we never get over people- not really; We compartmentalise them store them. Tucked behind mental sentinels. Webbed. Air tight shut. We sit tight and pray that we never open them two three years down the line Their ghostly limbs greet: Clawing, crawling, torturing, torching, catching us. A dance amongst Ghosts. Digging pits for simmered fire.

If you are lucky to live long enough some of the things you disliked so much as a kid will become your favourite things and unfortunately the things you have always loved will lose their intensity or, in some cases the joy they once brought and that is a life well lived.

When you see something beautiful in someone, speak it, let them know; if it’s to a stranger, the better. For mere words wield in them powers to crack open cloudy skies.

I wonder, do we photograph pleasant moments in an attempt at preservation, for we are incapable of remembering the good as we do the bad? Strung on walls are beautiful memories, festooned with other hasty forgottens, but seared in minds are torturous images torching everything gleaned.

Friends who escaped to a sunnier place, where the sky is golden, and birds still roam, where your skin splays worshipping the above. I implore you to fill my timeline with such images. Absolve yourself of shame and guilt, leave no room for such burden, for those unable to travel do so vicariously.

Thanksgiving is approaching and I am conscious of this fact as my American friend who lives in London is keen to celebrate it. As a Brit, I’m clueless as to its meaning and need. Is it an American Christmas — a half-way one — perhaps; is it saying thank you…

Today, I decided to seek a new barber as I wasn’t happy with my current one. After all, I had both silently reproached and evaluated him; I’d given him plenty of opportunities to dissuade me from veering off. As I walked out of the new barbershop from which I just had my hair cut, my old barber’s name appeared on my phone, calling. I intuitively sigh and then answer. “Hey, are you ok?” “Yes,” I reply “what’s up?” “I saw you coming out of the other guy’s barbershop. Did I do anything wrong?” I cringe “ Umm… No, nothing wrong at all; I just wanted to try something new.”

When are we actually going to remove the N-word from our lexicon? The N-word need not only be removed but incinerated from our vocabulary. Any black person who uses it should be met with the same disdain and disbelief as non-blacks who use it. Black people have been doing the job for the oppressor: the oppressor sits, observes, smiles as the name they gave centuries ago is used and owned. How we have rationalised the use…

The topic of ‘Giving’ is rarely the subject of conversations. And I wonder if that is because so many of us think we are lacking. Norway is ranked as the happiest country in the world — and it is said to be down to the governmental help, and citizens helping…