100 Seconds to Midnight

I am living through a period of my life where I am probably the most resourced that I have ever been, in terms of learning new things and, at the same time, building a support network of people to help me in that learning.  People with brilliant minds who are turning out to be exceptionally gracious in both the sharing of their own knowledge and the passing on of other people's in the form of written and spoken word. My daily walks are increasingly in the company of great thinkers imparting their wisdom through my headphones and my reading list is expanding beyond anything that I will ever find time to read - the pile of books brought several months ago by 'Santa' steadily gathering dust upon the shelf.  Having my mind stretched is exciting, exhausting and sometimes surprising, as the person I have learnt the most from this week, is my son.   Faced with an unenviable situation, in which it would have been easier to remain silent, he took a stand against something he inheren

The Post Heroic Journey is about the stories we would tell to ourselves and to other people if we thought that our purpose in life, our reason for being here, was neither to save nor destroy the world but actually to learn to live more beautifully in the world that we have, more meaningfully, more richly, more sustainably. Sharon Blackie I am on a voyage of discovery.  Just as my desire to hibernate in the winter might actually be a 'thing', so too, it turns out, is the feeling I had when Jodie Whittaker was cast as Dr Who.   Uh-oh! I can feel the hackles rising - so I'll be quick to point out that I'm more than happy for Dr Who to be a woman, I do think it is hugely important for both girls and boys to see female role models, and, as I've never watched an episode with her in it, has absolutely nothing to do with her take on the role - instead it is a sense that whilst making some very valid points, it is missing some too.  I want more for women than to be cast in t

If you want to re-think how we're going to approach this crisis of climate change, it seems to me that the way we've been doing things, or the way we imagine we can change things is not working.  So, the avenues for picturing what could work, we have to establish these, we have to create the spaces where that can occur.  Gal Beckerman   This, in a nutshell, is the premise behind the Thrutopia Masterclass that I am so fortunate to have found my way onto.  Dystopian futures, due to the amount written about them, are easily imagined and can evoke the reaction of  'might as well enjoy ourselves now'.  Utopian futures are so far out of reach and increasingly unbelievable.  Thrutopias on the other hand are, in the words of Professor Rupert Reed who coined the phrase, about how to live and love and vision and carve out a future, through pressed times that will endure. Thus it was that a week last Sunday I found myself begin an adventure with a hundred or so other creatives bu

The irony of wanting to write about time and then not finding any going spare has not been lost on me, so in an attempt to rectify things I am, today, going to make time - or rather  take  time.  I can't make it, I can only choose not to do something else with it, in this case the monthly delve into the finances, and let's face it - who wouldn't rather write?! For a while now, and particularly since the start of the year, I have been watching a tree.  Actually, I do more than watch.  I photograph it, talk to it, and yes, have been known to hug it, but mostly I just stand with it for few moments, my hands resting on it's trunk, my fingers tracing the scars where the bark has split in order to grow, my eyes scrutinising it's branches for signs of life.  And, in my ignorance, I am somewhat surprised that it takes until mid April for the first of this year's leaves to open. (But I'm getting ahead of myself, let's pretend for now that it's still March, an