When I first decided I was going to theme my 2021 musings around “This Sparks Joy” I had intended to have each of the twelve posts focusing on one specific thing. And then 2021 actually began and I quickly realised that what I thought I should produce and what my brain actually wanted me to … More This Sparks Joy! Monthly Musings for January 2021
I have to say that, so far, this challenge has been both enjoyable and very easy to stick to. I’ve not yet found myself feeling as if I don’t have anything I want to read and having the list to work through has added a purpose to my reading that I’m finding very helpful at … More A Year of Reading Frugally: The First Two Months
I am aware that it is now 9th January and thus the year isn’t exactly new any more. In fact given everything that’s happening at the moment it feels more like we’ve just experienced six months in nine days. Which is … fun. Not. However I am trying not to let myself retreat from the … More The obligatory “it’s the new year” post
On Christmas Eve we bring the outdoors indoors! This is our tiny little potted Christmas tree which is small and crooked and all the more perfect because of that. Once the holidays are over this tree will be thanked for its service and planted in the back garden where I’m sure it will be welcomed … More Outdoor Advent Day 24
You don’t pass or fail at being a person, dear. – page 239, The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman When I first read these words I had to put the book down and have a bloody good cry. Since then they have been written into the first page of every … More Outdoor Advent Day 23
This peaceful little video of one of the local coots doing a spot of dabbling in the mill pond is for anyone who is having a hectic, frustrating day and everyone who isn’t but would like a moment to just breath. ___________ Today I am the sort of tired that hurts. This is mostly thanks … More Outdoor Advent Day 22
This afternoon feels as if it sits outside the flow of time, needing to be filled with solitude and small quiet thoughts rather than flurries of words. So I offer up one of the most achingly beautiful poems I’ve read recently, instead of any words of my own: Hymn to Time Time says “Let there … More Outdoor Advent Day 21
The things we want are transformative, and we don’t know or only think we know what is on the other side of that transformation. Love, wisdom, grace, inspiration – how do you go about finding these things that are in some ways about extending the boundaries of the self into unknown territory, about becoming someone … More Outdoor Advent Day 20
I believe that the great stretches of forest in northern Europe, with their constant seasonal changes, their restricted views, their astonishing biological diversity, their secret gifts and perils and the knowledge that you have to go through them to get to anywhere else, created the themes and ethics of the fairytales we know best. There … More Outdoor Advent Day 19
Look to your soul, for that is where you originate. You write the story of you every day with your thoughts, words and deeds. You create yourself. You get to decide your story. No one else. You. – The Twisted Tree by Rachel Burge I’ve said before that change is the human condition. What I … More Outdoor Advent Day 18
