A yellow flower (Light and Spirit) Sings by itself For nobody. Thomas Merton I‘m taking a few decompression days, so no blog posts and no Sunday Collection this week. No Facebook, no Pinterest, no email. I’m switching off my computer and mobile phone. I’m getting out my camera, my paints, my journals, my collage….
Category Archives: Creativity
The key to self-respect
Warmth, intimacy, peace That’s my mantra for the way I want to live in my home. I yearn to live simply and richly. Not owned by my possessions and owning only what I need or what gives me joy. And you know what? For years I’ve felt like a fraud! I talk a good talk about simplicity,…
My most beautiful thing
Beautifully talented writer Fiona Robyn has just published her latest book: The Most Beautiful Thing. If you’re interested in my review of it, click here. I commend Fiona’s book to you wholeheartedly, it is indeed beautiful. And today a number of us are picking up on the theme of beauty and writing about our most…
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…
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…
Not another social network!
Perhaps you’re on Facebook or Twitter or Google+ or LinkedIn or all of them and more. Perhaps you’re not on any social network at all and can’t see the point. Perhaps you don’t know what the hell a social network is (click here!). Are you visual? If you’re overcommitted and feel like you’re going under…
What I learned from writing 30,267 words
Last month, I wrote 30,267 words of a novel. Those of you who are even marginally observant will notice that 30,267 words is not 50,000 words. I failed to complete the National Novel Writing Month challenge, in which thousands of crazy persons attempt to complete a 50,000 word novel in one month. I first wrote…
Are you a poet?
It’s National Poetry Day here in the United Kingdom this Thursday, 6 October. Who are our poets? Despite our rich heritage, we’ve not really trusted poetry in Britain. (Leave all that emotional stuff to those bloody foreigners!) We’ve tended to dismiss poets as flamboyant young men who frequent opium dens, or perhaps as questionable American women living…
The perfection of tiny things
I’ve recently had the honour of facilitating discussions at Christine Valters Painter’s online community for a few weeks. I thought I’d share with you here my latest reflection: Auntie Nan was my Mum’s best friend all their lives. She wasn’t really our auntie, but it felt like it. She was tall, slim and elegant, warm,…
Is art “girly”?
One of the comments on my recent post about violence has been sticking in my mind. It was about the role of art in society and how it fits with warfare and conflict. Here it is, slightly abridged: There are some very important exceptions, Picasso’s Guernica, for example, but historically artists generally have gently healed…
