When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? Psalm 8:3

Last night I had the privilege of attending Onstage, the performance of exemplary student work from last year’s HSC. Murray Cunynghame, Lily Mann, Serina Nila, Ella Sexton and Frederique van Tulden, Year 12 2019, opened the show. Their piece, Operation Spooky, crackled with wit, physicality and stagecraft. Their generosity and joy on stage was remarkable, in one of the standout performances of the night. My congratulations to them all, and to Mr Owen, on producing work of the highest quality, and on being recognised for it.

We live in a society where people find it increasingly difficult to deal with disagreement. We live in a society where respect for difference seems to be harder and harder to find.

Maria Popova writes a weekly online digest of ideas, something she has been doing for the past thirteen years. Below is her list of thirteen things she has learned through that process. They are worth pondering as we navigate our path through life.

Comparing ourselves to others is often not helpful. Sometimes our comparisons are about genetic things, like being taller, and sometimes about things others can do that we wish we could. Sometimes our comparisons are motivating, sometimes damaging.