How many times have I heard it said that someone is a ‘really nice bloke’, as if all is well. Yet, it eventually becomes apparent that something is missing in their moral character. They may well be a nice bloke, but what about all the things they’re not doing that a good person would do? …
MOVIE REVIEW: CODA (2021)
CODA is a heart-warming and feel-good movie that will leave audiences both crying and laughing. It follows the story of Ruby, a deaf teenager who is the only hearing member of her family. While she loves them dearly, she feels like an outsider in her own home and longs for a life outside of their …
Is Hospitality More Important Than Love?
So many songs have been written about ‘love is all we need’, in the name of world peace. But what if we took a different tack? What if, instead of trying to love (or hate) everyone, we simply tried to be hospitable? Hospitality is about making others feel comfortable and cared for. It’s about creating …
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Film Chat – Petit Maman
View from the end of a crutch
Verena, our contributor from Greece, reminds us about what matters when we are suddenly disabled.
Keeping On
How can we not get depressed about the state of things? As you know, RootandBranches had its genesis in the early stages of the COVID Pandemic. The idea was to share hopeful things, to raise our spirits during the lockdowns. I needed to be reminded that the world was still turning and beautiful things were …
Art to Ponder
Contributors: Rose and Sandy from Facebook. Fun_Owl 1 April Ukraine… art by Vika Krokhina, a first-year student of the Poltava Technical University, Ukraine. UniteWomen.org 1 April Anja Rožen, a 13-year old elementary school student from Slovenia is the winner of the international contest Plakat MIRU. She was chosen among 600,000 children from all over the world. “My …
Women’s Day War
Awakened Grief
“In the Lakota/Sioux tradition, a person who is grieving is considered most awakened and most holy. There’s a sense that when someone is struck by the sudden lightning of loss, he or she stands on the threshold of the spirit world. The prayers of those who grieve are considered especially strong, and it is proper …
We Choose
For some time I had noticed a particular International student in our Oasis centre. He sat in the same spot most days focussed on the screen of his computer. He never seemed to engage with other students. I thought he might be suffering from Parent Syndrome – the weight of expectation to not just succeed, …