One day in April 1856, in what is now South Africa, a 15-year-old girl from the native Xhosa tribe named Nongqawuse claimed to have seen the spirits of two of her dead relatives, who told her the Xhosa should destroy all their crops and kill their cattle herds.

Lo, the holidays are upon us once again. Time to deck those halls and hang that mistletoe, pour the egg nog and bake plenty of cookies. In the last century, Christmas has evolved from a religious celebration into a free-for-all capitalist assault on the senses (and the wallet).

Letting go can be difficult. The heartache of a failed romantic relationship, the loss of a beloved pet, the death of a friend or family member, even something as seemingly trivial as the cancellation of a favorite television show can lead to feelings of bereavement.

Nature versus nurture. It’s a debate as old as humankind: What exactly is it that makes us who we are? Are we born akin to unshaped clay and molded by life’s experiences into the individuals we will eventually become?

It’s been said that those who do not remember history are condemned to repeat it.

We all harbor doubts. Those niggling voices in our head that tell us we’re not as smart or attractive or popular as we’d like to think we are. That we are, somehow, imposters in our own lives. In psychiatry, the term ‘imposter syndrome’ describes individuals who experience chronic, often crippling, self-doubt.

Born into a hostile universe without any advance knowledge regarding the nature of existence, humanity has often turned to storytelling to understand its surroundings.

Music, it has been said, is the voice of the Divine. A hyperbolic statement, perhaps, but the inexplicable power possessed by music to inspire and move listeners is undeniable. Who among us has not felt elation hearing our favorite song play on the radio, or experienced the heady adrenaline rush of a rock concert?

It’s no secret adolescence can be rough. Those teenage years, so rife with hormones, emotional upheaval, bad decisions, and the search for personal identity, are the trying times when each of us truly begin our journey towards adulthood.

Everyone is haunted in one way or another. If not by actual spirits, than by memories, regrets, failings, near-misses and might-have-beens. The trauma of abuse, too, can haunt a person for a lifetime.