Events of the last week have touched me deeply.

The Massacre in Paris is just not the way forward. We need to find another way. More military is not the solution. More drone attacks are not the solution. More hostility is not the solution. More prisoners in Gitmo are not the solution. All of those options have been exhausted and have not worked.

We live in freedom. But with that freedom comes responsibility. However we are not so keen to take this responsibility on. We want to be able to bear arms but not actually take precautions to do so in a responsible manner. We want to exercise our might without considering the consequences.

I am not part of the Zeitgeist in France so I can’t comment on how the average person perceives Charlie Hebdo. Maybe we should not look at the average because they were not the target. It is the outliers. The radicals.

Sticks and stones will break my bones but words will never hurt me.

We are taught this from a young age. It amazes me though how often verbal altercation turns physical. I have been guilty of this in the past but we do need to make a distinction. We need to make it consciously. This carries over to how we use our roads. In particular I am thinking of the road rage between cyclists and motorised road users. More of us need to adopt an attitude like Raoul in his Athlete Manifesto.

The social media infighting of #JeSuisCharlie vs #JeSuisAhmed is boggling. In the end we all Just Are.

I read Megan Hick’s Definitive Guide to Fastpacking. What attracts me to this approach is self reliance and you really get a sense of your place in the world. The seven Leave No Trace principles should be incorporated into our everyday lives.

We watched Blackfish over the weekend. This is must watch for all.

Je Suis Tilikum. I am deeply touched by this story and feel deeply responsible as a human. This can not continue.

Somebody said “All creatures know right from wrong, whether you are human, Orca or another animal”

Maybe I am because I know.