May 2024

The tiny rituals that bring comfort and joy in times of fear and uncertainty | Paul Daley

The morning’s tea needs to be brewed in the yellow pot, the sheepdog must be scratched repeatedly

Amid the fear and uncertainty of the pandemic lockdowns a few years ago, as I walked the neighbourhood each twilight, I couldn’t help observe the little domestic quirks of people I didn’t and still don’t know.

So-called ‘school refusal’ must be tackled with compassion, not hard-hearted discipline | Paul Daley

Only families who have had to deal with a child unable to attend school can understand the anguish it causes everyone involved

Having been generationally touched by the pain of familial mental illness, perhaps I shouldn’t be surprised at how terribly misunderstood and stigmatised some presentations of it remain this far into the 21st century.