It has taken me years to reach the point where I can share my thoughts in public. I’m still not sure I’ll ever feel completely comfortable with it. What you’ll find in the things I write are wandering thoughts and sometimes more grounded reflections. Thoughts from places that have shaped me and journeys that left their mark, along with observations that spark curiosity, bring delight, a frown, or irritate.
The writing shifts between travel impressions, everyday reflections, and in-depth explorations of humanitarian work, civil society, and the fractures of social life. Social injustice may be the thing that provokes me the most. However, I can get distracted.
My ramblings often remind me of talks I once had with one of my late friends. He kept insisting on human nature, while I kept insisting it was human culture. To me, most of what we call truth is not fact at all, but an understanding of our subjective reality shaped by the culture we are rooted in.
I hope my writing is noticing that, questioning authority, poking at assumptions, and refusing to let “that’s just how it is” be the final word. Sometimes obsessive, sometimes light. Always honest, even when naïve. It is my attempt to be alive, to notice, and to actually give a damn.