A mixture of fiction and non-fiction, my latest reads have in common female characters and writers who live their lives well, showing resilience in adversity and being buoyed up by good friendships. These women, both fictional and real, are women with warm, courageous hearts, and they make very good company as I navigate my own…
Category: Lifestyle
Autumn Small Things
It’s officially Autumn, my favourite time of year. I love the frosty mornings, and the warm afternoons and the earlier sunsets. I love how you can still get lots of outdoor time in, as well as the cosiness of curling up with a hot drink and a good book. I love how Autumn feels like…
Small Things (or, Tonic)
A simple “Small Things” post today. These are the posts where I write about the small things I’m thankful for. This week, my small things have been almost medicinal, like tonic for my tired body and mind: *Two hours at the beach on a sunny day, after a difficult morning. Even just driving towards the…
Book Bingo
Summer would not be summer without a copious amount of reading time: from lazily extending morning coffee by reading a few more pages, to snatching a few minutes outside on a sunny afternoon, or extravagantly staying up all night to finish a particularly good novel. This summer, I’ve been taking part in a Book Bingo,…
Small Things
My offerings are small things. In the face of a huge, fragmenting world, sometimes all we have to give are small things. These tiny fragments of love, kindness and creativity can be a little bit healing. A little bit of the remaking of the world, little heart by little, lovely heart. Among my small offerings…
Small Things
I liked that it rained at the park today. It was meant to stay dry, but somehow the rain allowed me a little more room to be quiet and apart from the bigger, chattering groups that had gathered. I liked the way the rain felt as it soaked my hair and face on our walk…
Small Things: Music
This week, I am grateful for music. Music has always been there, a backdrop to all the comings and goings of my life. I remember, as a child, Dad giving me his old record player, with an eclectic selection of records, from Jason Donavon’s Joseph and his Technicolour Dreamcoat, to ELO. As I got older,…
Tightrope
I’m guessing I’m not the only one walking a tightrope most of the time, teetering between exhaustion and joy, anxiety and exhilaration, overwhelm and peace. I think that it might just be that this tightrope is otherwise known as life as a human. I like the tightrope as a metaphor for life, though. Walking a…
Falling back in love
It has to be acknowledged that sometimes, we fall out of love with our lives. Sometimes, our daily grind just doesn’t feel all that captivating. Sometimes, it is bloody hard work. Sometimes, other people’s lives appear altogether more enthralling, more attractive, more colourful. Sometimes, though, it’s easier than you thought to fall back in love…
Comfort
We have needed comfort in our house lately, with long bouts of illness and fatigue getting the better of us for weeks. For the children, that means pyjama days, hot water bottles and chocolate. For me, it’s comfort reads and comfort foods, naps on the sofa whenever possible and plenty of fresh air. Four Comfort…
Christmas Reflections
For us and our children, Christmas is complicated. It stirs up deep emotions about family and past traumas, about love and pain. For our children, these deep, complicated emotions tend to show themselves as huge behaviours, which seem at odds with the supposed sweetness of the season. For my husband and I, it adds an…
It’s the Small Things
“It’s the small, everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay…small acts of kindness and love”, says Gandalf in Tolkien’s The Hobbit. Whatever our privileges, our lacks and losses, our talents and our flaws, we all experience darkness in our lives sometimes. This summer, as I look at other people’s social media…
Life Lived 