Blog Posts

When nothing happens

Maybe the work isn’t always to provoke change. Maybe sometimes it’s enough to bear witness – to notice, to reflect, and to remain open to what hasn’t yet arrived. I found myself drawn back recently into one of my favourite books (by one of my favourite authors) – 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami – and in…
The test is a mirror

How challenge reveals — and reshapes — who we are and the systems we inhabit In 2017, I wrote a short blog post called Time for reflection (the test is a mirror). At the time, I was writing for an audience of small business owners, startup leaders, and entrepreneurs — people trying to find their footing…
Aftershock: Outlasting the system

I wrote a post at the beginning of the year about ontological shock – that moment when your understanding of the world breaks apart under the weight of new truths. At the time, I didn’t know I was about to be placed at risk of redundancy. But in hindsight, I think I already sensed the…
Ontological shock: The ground beneath your feet

Remember that moment in The Empire Strikes Back, where Darth Vader looms over Luke Skywalker and delivers the big ‘I am your father’ reveal? Even if you haven’t seen the film you’ll likely know the iconic line. In that instant, everything shifts. Luke’s quest for justice against the man who killed his father becomes something far…
The lies we tell ourselves (your unreliable narrator)

The unreliable narrator is one of storytelling’s most fascinating devices, appearing in literature and film alike to challenge our sense of truth. In The Catcher in the Rye, our narrator’s version of events is coloured by his angst and emotional instability, leaving readers to question his perspective. In Life of Pi, the protagonist presents two…
Pop will eat itself: A natural cycle of growth and self-consumption

The phrase ‘Pop will eat itself’ often brings to mind Andy Warhol’s commentary on pop culture. Warhol’s work – his repeated images of Marilyn Monroe, Campbell’s Soup cans, and other icons – captured the way popular culture constantly recycles and reinterprets and consumes itself. While the phrase wasn’t directly coined by him, it reflects the…