocide", but in war, both groups kill others who belong to the other group. Who wins?...

War is mass murder I guess war has always been mass murder. After all, every war involves at least one group of human beings killing another group of human beings. In fact, if the killing was one way, just one group …

Last year I found a walnut under the earth when I was weeding. It had a small pale green root (or stalk? Who knows?) sticking out of one end so I took it and planted it in a pot. A few weeks later I had a tiny tree with a few delicate leaves on the top, so I transplanted it into the forest area of the garden and put a little fence around it....

Dead or alive? Last year I found a walnut under the earth when I was weeding. It had a small pale green root (or stalk? Who knows?) sticking out of one end so I took it and planted it in a pot. A few weeks later …

It's not uncommon for human beings to want to fly. I know we've partially met that desire through technology by inventing machines which can fly, but we can't fly the way a bird can fly. We can't just leap up and head off into the blue mountains. We can't soar above the forests and the oceans. But we imagine it would be pretty great if we could....

The desire to fly It’s not uncommon for human beings to want to fly. I know we’ve partially met that desire through technology by inventing machines which can fly, but we can’t fly the way a bird c…

I read a report in the Guardian recently. It was about the use of AI by the Israeli army. One of the officers was quoted saying this - You don’t want to waste expensive bombs on unimportant people – it’s very expensive for the country and there’s a shortage I know war is horrendous and inhuman, but these words really shocked me....

“Unimportant people” I read a report in the Guardian recently. It was about the use of AI by the Israeli army. One of the officers was quoted saying this – You don’t want to waste expensive bombs on unimportant p…

While travelling by train across the Alps last week I noticed this striking phenomenon. There was quite a bit of snow on the ground but the area immediately below each tree was clear. I don’t know if this is due to the soil there getting warmed up by the activity of the tree roots, or there’s another explanation. (If you know, maybe you could let me know)....

Creating the conditions While travelling by train across the Alps last week I noticed this striking phenomenon. There was quite a bit of snow on the ground but the area immediately below each tree was clear. I don’t know …

Life and water share the desire to flow. You can slow water down by freezing it, but the ice will eventually melt. You can place obstacles in its path but it will flow around them as it gradually wears them down. You can heat it up and it’ll evaporate, disappearing for a while until it forms clouds, rain, rivers and oceans again....

Life and water share this desire Life and water share the desire to flow. You can slow water down by freezing it, but the ice will eventually melt. You can place obstacles in its path but it will flow around them as it gradually w…

I’m in Palermo, on the island of Sicily, as I write this. One of the things I enjoy so much about being here is the glorious presence of such a diversity of cultures….even this street sign provokes me to be aware of that. The architecture, the art, the symbols and the multilayered history that different peoples have left on this island are obvious everywhere....

Diversity of cultures I’m in Palermo, on the island of Sicily, as I write this. One of the things I enjoy so much about being here is the glorious presence of such a diversity of cultures….even this street sign provokes…

I noticed this doorpost the other day while strolling along by the canals in Milan. I find this kind of image beautiful. Because you can see the remains of at least four layers of different coloured paint, you realise you are looking at the past made manifest in the present. I think I’ve been guilty of oversimplifying at times, splitting reality into three parts….past, present and future....

Layers I noticed this doorpost the other day while strolling along by the canals in Milan. I find this kind of image beautiful. Because you can see the remains of at least four layers of different coloure…

Q. How do you make a flower grow? A. You create the conditions favourable to the growth of the flower. The modern orthodoxy of Medicine isn’t about cure, it’s about management. The majority of drugs prescribed and surgical procedures employed aren’t curative. We don’t generally talk about curing asthma, diabetes, multiple sclerosis or dementia. At best, our treatments attempt to manage disease - to control or reduce symptoms and/or disease progression....

Gardening vs managing Q. How do you make a flower grow? A. You create the conditions favourable to the growth of the flower. The modern orthodoxy of Medicine isn’t about cure, it’s about management. The majority of drug…

Mostly doctors see sick people. Generally, we don’t go to visit doctors when we are well. However, we think of doctors as “health care professionals”, who work for the “health service”. Whilst the goal of a doctor is to help a sick person back to health, their knowledge and skills are focused on treating disease. Health and illness are not two entirely separate states....

How we stay well, and how we get sick Mostly doctors see sick people. Generally, we don’t go to visit doctors when we are well. However, we think of doctors as “health care professionals”, who work for the “health service”. Whilst the …

One day a patient came to see me and I asked how things were. She replied, “not so good, my husband has been diagnosed with cancer and he’s been told he’s got six months to live.” “Oh dear, how do you feel about that?” I asked. “I’m angry” Not a response I expected but I was interested to understand. “Why are you angry?”...

Certainty One day a patient came to see me and I asked how things were. She replied, “not so good, my husband has been diagnosed with cancer and he’s been told he’s got six months to live.” “Oh dear, how do …

Many years ago I used to listen to a pirate radio station called Radio Caroline. It was broadcast from a boat in international waters which got around the broadcast licensing issues of the time. At one point they went through a phase of promoting something they called “the LA habit”, encouraging the listeners to “get the LA habit”. LA, in this phrase, was short for “Loving Awareness”....

Loving attention Many years ago I used to listen to a pirate radio station called Radio Caroline. It was broadcast from a boat in international waters which got around the broadcast licensing issues of the time. At…

Yes, you read that right - a 3 E Life - not a 3 D one! I’ve been doing a lot of reflecting these last few months, not least because a diagnosis I received last summer has made me more acutely aware of both mortality and the vulnerability of Life. What I’ve come up with feels very important to me and I don’t know if it would be good for you as well, but I decided I’d share it and then you can decide for yourself....

