69. What to do when you’ve said everything but there is still everything to say? Your mind is both depleted of words and so full you barely know where to begin. As always the tools are waiting for use, pen and paper, keyboard and screen, but the starting point is elusive, a mere fleeting glimpse. Continue reading “…on not knowing”
Category Archives: mindfulness
…in praise of dreamers
62.Sometimes, when the rain comes, you take it as a sign to let the days arrange themselves. You and your lover wake up late, drink coffee in bed, listen to the pigeons skittering against the window. You eat breakfast after noon, tear olive bread and pour red wine, you read poetry and watch old films. Continue reading “…in praise of dreamers”
…beginning with rain
60. RainWinter rain puts you in a funk. You wrap up against it, hat, scarf, raincoat, hating the cold and the low grey sky. But summer rain is an entirely different creature. The birds retreat to the shelter of trees but you go out with bare arms and legs, feel the warm drops on yourContinue reading “…beginning with rain”
…mind games
55. Sometimes, you say something to your lover and a moment later he’ll ask you for a number between 1 and 100. This is because the thing you said was the thing he was thinking, and so now he needs to test this moment of cosmic connection. Very occasionally you get the number right, butContinue reading “…mind games”
…flying over mountains
54. Sometimes you read a book that you sink into so completely you don’t want it to finish, and when onward time means that you reach that final page, you want to hang it around your neck on a simple strap so you can wear it always against your heart. So it is with JackContinue reading “…flying over mountains”
…the collective thought of snow
48. You live in a town that likes to festival. Back in 1861 the first was founded, an agriculture and cheese show that celebrated country life. For a long time it was held in the small show ground within the town, its gentle slopes filled with stalls to supply all your country needs, cattle andContinue reading “…the collective thought of snow”
…the tree: in five parts (1)
37. 1. Bark of the body ‘One of the key characteristics of a tree is the woody bark surrounding the trunk and branches. However, only the outer layers of this are alive, with a vascular system of cells called the cambium being responsible for the production of new bark. The inner layer of bark, knownContinue reading “…the tree: in five parts (1)”
…wild silence
33.The wild silence comes with the roaring noise of thought, with words that run and run and run and revel in their cycle, their impatience to go nowhere, their insistence to be heard. The wild silence is neither patient nor restless, loud or hushed, careless or yearning. She knows but will not speak, her emeraldContinue reading “…wild silence”
…new shoots
32.rhizome [rahy-zohm] noun • botanyA rootlike subterranean stem, growing horizontally along or under the ground and producing roots and leaves — Such as bamboo, water lilies, lotus, ginger, turmeric. — Turmeric is a member of the ginger family and both have medicinal qualities, turmeric soothing inflammation and anxiety, ginger a balm for the stomach. WhenContinue reading “…new shoots”
…the dive
31.— Your father taught you to dive at an early age, first sitting you at the edge of the pool, arms pointing like a giant beak, encouraging you to tip gently into the water. You don’t remember the transition from sitting to standing but at some point, when the fear had gone, you would haveContinue reading “…the dive”
Sally Gander 