Hi,
One of the strangest things about this moment in human history, to me, is how nothing has escaped the reach of the c-word. Our lives have been so thoroughly reorganised by the pandemic that it almost doesn’t matter what you’re doing, who you’re talking to, or where you are in the world: the c-word is there. Being someone who has long scoffed at the word "universal" because of how it flattens and erases individual perspectives or realities, it’s definitely a bit jarring to be living through an actual universal experience.
Personally, it became necessary to turn away from most news updates several weeks ago, just to protect my mind. But I’ve benefitted hugely from the many columns, essays and opinion pieces that have provided a humanising framework for me to understand what’s going on in the world. For readers who find it beneficial, we’ve put together a guide to what we consider some of the most valuable journalism on the subject of the new coronavirus.
I, however, have decided that I would really, truly like some sort of break from reading about the pandemic. (I would also like a break from video calls/conferencing, but that’s a whole other story.)
So, for anyone who feels the same way, I thought I’d share three of my favourite publications from our glorious little corner of the internet that have nothing to do with the pandemic.
- Forgiveness over justice: This article by Tanmoy Goswami explores the science – and methodology – of forgiveness as a tool for recovery from injustice, at any scale from interpersonal harm to genocide. "Justice is the rebalancing of the scales, and forgiveness is inner healing," says Fred Luskin, who led the Stanford Forgiveness Project that the piece focuses on. I recently used the 9 steps laid out in this article to recover from a series of personal betrayals that I hadn’t been aware of, and I can tell you for free that the system really does work.
- Babies are born, but boys are manufactured: (So are girls, but why miss an opportunity for a little alliteration?) Gender is a social construct with extremely far-reaching practical consequences. It’s not real (as in: rigid, fixed, predetermined by genitals, or universally relevant), and yet it absolutely is real (as in: impossible to avoid, a useful predictor of most life outcomes, and a crucial aspect of the global social order). In this article, Irene Caselli explores the sociology, science and nonsense of gender in necessary ways. Just how necessary, you ask? Read the contributions section, and you’ll get a sense of the answer.
- We have much, much more in common than we realise: Every time I go on Twitter, I decide that I hate everyone. Rob Wijnberg, our founding editor, always responds by telling me to get off Twitter (as if it’s that easy!). Apparently, that social media platform amplifies an untruth, which is that I fundamentally disagree with most people on the things that matter most. According to the Dutch agency for social and cultural thingybobs (I can’t translate the name of the agency accurately), “Polls indicate that there is little reason to be concerned about increasing polarisation or the hardening of public discourse.” To sum up this article: we agree more than we disagree.
And a tasty bonus read ...
If you agree with me that a break from reading about the current reality is useful, then I hope you find these articles enjoyable. For those of you who made it this far, I’m adding a bonus link to a delicious little interview, my first (and only, so far) for The Correspondent. It focuses on an intriguing man now known as Sankofa who travelled the world and picked up a dozen languages, all without an international passport.
"There are people who are comfortable with what they are handed by the circumstances of their birth," I write, "but there are many who must try on different options until they find one that fits them as snugly as a life should fit a person." Sankofa’s story, Lessons on freedom of movement from a stowaway, illustrates the power of the human will. My favourite thing about it is how he defies so many of the sociopolitical structures that shape our world to build a life he can be at peace in.
Safe at home, with my own movement now restricted to the walls of my flat, the roads of my city, the borders of my country, this interview is a reminder that there is a big, big world waiting for me. And, most crucially, that I have the power to create my experiences within it. For now, this knowledge is more than enough.
Till next time,
OluTimehin
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