Some neighbours with too much time on their hands have organised a street party for the Queen's Platinum Jubilee next weekend. There are requests to bake cakes and instructions to move cars after the council grants permission to close the road. It all feels like a lot of unnecessary faff for … [Read more...] about Thinking Wistfully About Nostalgia
Meaning
Car Trouble
Sometimes the things we get most worked up about turn out to be a drop in the ocean and unimportant anyway. The renewal notice for my car breakdown insurance appears through the letterbox and a feeling of dread stirs within. Every year it's the same. They put up the premiums astronomically, … [Read more...] about Car Trouble
Shortcuts
Shortcuts often seem alluring in their promise to get us somewhere we want to be faster than we thought possible, but most of the time they don't really work, and anyway, sometimes we use them to get to a place that we don't really want to be. I'm in the garden painting the third coat on the … [Read more...] about Shortcuts
Counting Blessings
In the park, they've had a team working to raise the height of the path at the little stone bridge because it has a tendency to flood and joggers get their expensive trainers wet. This annoyed me and I wasted a good deal of emotional energy complaining to my sister about it at the weekend, just … [Read more...] about Counting Blessings
What Do We Learn From Ourselves?
Do self-knowledge and self-compassion help when it comes to controlling emotions? I'm pretty good at dishing out suggestions but am I speaking from a place of self-knowledge, or is it just all theoretical training? I was asked this week to write a piece for businesses that are trying to … [Read more...] about What Do We Learn From Ourselves?