I’m back from my summer holiday this week and struggling a little to get back into the swing of things. This year my partner and I returned to one of our favourite places in England, West Bay on the Dorset coast. West Bay lies a few miles from Lyme Regis and is where the 18-mile […]
WELLBEING
Tales from the Vegetable Patch: Part 3 – Life and Death
Tales of life and death from the vegetable patch this month. And rain. Lots of it! Back in May, I finally got round to planting seeds for kale, spring onions, beetroot, chard, pak choi and lettuce a month behind schedule. The first seedlings to appear were the pak choi – just four days after sowing! […]
Speak Your Truth: How I’m Learning to Speak From the Heart
I’ve been hearing the words ‘Speak your Truth’ a lot recently. From my coach mostly, but also from this little voice inside my head that’s been urging me to speak up instead of shutting up. Speak Your Truth On Saturday I attended a workshop called ‘Speak Your Truth’ run by Phil Askew and Kate Jones. […]
Surfs Up! Women and the Waves
My friend Victoria bought a skateboard recently and has taken to riding it along the carpeted corridors of academia. That’s all very well you might say, until I tell you that Victoria is in her mid-forties and a Professor of Medieval Art and Architecture with the serene demeanour of a nun. Then you might laugh […]
What Pets Can Teach Us About Relationships
A couple of weeks ago my friend Lucy phoned in tears to tell me that her dog Claude had just died. He had fallen out of an upstairs window and died a few minutes later. It was a shocking end to Claude’s life and very difficult to accept. Over the past ten years or so […]
Tales from the Vegetable Patch: Part 2 – Sowing Seeds
Back in April, in Part 1 of Tales from the Vegetable Patch, I wrote of my intention to prepare the vegetable patch and plant seeds before the end of April. Well, it turns out the famous saying by John Lennon: ‘Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans’ is true. Not […]
Small Acts of Kindness Have a Positive Impact
When was the last time you smiled at a stranger? Or really listened to someone? Smiling is the Best Way to Brighten Up Someone’s Day According to a YouGov poll published this week by The Samaritans, smiling at someone is the top way you can brighten up a person’s day. The poll, published to coincide […]
Friends Forever? When is a Friendship Over?
When is a friendship finally over? That’s the question I’ve been grappling with lately with regards to my friend Sally. When Sally (not her real name) and I spend time together it’s lovely. She’s very warm and easy to talk to and is inspiring on so many levels. But it’s been months since we last […]
Learning to Breathe
As a child I suffered from asthma. Every year I would spend long spells in the hospital and take weeks off school while I struggled to breathe. Faith Healing My parents took me to various specialists and paediatricians and made sure I took my medication every day. They also brought me before every faith healer […]
Learning to Listen to my Body
This morning, while talking with my coach, I realised that I’ve not been paying attention to my body. Lord knows it’s been trying to grab my attention in some fairly dramatic ways lately but I’ve chosen to ignore it. Neck and Shoulder Pain It started by telling me it didn’t like the fact that I […]