Tag Archives: art

on death.

One of the great human failings is our inability to handle grief. There are not many things I find more emotionally taxing than trying to process and reconcile the permanence of death, and this is a commonality between us all. It is strange that, despite its certainty, the concept of death doesn’t become any lessContinue reading “on death.”

santorini sunset.

24/08/2019 Appreciating the rare moments in which the majesty of the cosmos peeks behind the curtain of our monotonous exercises. There is so much to be grateful for, and yet I can’t help feeling suppressed at times. Mere escapism from routine is a distraction, and proves ineffective in re-aligning my perspective in times when IContinue reading “santorini sunset.”

androcles and the lion.

There’s a small, remote village that resides on the outskirts of Rome. An air of tranquillity floats around the place. One night, the village is tormented by a terrible noise emanating from the hills across the valley. It is a roar of a lion, but one that pierces the air of tranquility all through theContinue reading “androcles and the lion.”

blind eye to the burns.

We are the loneliest, most disconnected generation. Our values have been hijacked, and we gorge on them like junk food. We live alone in small apartments, a far cry away from the tight-knit communes with close friends that Epicurus knew was vital for our wellbeing. We believe that we are unique in our individual troubles,Continue reading “blind eye to the burns.”

rebels fight back.

The two weeks of environmental protests led by Extinction Rebellion (XR) are underway across the planet. There’s hope that there will be a fresh impetus injected into the movement, which is demanding more of the world leaders and their respective governments to publicly announce that we are in the midst of an ecological and climateContinue reading “rebels fight back.”

sober response to teenage angst.

For all the billing of parties being a foolproof source of enjoyment, there are some unsettling prerequisites that you are supposed to comply with. There’s a pressure to not just ‘be’, but to be interesting and not simply stand with your back against the wall, drifting away into obscurity. ‘Just being yourself’ doesn’t afford anyContinue reading “sober response to teenage angst.”

free spirit.

I hadn’t been to a gig/concert in a long time. Music was something I had recently relegated to Spotify playlists out of convenience, but when the chance to see Khalid in London came up, it satisfied what I had long been craving – listening to raw, transcendent melody live in the flesh. The ballads ‘Better’Continue reading “free spirit.”

fallacy of divinity.

There are always small moments where you can peek behind the curtain at the state of things, flashpoints where everything is laid bare for the eyes to see. Significant levels of civil unrest, political turmoil and an ever-deepening chasm between power and people are on display, and are all happening at once. I think there’sContinue reading “fallacy of divinity.”

confront sin.

How long until we sink to the bottom of the sea? When will our vices and our personal darkness catch up with us, or can we ever hope to outrun them? How long do we have to lurk in the wilderness, outside of relevance or reverence? ‘Sin’ is unique in that, typically, only the sinnerContinue reading “confront sin.”

to be angry.

Anger is not a failing or fault, whether it’s deep-rooted or merely surface level. Reason is but a servant of Passion, so it would be a great disservice to ignore it for fear of appearing emotionally haphazard. Self control is, of course, an illusion, and to think otherwise would be to believe that existing entirelyContinue reading “to be angry.”

burst the bubble.

The security of a personal bubble, whilst reassuring, is also a form of self-confinement. Away from the harsh elements, characters are not forged. Disconnected from the toils and dangers of the world, the armour rusts, and the once-hard exterior becomes as flimsy and transient as the very bubble we have chosen to lock ourselves awayContinue reading “burst the bubble.”

kaleidoscope.

Patterns and lavish decoration serve a useful purpose, despite some describing them as unnecessary and an exercise in over-indulgence. Art has historically been revered as a means of exploring and creatively depicting the world around us, and it has lead to the complex and convoluted structures in our midst to possess a certain kind ofContinue reading “kaleidoscope.”

opportunity locks.

We often see doors represented as opportunities, whether that is an opening that could pave the way to greatness or an escape route that could lead us away from misfortune. “When one door closes, another one opens” is a positive mindset to adopt in the face of rejection, but what if a newly-presented gateway turnsContinue reading “opportunity locks.”