I began this article in February, soon after returning from a trip home to New Zealand. Days afterwards, the whole world turned upside down, as the Coronavirus pandemic took hold. We now find ourselves in quarantine, inhabiting a world which is full of uncertainty. So I returned to this article, and the question which lay behind it, of what it means to connect with Being and Belonging. A question which now takes on a new significance, and a new urgency.

This article is prompted by the recent passing of Prodigy singer Keith Flint, and the sadness that yet another musical and cultural touchstone has succumbed to unknown internal or external pressures, and chosen to take his own life.

When we speak of the 'battle of the sexes,' there is a collective understanding about what is being referred to. It points to a condition, a dynamic, which we all contend with, to some degree. The flavour of this dynamic, and the language used to refer to it is uncontestedly, entrenched in the language of warfare, and the battlefield.

If you're anything like me, you will have entered the new year amidst a barrage of familiar refrains, advocating various ways to find the 'new you' – by committing to some resolution; abstaining from alcohol (aka 'Dry January' ); cutting out meat and dairy ('Veganuary' anyone?); by joining a gym or taking up any of a number of recurring or fashionable fads.