It was finally Friday. My plans were solid, foolproof, and beautiful: do absolutely nothing, rest, catch up on missed sleep, and simply become a world-class couch potato. But in reality? The weekend had a completely different itinerary. The Friday afternoon slump hit me hard—tired, fluish, and lazy. I was desperate to crawl under the covers…
When I think back to the evening of June 5th, the first scene I remember is the start. It was in a field. A simple field, but already full of people, movement, and energy. The first thing I saw was a big tent. The second thing was the barbecue area, which was very nice. And…
This month’s theme is Balance. A few days ago, I found myself standing at the finish line of a 100-kilometre walk. I wasn’t the one doing the walking. That honour belonged to Fabrice. After hours of putting one foot in front of the other, he finally crossed the line, medal earned, challenge completed, looking remarkably…
We began with weather, because sometimes weather is the easiest way to make strangers less strange. In Campo Grande, Ismar said it was 18 degrees Celsius. In Aleppo, Abdullah said it was 35 degrees, and then he added, almost with a smile in his voice, that their heads melt under the sun. In France, The…
Money is a strange thing. I like money. I can say this very directly. I like money because when you have money, life feels more relaxed. You can buy things. You can do things. You do not always have to think, “Is this possible?” or “Can we afford this?” Money is not everything, of course….
Monday morning, 8th of June, just after eight o’clock, and in the north the sky was grey. Not a little bit grey. Proper grey. The sort of grey where you think, yes, some sunshine would be nice now. The Mayor had some sunshine where he was, and he said he would put a little bit…
Chapter One We walked straight into it. To this day, I still don’t fully understand how it happened. A tracker with his level of experience shouldn’t have missed the signs. Maybe the blistering lowveld heatwave had finally gotten to him, cooking his senses until he became delusional. Or maybe he was just structurally exhausted, like…
I knew we were in trouble before we even started, because we had barely gone live and The Mayor was already asking why I was crying. I was not crying. There was a hair stuck in my lashes, and it was tickling me, which is completely different. Naturally, this led to the very important academic…
Every week, before Brida goes into the wild, we consult the Potato Pancake. This is not a spreadsheet. It is not a management tool. It is not approved by productivity experts, lifestyle coaches, financial planners, relationship therapists, sports scientists or people who colour-code their sock drawers. It is better than that. It tells us what…
“Happy birthday to you…” The song had barely begun when Nathalie froze. Not emotionally. Technologically. One moment she was smiling as the entire group launched into an enthusiastic birthday serenade, and the next she was locked in place by a stubborn internet connection. It was perhaps the most fitting way to begin a Lunch meeting:…
