Compassion, empathy and bullying
Raising children with the ability to empathise is key in creating a kinder, more compassionate and loving world.
Depression, a disease of civilisation
Five decades ago, when the World Organization for Social Psychiatry was established, many thought it was a joke. Others, being more analytical, tried to prove that mental illness can only be an individual experience; that the problem always exists only in an individual and never in a group.
How to restore trust in a romantic relationship
Trust is so difficult to build, and yet so easy to lose. A lie, a broken promise, or infidelity may lead to the weakening and breaking of trust between partners. Sometimes rebuilding that trust may seem impossible. But the good news is that it is possible to restore trust in a relationship.
Are you being watched?
On 17 March 2018, the world felt naked thanks to social media giant Facebook. It was confirmed that 87 million users’ personal information had been shared through an app developed by British consulting firm Cambridge Analytica.
The casino inside your phone
In the February 2023 issue of Signs of the Times, I wrote an article titled Gambling’s Dark Underbelly. Here in Australia, gambling is a multi-billion-dollar industry with a few very rich winners and millions of losers. In the article I concluded that “Gambling in any form is designed to bleed you for as long as you’re willing to bleed, with no regard for...
How to love hard-to-love parents
How much do we know about love? Enough to understand that love is not an obligation—we cannot love by force, nor be loved in this way.
Bridges between people
I love books as much as I love people, but if I’m honest with myself, sometimes I find a little more comfort in the company of books than in the presence of my fellow humans.
Adolescence: a generational Tower of Babel
Adolescence is not a series to watch with your teenage child, but it is a series that may cause mature viewers to re-evaluate their relationship with their own children, as well as their relationship with their parents.
Called to attention
We live in a world in which the news is far more pervasive than the events it reports. An event happens in one place but is almost instantly repeated and echoed in millions more. And while the event might be shocking, tragic or horrifying, a wider and sometimes greater toll is exacted by its reportage, by the slow-motion replays, by the breathless punditry...
When your child has a meltdown
Children have big feelings. Even worse, children have big feelings over what seem to be rather inconsequential things.
The need for clarity
More than ten years ago, I received a book for my birthday. The message inside the gift said: The Bible is the Lord's love letter to humankind. I give you this book with the hope that the reply mankind gave to God will also nourish your soul. Happy birthday! And, indeed, so it was.
What do you do when you reach the end of love?
When I'm tired I can't love! Many times I have lived this reality and even assessed it as the exact end of love.
The kindness that wipes away the effects of daily stress
Daily stress is a good excuse to avoid other people's needs, but this choice is a double loss. The kindness we display to make other people's days better is a very strong antidote to the high level of stress we experience daily.
Boredom: how many ways can you scratch an itch?
"All of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone" (Blaise Pascal).
Time robbers and masters of time
How did the phrase “time is money” come to steal the true meaning of time? Time is not money, it is life.


























