Hanif Kureishi’s Courage

Over the past two years, I’ve taught myself a lot of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) techniques as part of my coaching practice and have used it frequently to explain the root causes of anxiety and fear. But it’s one thing to often see anxieties around work and existence and another thing to see someone face fear with a Zen-like calm in the worst situation imaginable.

On the first day of this year, British writer Hanif Kureishi suffered a fall in Rome which left him paralyzed. He’s lost use of both his hands and legs and has been admitted in a hospital since then. But since the fall, Kureishi, with the help of his Italian wife has been spinning out delightful, poignant and captivating Twitter threads about his ordeal. Each time I read them, I cant help but imagine the mental fortitude one would require to soldier on when most things look so bleak. I guess in such situations, one ends up scrutinizing hitherto mundane actions and dredging through memories with the precision of a surgeon. Or it could just be the magic of writer at the height of his prowess.

You can read the threads in his Twitter profile or access them in his Substack channel.