The former hostage has had the very foundation of their beliefs, assumptions and priorities upended. Working out who you are, what matters, and processing the regrets you’ve allowed to surface – that’s a piece of the reintegration puzzle we need to talk about more.
trauma
we can do better – failures in US consular services
I recently came across this piece in the New York Times Magazine by Doug Bock Clark, whose work on Americans in trouble overseas I have come to respect and admire. He describes the plight of Americans held in Kuwait –… Read More ›
we are bellingcat: an intelligence agency for the people
Bellingcat have been key players in solving puzzles related to some of the most important intelligence challenges of the last decade; chemical attacks in Syria, the downing of Malaysia Flight 17 over the Ukraine and the Salisbury poisonings, to name just a few.
Do they replace our intelligence agencies? No, of course not. Should they make those agencies think again about what’s possible and how to make the most of open source data? Absolutely.
Learning from hostages – six secrets to resilience for these difficult times
Reflecting on the lessons I’ve learned from the former hostages I’ve gotten to known, here are six secrets of resilience to help get us all through a difficult winter ahead.
the joy of burnout
I’ve just finished The Joy of Burnout: How the end of the world can be a new beginning by Dr Dina Glouberman. I didn’t agree with every word, but it was refreshing to get a positive take on something so debilitating, and becoming more common.
shelter – our most important currency in these difficult times
I hope today can feel like a new day. I am up early, blinds drawn, sipping coffee from my favorite mug, the sun peeping over the foliage outside my window and landing on my tired face. I slept fitfully last… Read More ›
the simplicity principle by julia hobsbawm – my review
We spend one third of our waking life online, being ‘on’ 24/7 is the new norm at work, and plate spinning has become a badge of honor. There is a different way to live and work – and The Simplicity Principe shows us how. Here’s my review.
beware imagined and self-fabricated duty
Duty and obligation are virtues, but we must not forget that duty to yourself is the most important duty of all – and imagined and self-fabricated duty can be highly corrosive.
slow is often the fastest way to travel
Slowing down is the fastest way to get where I want to go After stepping down from my busy, stressful – but rewarding – job a couple of weeks ago, I gave myself the best leaving gift: time. Three months,… Read More ›
when the storytelling needs to stop
“For the first time in my life, I have shed ‘survivor’ or ‘victim’ as my identity. I was having to survive on being a ‘survivor’, because that’s how I was making money, speaking about what happened to me. Now I… Read More ›