Face mask on a fence

The Covid division equation

If you’re a mathematician, you may best know division as one of the four basic operations of arithmetic. In my world – that of understanding human behaviour – I associate the word division with the way in which people’s relationships are impacted as a result…
Texting typing indicator

Words For Thought

When we’re using words to communicate thoughts and feelings, we don’t always stop to consider how loaded or powerful they are. In my line of work (both as an author and psychologist), words are always powerful. There are some that I hear, time and again,…
Social gathering

Navigating new social norms

During Covid lockdowns at the height of the pandemic, we knew how to play by the rules. Most of us were on the same page. While it was challenging, it was also helpful to know the boundaries and to work within them. Now, however, people…
Friends hugging at sunset

Nearly Normal

For the first time in 15 months, I hugged a friend. It felt nearly normal. For many, before going in for a once normal embrace, it’s becoming routine to first qualify whether or not each has been double vaccinated and then, once this has been…
Man lying on bed

From Anguish to Languish

A couple of weeks ago, an article in the New York Times, written by Adam Grant, suggested that most of us, after over a year of coping with Covid, are languishing. The first time I’d heard this word being used in a Covid context was…