Early in his life, before he grew to loathe other dogs, our mutt had all the makings of a benign dictator-in-waiting.
He made liberal claims to territory, marking anything that crested the lofty height of three inches as his own.
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Tag Archives: happiness
Predilection for fiction
I have a friend who no longer reads novels.
She used to, but that was before we knew each other. When we met, she had a pile of books stacked next to her coffee table, up to the height of my thigh. She’d read all of them, except the one on top, which she’d gotten partway through and stopped reading – not only it, but all fiction, altogether.
A few months back she did a spring clean and the books disappeared along with the expired cans of food, obsolete paperwork and an incredible array of shoes that were easy on the eye but extremely unkind on the feet.
The pursuit of sportiness
As a child, I had the misfortune of being labelled the brainy one. My younger brother scored the accolade of being sporty.
Don’t get me wrong, I saw my smartitude as a wonderful thing. When I grew up, I wanted to become a doctor and get a PhD and end world poverty. But I was less thrilled that braininess seemed to rule out the possibility of having any sporting prowess whatsoever.
New hope for sufferers of smiling
Smiling can damage youthful skin
Life is full of reasons to smile, but expressing joy can cause lines to form around your eyes and mouth.
Now, thanks to advances in medical technology, you may be able stop smiling altogether and prevent the unsightly damage it causes to your skin.
Why humans love fire
A few years ago, my son spotted a remote control helicopter out the back of a charity shop as we dropped off some clothes. He immediately wanted to buy it.
Unfortunately, the bloke at the store said he couldn’t sell it to us. Because it was a potentially dangerous, untested electronic item, he was supposed to throw it away.
However, he mused, perhaps he could trust us to take it and throw it away for him? Wink wink nudge nudge.
My son joyfully brought the helicopter home, powered it up and launched it high in the air on its maiden flight. It span briefly at its apex, burst into flames and plummeted to the ground, smashing on impact.
Far from being disappointed, he was thrilled by the unexpected outcome.
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When you know you are falling
There’s a stretch of sweet terrain between anxiety and depression that feels almost like bliss. Because when I find myself there, the tumult of anxiety falls quiet.
How the light gets in 