What? You want me to be ordinary? Well yes, in the best sense of the word. There’s a lot of pressure to be whatever the world defines as extraordinary and I think the pursuit of it can lead us away from who we really are. What does ordinary mean? So let me explain what I…
Author Archives: Tess Giles Marshall
Where do you need to find balance?
It’s the Equinox. Day and night of equal length. In the North, we’re celebrating Spring, in the South, Autumn. The planet, and our lives, are always in motion. Sometimes this feels too hectic, sometimes too slow. How do we find the balance? Awareness There’s an old story about balance and transformation: An eager disciple wants…
How to bring your life into focus
I’ve been working recently on a short-term contract as account manager in a large photographic studio. I’d never worked in an environment like this before and it’s taught me some very interesting things. When I first walked round the studio floor and watched models wearing jewellery being photographed next to a dining furniture set, next…
Climbing the staircase
Not my words today, but those of Jane Fonda. I think you’ll enjoy this 11-minute TED talk from her entitled Life’s Third Act, especially her image of age not as a downward arc, but a staircase: the ascension of the human spirit. Ms Fonda speaks with as much passion and conviction as she ever did,…
Once upon a time…
The way in which old fairy tales can be re-imagined makes them very powerful. Dr Clarissa Pinkola Estes is a mistress of this, and Sara Maitland’s short stories often follow similar themes. They help us explore the power of aging, and how we are sometimes afraid of it. One old tale really taps into this fear of…
How do we define beauty?
I had a very strange experience today. As part of a temporary work contract, I had to choose and book two models for a photo-shoot, not something I’ve done before. The brief was clear: one woman, one man, between certain age ranges and each with a certain look. So I logged on to the model…
Did you leap?
So? Did you take a leap to celebrate 2012′s Leap Day on 29th February? Did you do something brave or silly or generous or selfish? This is your chance to tell us all about it. What have you been doing? So far, I’ve had emails from wonderful women describing these leaps: Offered to recite a story…
Where did our joy go?
On Sunday at church we had a very gloomy-doomy sermon. Lent. Repentance. Giving up things we enjoy. Evil. Sackcloth. Temptation. Ashes. Look, I know that if you choose to follow this mad religion of mine, you’re signing up for a certain amount of tragedy. It is, after all, based on sin and salvation. The symbol…
Lessons from Katy Carr
While I was being all weak and feeble and ill last weekend, I re-read an old childhood favourite: What Katy Did. Ah, Katy: what memories you brought back to me! That brood of noisy brothers and sisters, bossy Aunt Izzie with her heart of gold, saintly Cousin Helen, dear hard-working Papa. Katy is an old-fashioned…
Leap: I dare you!
In my February newsletter, I issued a challenge and I repeat it here: 2012 is a leap year. And next Wednesday, 29th February is Leap Day. Let’s take that day and do something wonderful and scary with it! Here’s what I said in my newsletter: Leap Day Now traditionally what this means is that us poor…
