Recently I declared a particularly pleasant, sunny day to be a “Day of Enjoyment”. I decided not to think very much about global problems: the “polycrisis” of climate, biodiversity loss, senseless wars, terrible political leaders and the like. I listened to birdsong. Messed around in the garden. Watched grebes parenting their young in the local … Continue reading The Art of Looking Away
Mind, Body, Health
“I will write if I survive”: An evening with Ukrainian author Alina Sarnatska
How much do you know about what it’s like to be a writer in Ukraine? Nothing? Then you are like me — before last night. Recently, I became a member of the Swedish Writers’ Union (SWU), and I immediately began receiving emails to interesting events, including an invitation to a talk and mingle with Ukrainian … Continue reading “I will write if I survive”: An evening with Ukrainian author Alina Sarnatska
How I recovered from burn-out
A “near-complete recovery.” That is how I describe my situation now, eight months after a sudden debilitating collapse in physical and cognitive capacity, caused by extreme stress in an already-demanding job. I wrote in detail about this in a previous blog post and LinkedIn "Pulse" article. The first thing to say about my much-improved health … Continue reading How I recovered from burn-out
Chronicle of a CEO Burnout
Update 4 August 2025: There is now a complementary blog post to this one, called "How I Recovered from Burnout." Please read the two articles together. This is a cautionary tale. I tell it so that others might successfully avoid the kind of health-related collapse that I experienced after a long period of unrelenting stress … Continue reading Chronicle of a CEO Burnout
Reflections on (Covid) Ephiphany
Stockholm, Old Town (Gamla Stan), 6 Jan 2021 I confess that I went to a museum today. Stockholm’s Fotografiska lets in just 8 people every half hour, for 90-minute slots. There are never more than 24 people in the whole museum of photography, which occupies a large former warehouse at the docks. So I felt … Continue reading Reflections on (Covid) Ephiphany
How to Keep Doing Sustainability in an Absurd World
A professional colleague of mine recently resigned from the sustainability movement. Seriously ill from years of overwork, and despairing of the movement’s chances for success, this person had no choice but to quit. Trying to change the world’s destructive energy technologies, protect the rights of future generations to enjoy functioning ecosystems, and/or save the world … Continue reading How to Keep Doing Sustainability in an Absurd World
Climate and Health: Side Issue, or the Bottom Line?
The fall has been so full of climate change-related seminars that I earlier forgot to write up this one: a day on The Health Impacts of Climate Change at Stockholm's prestigious Karolinska Institute (Oct 11, 2011). (Here I must reveal that my wife works at the Institute, Sweden's leading medical training and research center, as … Continue reading Climate and Health: Side Issue, or the Bottom Line?
“Changer pour Durer”: Change to Endure
"The French think differently," said nearly every one of us who was not actually French. Of course, we said this to each other in French, so perhaps we were thinking differently too. Last week (19-24 Sept 2009) I attended an inter-disciplinary colloquium at a castle in Normandy called Cerisy-la-Salle. The central massive stone structure (see … Continue reading “Changer pour Durer”: Change to Endure
A Year Without Coffee
I am sitting in my favorite cafe in Stockholm's south side, laptop out, sipping on a strong cafe latté ... for the first time in a year. It tastes wonderful. To those of you who love coffee, I can almost recommend taking a year-long fast, just to rediscover how wonderful this drink truly is. But … Continue reading A Year Without Coffee
Return to Pusat Pertolongan
"Pusat Pertolongan" means "Help Center" in Malay, and it was a drug addiction rehabilitation center in Malaysia. Founded by a former German Catholic priest who converted to Islam, it operated out of a former home for victims of leprosy or TB (I am not sure which) in the town of Batu Gajah, near the city … Continue reading Return to Pusat Pertolongan
Alan AtKisson 