It poured with rain in my neck of the woods on Saturday. That meant I had very little to do, so I grabbed my notebook and pen, and set to collecting a list of actions and activities that I want to do during October and November: things I can do to enjoy Autumn in all her beauty and majesty. When you discount travelling too far … Continue reading Autumnal De-stressors: My Kick the Bucket full of Leaves List
Has a month ever seemed so long? With the world in lockdown, there really is very little to do except eat, sleep and read. It seems a shame, then, that so many people are finding it hard to concentrate and settle down to reading. Long plots or complex character arcs don’t sit easy on a spirit that is discomforted by daily briefings and rising numbers. … Continue reading Books of the Month: Let’s Have a Threesome
There’s a beautiful word called ‘synchronicity’, which means the fortuitous (or not) simultaneous occurrence of events which appear significantly related but have no discernible causal connection. I had this happen this week when I grabbed the next book in my Book Friday series and read it, only to realise that the lessons it had for me to learn were exactly the lessons I needed to … Continue reading Book Friday: Ichigo Ichie by Hector Garcia and Francesca Miralles
Gratitude is a much used word at the moment. Be grateful for what you have, give thanks in all circumstances, bless the Universe for its gifts…. I love how Brené gets to the heart of the matter here: we can have a Gratitude Attitude as much as we like, but until we put it into regular (daily, hourly, minutely) practice, we’re just paying lipservice to … Continue reading Cultivating Gratitude and Joy: Wholehearted Living Series Guidepost 4
Resilience is such a popular word today. When I was working as a Learning Mentor, it was one of the attributes we wanted to encourage in the children. If you’re living in a council house with one parent and many siblings where food, security and even having a home this time next month could be at risk, then being resilient and able to ride the … Continue reading Cultivating Resilience: Wholehearted Living Series Guidepost 3
I am a really nice person. I don’t (often) hold a grudge, I’m good at forgiving friends, likely to let things slide and don’t automatically jump to attack mode when I feel they’ve treated me wrong. It’s good, it means I get along with a lot of people and don’t live a life full of turmoil and ire because “they done me bad”. But like … Continue reading Cultivating Self-Compassion: Wholehearted Living Series Guidepost 2
Living Authentically: What does it mean? I promised (or threatened: it depends how you feel about my writing, I suspect) to write about the ten Guideposts for Living by Brené Brown that are an important part of the book that has given me my word of the Year 2020: Wholehearted. I’ve read The Gifts of Imperfection, in whole or in part, a few times already … Continue reading Cultivating Authenticity: Wholehearted Living series Guidepost 1
