I know exactly what you mean. Where are the peaceful places? If it is not a natural disaster, it's manmade. I am sitting in my flat in Jordan, which is generally a lovely, peaceful place to live. There have been some violent protests and 2 of my students' fathers are in jail on corruption charges as the King is clamping down in order to appease the people. One of my favourite students has had to leave the country overnight with her family as her father has been arrested. There are lots of rumours about what is going to happen. Everyone at my school is on tenterhooks. And I keep thinking, what next? Will I have to leave? My family had to flee Iran and leave everything behind when I was young due to the revolution. I know how awful it can be. The situation in Palestine is really terrible and we keep hearing more and more horror stories. All our neighbours here are suffering.

Things can potter along as normal and then change without warning. Same as natural disasters. No matter how used you are to tornados or earthquakes, Mother Nature can still be completely devasting. I have friends in Japan who were lucky to survive. And the news is just shocking and tragic every day.

It can all be overwhelming. I have been feeling very hopeless about it all. But like you said,'But it’s also at the heart of what it is to be human, isn’t it? Walking that line. Experiencing both, and trying to live with the contradictions.'

So I have decided to stop being mad at my husband as I have been for the last couple of days. Because I am luckier than most and life is too fragile to waste it.