Hurrah for World Book Night

Posted on 05/03/2011 by inktuition

I love the idea of World Book Night – a new initiative to give away a million books (40,000 copies each of 25 titles) in libraries and book shops across the UK, as well as in homeless centres, pubs and hospitals.

It’s such a feel-good initiative that could revive the beauty of reading among so many people – as well as bringing books to people who probably can’t afford the luxury of buying them.

With the likes of literary greats such as Margaret Atwood taking part, I’m tingling with joy and excitement.

Why are some school mums so sweetly spiteful?

Posted on 04/03/2011 by inktuition

There’s a mum at my daughter’s primary school who went to the very same school when she was a little girl. She swaggers across the playground as if she owns it, and acts as though she’s the arbiter of everything and anyone who is right and proper at the school.

In the beginning, I was beguiled: she acted as a confidante, looked after my daughter after school, on occasion, invited me round for hot chocolate at her house, and shared her own little marriage challenges. It took me a while to realise that Continue reading →

Why I’m joining the Post A Day 2011 challenge

Posted on 03/03/2011 by inktuition

There are three reasons why I’ve joined WordPress Post A Day 2011. And gone public with it.

1. To conquer ambivalence

A few years ago, before the economy got into trouble, I was having trouble selling my house. People were coming round to visit it, but not with any enthusiasm or conviction (aside from the oohs and aahs over my lovely original painting hanging in the hallway that I seriously didn’t want anyone touching – least of all househunting strangers with greasy fingertips). I couldn’t understand why no-one was biting. Then a friend of mine told me to Continue reading →

Why the sound of silence is terrifying

Posted on 22/10/2010 by inktuition

The first episode of BBC2 programme The Big Silence really moved me. The documentary takes five people whose lives are consumed by ‘busyness’ and puts them into an eight-day silent retreat – the point being that they will eventually listen to their soul and discover their true selves.

As someone whose entire existence depends on being busy, I recognised the ‘disease’ presented in the programme. Father Christopher, a monk who has set this challenge, said we should all find 20 minutes every day to sit in silence and meditate, otherwise our soul will die.It seems so simple, yet so difficult to find 20 solitary minutes in a diary that has no room for manoeuvre, space or spontaneity.

And the thought of spending days without doing anything, or talking to someone, has me panicking, feeling claustrophobic, and clamouring to be let out and back to busyness. For me, there’s a belonging in being busy; Continue reading →

Listen with your eyes

Posted on 21/10/2010 by inktuition

A photographer caught my soul today – even without his camera lens.

Listen with your eyes (istockphoto)

I had arrived at a breakfast meeting this morning feeling out of sorts. Much as I’d like to blame London Transport for not putting on enough Tubes, the source of my unease had been an unwelcome and unwieldy, claustrophobically uncomfortable hatred of other people. Hatred may be a strong word, but it’s certainly in context when it comes to considering the insidious anxiety that fills the commuter-me: the angry individual whose boundaries have been invaded by too little space, too little time, and too little patience

What is it about the London Underground that triggers an uber-survival urge to oust any object that gets in its way (human, animal, vegetable or mineral?) There is something about a closing Tube door that symbolizes rejection, frustration, abandonment: being too late; being too uptight; not being good enough. Continue reading →

I’ve started, so I’ll finish

Posted on 23/05/2010 by inktuition

Sometimes, I have to admit that all this personal development stuff feels a bit full-on. Every week, I have yet another insight about my behaviour or my personality and I think: right, that’s it. I’ve got it. I can stop now. That’s enough insight for a lifetime, surely?

Except it isn’t. Once embarked upon – like a long-distance, leisurely cruise – once you’ve lost sight of land and got pretty much half way, there’s little point in turning back. Because you’d need twice as much effort to turn the ship around and go back to where you started as you would just to continue cruising. OK, the grey horizon of never-ending sea may feel, well, endless. Except that I feel I’m travelling to more meaningful places – ones that are three-dimensional, nurturing, supportive, compassionate – and the place I’ve left behind is hard and unforgiving.

So, no matter how slow and difficult the journey, I’ve started it so I will finish it.

Who cares what people think?

Posted on 24/02/2010 by inktuition

For years, I have carried a motivating phrase with me. I put it in the opening page of my diary – so I had to look at it every day – but I’ve never truly understood what it meant, or known whether I could ever live and breathe it. It was an ideal that ‘one day’ I though I would reach.

The quote is from Anne Dickson, author of the fabulous book A Woman in Your Own Right, and it comes from a mini manual, A Book of Your Own, that gives thoughts and inspiration for every day of the year

She wrote: “It is impossible to be creative with your life and worry about Continue reading →

soul symbolism | the wings of meaning

Posted on 23/02/2010 by inktuition

I’m fascinated by the symbols that appear in my life – when I eventually spot them, and try to figure out what they might mean. A symbol may need to make several appearances before I get the message, however. In journalism, they say that if you hear the same rumour three times then you’re on to something. And so it is with symbols: I believe they bring me a message that my unconscious is ready to hear – and will keep repeating it until I tune in. That may take some time, though.

soul ready to fly? (istockphoto)

I find that I’m especially drawn to the symbolism of birds, perhaps because they have a freedom to fly away that I envy – or, if I interpret that positively, perhaps they represent my desire to spread my wings. They’re also understood to represent the soul (which I’m journeying to embrace).

Here are three examples of birds appearing at significant moments in my life (as three is a significant number): Continue reading →