Happy New Year! I hope you are enjoying the last day of 2015 🙂 Looking back over the posts from the year is perhaps a little introspective, but it gives me a good insight into what’s been popular or has struck a chord with all you lovely readers. Here are ten of the most popular posts…
Category: Reflections
New Year: JOY
I feel increasingly that 2016 will be my year to focus on JOY. Joy? Joy? Really? Yep, joy. Where is the place for joy in today’s messed up world? As Ann Voskamp writes so eloquently (here), ‘how in the world does a weary world rejoice?’Â How, indeed. You know, plenty of people are finding an answer…
2015: Hope
It doesn’t feel like a year ago that I was writing this post, summing up 2014, but here I am, at the close of another year. I started 2015 with a strong focus on hope, as I wrote here, and this very much stayed with me throughout the year. I have learnt that hope is…
Advent Peace
Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about peace. These do not seem to be peaceful times. We have one of the biggest global refugee crises in history, and no one can agree on what to do about it. We have violent attacks being conducted on civilians, and it seems that one of the few solutions…
Life Lately
I thought it was time for another ‘Life Lately’ post. Right now, I’m sitting in my living room with a fire lit, Jamie the dog curled up on my lap, a pile of books, a cup of tea and my favourite playlist. I put new batteries in the fairy lights in my lantern, so they…
Ode to Autumn
Every summer I say ‘Summer is my favourite season’ and every Autumn I change my mind. I love the colours and textures of Autumn, the crisp, cold walks and fire-warmed rooms, the breezy winds that makes you feel like something exciting is about to happen, the feel of leaves underfoot, all of that. As a…
Family
I just read this article, The Families We Choose, over at the Kinfolk website. I love its opening sentence: ‘There’s no such thing as a perfect family. Regardless of what kind of family you were born into, you can keep adding characters to your clan, whether or not you’re related.’ The essay is a relatable read,…
Life Lately
There’s a lot to write about lately. The plight of the refugees trying to get to Europe has, for many of us, been an unavoidable presence in our minds. I find it sad that we’ve all only just caught on to the severity and tragedy of the whole situation. It seems that it took a…
Precious
Life is precious, isn’t it? I’m remembering that today, on what is a very ordinary day. Andrew’s hammering away finishing the bathroom floor, Jamie’s curled up on the bed and I’m sat next to him, laptop and books spread around me. I’m listening to Jose Gonzalez, whose music I had kind of forgotten about, but…
The Easy Way
I often want everything to come easily and simply. But I don’t believe that we learn to love unselfishly or give generously or create authentically or worship passionately by having an easy life. I believe that it’s often the sacrifices we make or the hardships we face that draw out these things. On Sunday, our…
Small Things
At the beginning of this week, I wrote this post about How to be Happy When Life Feels a bit Frayed, and I’ll be honest, since then I’ve been struggling to follow my own advice. I have felt frayed this week – edgy and unsettled and withdrawn. It has taken a lot of effort to…
How to be Happy When Life feels a little Frayed
I used to think that the best way to manage my happiness levels was to treat myself when I felt I was going ‘low’. Tea and cake, a new outfit, a magazine, a nail polish, or even a holiday. And these things do help, to a point, temporarily. But in this stress-filled culture we’re living…
Life Lived 