A 3 E Life Yes, you read that right – a 3 E Life – not a 3 D one! I’ve been doing a lot of reflecting these last few months, not least because a diagnosis I received last summer has made me more a…

This photo is one of several I’ve taken where I’ve been really astonished by the shape of a tree. Actually it’s not just the shape that catches my eye, but the impression of movement which appears. It’s as if you can see the past, the present, and the future all at once. For the first half of my medical career I worked as a GP, what we used to call a “family doctor”....

Lifelong This photo is one of several I’ve taken where I’ve been really astonished by the shape of a tree. Actually it’s not just the shape that catches my eye, but the impression of movement which appears.…

I listened to an interview with Iain McGilchrist recently where he said the difference between imagination and fantasy is that imagination engages us with reality where fantasy takes us away from it. Iris Murdoch makes the same point about imagination in her “The Sovereignty of Good”….. We use our imagination not to escape the world but to join it…. Imagination is our super power....

Imagination and fantasy I listened to an interview with Iain McGilchrist recently where he said the difference between imagination and fantasy is that imagination engages us with reality where fantasy takes us away from i…

As we drove along the coast road round False Bay towards Muizenberg in the Western Cape I saw several groups of fishermen standing in lines, pulling on ropes, looking for all the world like teams in a tug-of-war contest. However, this was no competition. There were no opposition teams pulling in the opposite direction. They were pulling in their nets to harvest what they had caught together....

Pulling together As we drove along the coast road round False Bay towards Muizenberg in the Western Cape I saw several groups of fishermen standing in lines, pulling on ropes, looking for all the world like teams i…

When you’re very young the future seems so very far away. Children are better at living in the here and now than adults are. As you get older the faraway path becomes clearer, but, still it seems far away. Now, as I head towards 70, the faraway path seems much closer. Still, I’ve no idea when I’ll get there so I’ll keep going forward, day by day, a wonder-filled day at a time, and another one opening up tomorrow.

The faraway path When you’re very young the future seems so very far away. Children are better at living in the here and now than adults are. As you get older the faraway path becomes clearer, but, still it seems f…

Here are two characteristics of all living beings - they grow and they change. We all experience significant challenges, traumas, gifts, opportunities and events of countless different kinds. We are changed by them. We adapt. We take a new path, step through a new door, carry on with determination but in the light of new circumstances. Life, like the universe, is made of relationships and events....

Growing and changing Here are two characteristics of all living beings – they grow and they change. We all experience significant challenges, traumas, gifts, opportunities and events of countless different kinds.…

Every day there are surprises, things we didn’t expect, events which we didn’t imagine. Some seem like miracles, many astonish or amaze us. Others strike us because they are synchronicities. Some of them are obstacles, demanding we change direction, follow a diversion, or that we adapt. Over the course of a lifetime we don’t follow a straight path. Looking back isn’t like looking at the wake behind a ship....

Twists and turns Every day there are surprises, things we didn’t expect, events which we didn’t imagine. Some seem like miracles, many astonish or amaze us. Others strike us because they are synchronicities. Some o…

We are not separate. We didn’t just appear on this planet one day independent of all others. We didn’t grow up all by ourselves. We don’t survive separate from everyone and everything else. Within all the vast networks in which we live there are two absolutely essential ones. Nature - we are embedded within nature. There are no absolute boundaries between us and all of Life....

Connections We are not separate. We didn’t just appear on this planet one day independent of all others. We didn’t grow up all by ourselves. We don’t survive separate from everyone and everything else. Within …

“La source” is French for “the spring”. This one is just across the other side of the road from where I live now. After four decades working as a doctor in the Scottish NHS I retired and emigrated to France. I live in a small village where neighbours gather spontaneously to chat in the street. My French language skill has improved enormously over the last ten years but I still study it every day, read French magazines and books, and take every opportunity I can to speak....

La source “La source” is French for “the spring”. This one is just across the other side of the road from where I live now. After four decades working as a doctor in the Scottish NHS I retired and emigrated …

I took a road trip recently, over the Pyrenees from France to Spain. Stopping in a lay-by to admire the view I spotted this glorious flower. I imagine nobody planted it here. I don’t know what it’s called. But it caught my attention and drew me right towards it. We have two kinds of attention working all the time, a focussing in, narrow form attention which lets us spot a detail and study it up close....

Focussing in, zooming out I took a road trip recently, over the Pyrenees from France to Spain. Stopping in a lay-by to admire the view I spotted this glorious flower. I imagine nobody planted it here. I don’t know what it’s…

I took this photo while out strolling round the village. From one of the small bridges you can see the stream winding its way among the trees, creating an astonishingly beautiful, green scene. When I looked at this photo at home I thought it looked like an Expressionist painting, but, really, no art quite achieves the beauty of Nature. We can re-present the world to ourselves and others but our lives are lived in a continuous flow of energies, materials, sensations, thoughts and feelings....

Nature therapy….awe and wonder I took this photo while out strolling round the village. From one of the small bridges you can see the stream winding its way among the trees, creating an astonishingly beautiful, green scene. When…

As I had lunch outside one day this week, I heard a loud birdsong and looked up to see this swallow perched on the tv aerial. He’s been there every day since, singing his heart out, broadcasting his presence, celebrating his existence, telling everyone his one unique story. I don’t speak swallow but from what I know about these birds there’s a good chance he’s been down in Africa all winter and has flown over the desert, across Morocco and the Straights of Gibraltar, up through Eastern Spain to finally come back to this garden, here, in the Charente Maritime, a garden he left last autumn....

Telling the world As I had lunch outside one day this week, I heard a loud birdsong and looked up to see this swallow perched on the tv aerial. He’s been there every day since, singing his heart out, broadcasting hi…