I’ve always been fascinated by people who are different.
I have an IQ of 155 and am a member of Mensa. I say that not to boast, but because in common with many highly intelligent people, my capacity for overthinking is immense. But when asked to help find a way round a seemingly immovable barrier, providing I can see the value in finding a way, I usually succeed.
People who are different have always fascinated me and sometimes I am invited to write profiles that encourage others to see the good in people others might consider evil, or just odd. For example I recently interviewed a man serving a life sentence and wrote a piece for Quaker magazine The Friend about how he has benefitted from taking an Open University degree, funded by a Quaker charity. He will not be eligible for parole until 2034, but tells me he is excited about how his new qualification will help him establish a new life when he is eventually released. There is good in everyone.
Researching and writing a book that builds on those written by oral historian George Ewart Evans reminded me that for centuries we lived in harmony with each other and the natural world. It is only in the last 70 or so years that our use of fossil fuels has rocketed. We must spend the next 50 years ridding ourselves of this addiction, because if we don’t, the outlook for future generations is bleak.
“When your belief is strong and your purpose just, no obstacle can stand in your way.”
Martin Luther King