New Seasons and managing change

(Referring to the perfect little ‘handbag’ dogs in Boca Raton, Florida) “They were petite, sophisticated and of discriminating taste. Marley was big, clunky and a sniffer of genitalia.”

“Marley had earned his place in our family. Like a quirky but beloved uncle, he was what he was. He would never be Lassie or Benji or Old Yeller. We accepted him for the dog he was, and loved him all the more for it. “You old geezer,” I said to him on the side of the road that late-winter day, scrubbing his neck. Our goal, the cemetery, was still a steep climb ahead. But just as in life, I was figuring out, the destination was less important than the journey.”

Marley and Me by John Grogan

Autumn leaves changingThis book, Marley and Me (and the film,) snuck up on me from behind, and got to me when my guard was down. The film is light hearted, ‘feel good’ and predictable, but when I watched some years ago and again recently, I fell for every line – both my heart and my tear ducts annoyingly reacted exactly on cue.

So why did I read the book this last week as well? Continue reading New Seasons and managing change

Conflict and the art of burying your head in the sand … and missing out on life

“People were buying milk, or filling their cars with petrol, or even posting letters. And what no one else knew was the appalling weight of the thing they were carrying inside. The superhuman effort it took sometimes to be normal, and a part of things that appeared both easy and everyday. The loneliness of that.”

——————–

“Harold could no longer pass a stranger without acknowledging the truth that everyone was the same, and also unique; and that this was the dilemma of being human.”

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce

The potpourri huntDo you love or hate conflict?

Dr Carol Dweck’s ‘Mindset’ suggests that conflict is essential for growth.

All my life I’ve avoided conflict. I grew up in a happy family where conflict was avoided as a rule. In fact, from my father’s perspective any disagreement was personal and would turn into a fight where the opposing opinion was preferably quashed. For the most part this was fine because we really did have a somewhat idyllic, happy family life and carefree upbringing. Continue reading Conflict and the art of burying your head in the sand … and missing out on life

Hopes, dreams, prayers and the people you meet on the way

“How many of us begin a new record with each day of our lives? To me it seems only yesterday that my whole life ended with my new hope, and that truly I began a new record. So it shall be until the Great Recorder sums me up and closes my ledger account with a balance to profit and loss.”

Dracula by Bram Stoker

Hopes and dreamsI have had many hopes and dreams in my short life, some of which have weighed heavily on me and have haunted me – hopes I’ve shelved, hopes I’ve not dared to voice, hopes I’ve boldly proclaimed – hopes upon hopes.

Hopes are flighty things, like butterflies, they are beautiful and colourful and hard to pin down. Sometimes they flit into our lives in surprising ways and then flit right out again. Sometimes we keep getting a glance at them, that ‘butterfly’ feeling rises up inside, and then it passes out of reach so that we wonder if it was even there at all.

Continue reading Hopes, dreams, prayers and the people you meet on the way

Reading, writing, watching

“Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing.”

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

People watching with a latte croissant and marmiteOn 25th August I wrote about working freelance from home. I confessed that sometimes I need to ‘run’ to a coffee shop to work where there are no distractions… I’m sitting at my local right now enjoying a latte and a croissant. A coffee shop is the rare occasion where I choose coffee over tea.

I love my local cafe. It’s just 4 blocks from my flat, run by a motley group of Middle Eastern ladies with friendly smiles and free wifi. Continue reading Reading, writing, watching

1st September

“Cords of saliva would collect on her lips; she would draw them in, then open her mouth again. Her mouth seemed to have a private existence of its own. It worked separate and apart from the rest of her, out and in, like a clam hole at low tide. Occasionally it would say, “Pt,” like some viscous substance coming to a boil.”

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

new seasonTuesday’s 1st September inspiration: a beautiful description from a novel which blew me away with its beauty at the time of reading it as a teenager, and still does. Some of my readers will know that part of the reason I write a weekly blog (occasionally more frequently) is because I want to live my life with purpose, on purpose, reflecting on life’s ups and downs and to be accountable. A little Birdie, my Hubby, my writer sister and my faith inspired me to start.

The other reason is because they say that if you want to call yourself a writer you need to write every day. Nyamazela.com accounts for 1 or 2 days a week. Continue reading 1st September