‘Don’t just count your years, make your years count’ – George Meredith (English novelist). It’s only natural, during a birthday week, to do a bit of self assessment: successes, regrets (not many at all I’m happy to say), memories, wishes, what ifs… They can all creep up on you with the subtlety of an Exocet … More Happy Birthday?

There is something very chilling about the phrase, ‘life limiting condition’. Setting the parameters of a life, even though it’s barely begun, seems heavy-handed.  In a world of toxic positivity where everything is ‘supposed’ to be upbeat, air-brushed, photo-shopped and joy-filled – even if it is curated to fit that flimsy Facebook philosophy for a … More The Power of a Indestructible Life

I found myself holding my breath a couple of weeks ago when the journalist Roman Protasevich was arrested after his Ryanair flight from Athen to Lithuania was diverted to Belarus and escorted to Minsk airport by a fighter jet.  There, he and his girlfriend were escorted from the plane and the world had a pretty … More Learning As We Dance

Lament: “An honest cry of the heart, expressing the paradox between the pain of life and the promises of God.” – Joanna Jackson (Director of Counselling at the All Souls Counselling Service, London) Perhaps it was the excitement of a new year, which now seems so long ago; maybe it was just time to stop, … More Lamenting as we Dance

‘Rebuild, reconcile and recover’ – Amanda Gorman In the same way that the girl in the red coat was my abiding memory from Schindler’s List, it’s the girl in the yellow coat who will stick forever in my mind after President Joe Biden’s inauguration this week – a very different genre of event but nonetheless … More A Hymn of Hope

My eldest sister is poised to become a grandparent.  It also means that the dynamics of the family shift a little as we all move up a generation – if you see what I mean – and that’s a milestone we’d be foolish to ignore.  It inevitably puts me in mind of all things grand-parenty … More The Circle of Life

‘The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.  He makes me lie down in green pastures‘. Psalm 23:1-2 My mental wiring shows that I am an achiever by nature and preference.  That means (among other things), that I become frustrated and unsettled during times when I get to the end of the day and feel I have … More He MAKES me lie down…

‘If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.’ – Martin Luther King Jr Somewhere around 1972, my Dad won a national camping competition promoted on the back of a cornflake packet.  This proved a number … More Moving On