On Purpose
I’ve never actively tracked this or cared to, but if I were to nominate my favourite and most cited quote of the year, it would have to be: ““The purpose...
Aleem Shaun
Latest posts
P is for Preclusion
A key aspect of my work involves addressing participation. Economic, cultural, community, civic and sports participation. In that context, P is for participation. It’s in the policy documents, the strategy...
Failing in Love is Not Failure at All
“"And yet I decide, every day, to set aside what I can do best and attempt what I do very clumsily—open myself to the frustrations and failures of loving, daring...
The EnshAIttification of Day One
The unnecessary tweak to the keyword in the title refers to Cory Doctorow’s term, which describes the systematic, gradual decline in the quality and user experience of online platforms and...
Becoming an Applied Synthesist
““To develop a complete mind, study the science of art; study the art of science. Learn how to see. Realise that everything connects to everything else.” — Leonardo da Vinci”...
A Random Note Widget for iOS
Whether you’re a PKM enthusiast (if you don’t know what this means, you’re not) or someone who collects notes of various thoughts and observations, it’s easy for what we create...
On War
War is the product of men. Men who fundamentally believe their way is the only way and their certainty is the only certainty. They embody and perpetuate the delusion that...
Dad Life + Our youngest child is a pack animal
I’ve recently come across Terry Godier, a software designer and developer, through his thoughtful and beautifully designed posts, such as The Last Quiet Thing, and his RSS reader, Current. Terry...
The Point
When the arc of the moral universe seems to have inverted. When people boo Elders during sacred moments, and others justify it. When there is an inability to hold complexity...
God loves those we ignore
Rabbi Shai Held, On Being with Krista Tippett: On Love, and Judaism, 27 Mar 2026: ““I think what I feel a lot of despair about these days is that I...
In the absence of solutions, we look for scapegoats
For millennia, hundreds of language groups and diverse cultures have co-existed across the vast landscapes of this continent. Today, our cities, suburbs, and regional towns are framed by that same...
Fake surprise emoji
I have an almost daily need for a fake surprise emoji. Don’t we all?! In the absence of one, which is probably covered by a combination of 😱 and 🙄,...
Today is a gift
I’ve been thinking a lot about the phrase “Today is a gift.” I have been repeating it to myself throughout the day. Partly because I rewatched Kung Fu Panda with...
A Fair Go for Pacific Workers
The Case for Mobility and Employer ReadinessAs you enjoy the fruits of Australia’s autumn harvest, spare a thought for the hands that likely picked it. Thousands of workers from across...
One Life One Life One Life One Life One Life
Darfur, Gaza, Tel Aviv, Tehran, Beirut, Kabul, Donetsk Oblast, Rakhine Province, Bondi Beach, Minneapolis… the list goes on of locations where murder and bloodshed occur in the name of ideology...
Everyone has a story
I was recently reminded of a word that isn’t found in a standard English dictionary. The word, sonder, was coined by John Koenig in The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows. It’s...
Lumina
[From here the world seems less broken.]
The Blog Question Challenge
Alexandra posted a blog question challenge, and all the cool kids (of which Alexandra is the OG) are doing it (inc. Maique and Gabz), so I didn’t want to be...
Rise or Fall?
At the end of a post about references to Stafford Beers’ heuristic - the purpose of a system is what it does - Bix shared the James Clear quote: ““You...
There go I, but...
I’ve been musing on this quote from Judah Smith in his book, Jesus Is: ““(Jesus’) desire to be with sinners amazes me—but even more amazing, sinners desired to be with...
The enemy of my enemy is?
I’ve been musing on how, when we align ourselves to binary (right vs wrong) positions, we can lose our capacity for nuance and complexity. An example and observation is left...
Liar, Liar Time on Fire
This week, I confronted something I’ve been unwilling to address: my phone use is too high. Settings > Screen Time tells me I’m consistently averaging more than 7 hours of...
Q&A - using plain text files
“If you end up putting your answers to these questions online, use the hashtag #WhyPlainText to keep the movement going. Mention me on Mastodon (@ellane@pkm.social), post the link, and I’ll...
The Conviction-Convenience Threshold
“We hold people who care to a higher standard than those who do not.” I’ve been toying with this matrix and way of thinking about how we consume goods and...
“Letting you know we are ok”
A simple message on our family chat was the first I heard about the horror that unfolded in Bondi yesterday. My daughter, a Bondi resident, had just returned from the...