Maura Pierlot's Blog

I hit ‘publish’ for a newsletter—my first on Substack—a few weeks ago. I didn’t mean to, but that’s another story.… Read more The Strange Compulsion to Blog

Travel opens us up to new places and experiences, assuming our hearts and minds are open, too. But travel’s transformative potential is not without challenges, and our recent Alaska cruise is no exception.

I’ve always called myself a writer though I prefer the term wordsmith—someone who relishes, rearranges, juggles, weaves, unpacks, spins, shapes, combines, crafts, concocts and choreographs words. No wonder I’m so tired.

In a world overflowing with book recommendations, reading lists, and how-to guides, it’s easy to get caught up in the… Read more Have We Got Reading Wrong?

When I moved to Australia in the ‘80s, the sound of g’day was music to my ears. In New York, where I grew up, you quickly learn to avoid eye contact with strangers. You walk with a purpose, gaze fixed in the distance. Otherwise, you’re likely to become entangled in an unwanted, potentially dangerous encounter. (Don’t get me started on the subway!) But in ‘80s Australia, people were greeting me in stereo. I was naïve enough to think they must have picked me for a foreigner and were going out of t...

When I moved to Australia in the ‘80s, the sound of g’day was music to my ears.

In New York, where I grew up, you quickly learn to avoid eye contact with strangers. You walk with a purpose, gaze fixed in the distance. Otherwise, you’re likely to become entangled in an unwanted, potentially dangerous encounter. (Don’t get me started on the subway!) But in ‘80s Australia, people were greeting me in stereo. I was naïve enough to think they must have picked me for a foreigner and were going out o...

When the noise of existence feels unbearably loud, I spend time in nature. When I can’t sleep, I go outdoors. When I can’t concentrate, I go outdoors. When I can’t make sense of the world (and that’s often, lately), I go outdoors. Whether wading in the ocean, climbing mountains or traipsing through the forest, this nature reset soothes my soul in ways that defy explanation. But I’ll try.

Our chronically hyper-paced world seems to be a never-ending endorphin chase whose finish line is physical...

It’s the 26th of December, and that means the Boxing Day Test is underway – five full days of bowling and batting in the relentless heat. I suspect it’s called test cricket because it’s a test of mental and physical endurance both for players and spectators. My love of cricket has already reached saturation levels on day one, and I find myself looking back over the year in the form of lessons learned.

Candour? Can do!

In a world mired in the superficial, straight talk is an asset (at least...

I’ve always been an overachiever. I’m not saying that in a bragging kind of way – overachieving is hardly a worthwhile goal. But it’s not a type of pathology either, as some would have us think. 

I’m not even sure what we mean by overachieving. The ‘over’ part implies attaining something beyond the norm. But we have highly individualised aspirations, perspectives, goals, capacities and energy levels. What’s typical for you is likely atypical for me (and vice versa). I have a friend who craves...

All my life, I’ve been trying to work out who I am. Perhaps not surprisingly, I had my first existential crisis at age eight (or thereabouts) at my grandmother’s house in Boston. I don’t remember what precipitated it – a dream, perhaps – but I do recall bolting upright in bed, wondering why I was put on this earth, what the hell I was going to do with my life and how I would know which path was the right one.

Yeah, I was a real buzzkill. 

Over the years, I was drawn to philosophy, feeling ...