100 Seconds to Midnight

I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments The Invitation by Oriah As a dog walker I feel like it has been raining almost continuously since October and I have been waiting a long time for spring.  I know that it is bringing it's own problems with the number of people being outside but, waiting in line to gain access to the supermarket in controlled numbers, I was glad of the sun this morning.  It is also going some way to suppressing the feeling that the dystopian future, that authors have long since imagined, has actually arrived because in my head I can't quite equate that with sunshine. It is however, going to take more than some nice weather for me to believe, as some are trying to propose, that we are instead heading to some sort of utopia once this is all over.  A society where we are appreciative of what we've got, shop local, regenerate our seaside towns and re-evaluate how we view th

I once had a friend who talked about jumping off the world, like it was some sort of roundabout, so you could stand still and catch your breath before hopping back on.  Over the past thirty years I have often dreamt of this, wishing it was reality. Never did I consider the option where it was the world that stopped, nor the plethora of emotions that would follow.  In the past week I've been anxious, worried, sad, cross, disappointed, downright gutted, concerned, confused, conflicted, grateful, hopeful and occasionally optimistic - my head's spinning and I want the chance to extract myself from it all more than ever. Sounds like social distancing has come at just the right time, except rather than sitting at home surrounded by the books I haven't read, my knitting and multiple art projects, I'm going to be busier than usual shopping for my 93 year old father and trying to work out where to forage for food now that the supermarket shelves are bare - with the notable e

It's one thing when your friends with whom you believe you share a significant amount in common say they are enjoying your blog, it's quite another when your Heavy Metal loving friend says he's a fan of your writing style and then, just as you're letting that compliment sink in, lays down the gauntlet to blog on his favoured music genre! Not one to turn down a challenge and with the added bonus of seeing how FaceBook ads will deal with what I'm sure they'll regard as a mid-life crisis delve into Death Metal, off I went to research Arch Enemy. Stereotype fools Playing the game Nothing Unique They all look the same We Will Rise - Christopher Amott / Michael Amott No wonder my writing struck a chord! This is everything I was saying last week, just slightly more concisely. Turning to the bio on their website I learn that they attribute their success, over the past twenty or so years, to being impervious to other's rules and expectations, preferrin

We are all parts of a whole.  Our individual actions, conversations, behaviours and mindsets can have an impact on our larger society.  Collectively, we can make change happen.  Collectively, we can each help to create a gender equal world. We can all choose to be #EachforEqual  International Women's Day 2020   For whilst I appreciate that not everyone will share my view that we can no longer ignore the environmental impact of our decisions and we need to take action - now - it was somewhat disheartening when the woman working in the local health food shop launched, unbidden, into a tirade against Greta Thunberg and then revealed herself to be an advocate for world leaders being our best hope. Thankfully my faith in humanity was restored a couple of days later when I received some art materials wrapped in a cardboard alternative to bubble wrap.  Particularly pleasing because it was unexpected, the company's website made no reference to being 'eco-friendly'