I've just discovered that tomorrow (8th December) is the final day of National Grief Awareness Week, the existence of which I wasn't aware of until today. The irony being that I am, and have long been, constantly aware of grief. The campaign is being run by The Good Grief Trust, which aims to normalise grief, get people to talk about it, and offer support from day one to anyone suffering a … [Read more...] about Perhaps we should see grief as our constant companion
Storytelling
This is how the story ends…
It has been almost three months since my mum passed away. Since then, I've written about the eulogy I delivered at her funeral, and how I felt when the furniture was cleared from her flat. I've also written about the grief cycle I've experienced over the past four years. In other words, I've spent a lot of time thinking about death and dying. A friend of mine, who also lost her mother in … [Read more...] about This is how the story ends…
Why we’re suffering from truth decay
One of my back teeth started aching this week. I’m wondering if it’s a reaction to the rapid decaying of truth that’s impacting politics and culture today, both in the UK and the US. I was aware of the term post-truth (Oxford Dictionaries’ Word of the Year in 2016), but hadn’t heard of truth decay until Obama started mentioning it in the interviews he’s been doing recently to publicise his new … [Read more...] about Why we’re suffering from truth decay
Escaping the tyranny of the “shoulds”
As I write, I should be sitting in a cosy stone cottage in front of a wood-burning stove, having just returned from an invigorating walk with a lovely friend in the beautiful Black Mountains of Wales. Instead, I am at home in Amersham, still in bed, gazing out of the window at a uniformly grey sky that is interrupted only by a brutally pollarded tree. Welcome to my winter “holiday”. Don’t … [Read more...] about Escaping the tyranny of the “shoulds”
The vulnerability of visibility
I’m currently writing my third book*. It’s about language and the powerful role that words play in creating our reality and the stories we tell about ourselves. I’ve curated a list of words that have had an impact on me at various stages of my life, and used them as gateways in order to explore how language affects us in positive and negative ways. And I recently had a wonderful conversation … [Read more...] about The vulnerability of visibility
Language in living colour
It makes me feel a little bit guilty to admit this but, for the most part, I’ve enjoyed lockdown. I’m acutely aware of the suffering of others, and like everyone else I’ve been affected by the collective stress of living through a pandemic, but I’ve been fortunate enough to stay healthy and present enough to allow creativity to blossom. I’ve managed to write the first draft of a book … [Read more...] about Language in living colour