Most of us are good at keeping our phones fully charged. We have a plethora of leads, plugs, adaptor etc to ensure we can top up, wherever we are. And just in case, we probably carry a fully charged battery pack. But are we good are we at keeping ourselves well charged? We also need…
Category: Being Human
Seeking Solitude
I’m sat on my own in a pub in Robin Hoods Bay, a lovely picturesque little village wrapped around an impossibly steep hill; a crowd of tiny red-roofed cottages cascading down to the unsettled sea. I’m tucking into a tasty butter chicken curry in a room full of people. This is the only place open…
Changing the Rules of the Game
Rules are there to help us. If they are not helping, we should question them and either ignore them, or re-invent them. My two-year old granddaughter wanted grandad to play a card game. She tends to get what she wants. This was an elaborate version of snap, with circular cards, each with 6 different animals.…
Running in the Dark
Last night I ran in the dark, through a forest. No street lights, no moonlight, just my feet navigating a rather soggy, uneven path. It was hard to see the way ahead, and there were potential hazards all around – fallen branches, puddles, pot holes, werewolves and vampires. Sometimes our imagination runs ahead of us…
Open for Business – whenever?
This is the sign on the door of the Tea, Toast & Post in Robin Hoods Bay. I thought it was a joke, until I turned up on Monday morning to find it closed, with no sign of life. It was an “aren’t here at all” day. Fortunately, I stumbled on The Cove and indulged…
Don’t just Do Something
Sometimes doing nothing is the best option. We live in a modern world which is action focused. We have targets and goals, task lists and action plans. Everyone has a change agenda. We have to be busy doing something if we want to move forward. But sometimes the best way to move forward, is to…
The Jigsaw of Life
Life is a jigsaw without a picture. We pick up one piece at a time and try to place it. A thought, a decision, a task, a conversation. Connecting pieces together in an attempt to make something coherent. I’m doing one – a jigsaw, that is – without a picture. It’s some sort of Sherlock…
Shifting Our Ever Givens
The Suez has finally been unblocked. We all saw the gigantic Ever Given wedged across the canal, stopping 369 other boats from getting through. The impact was enormous – $50bn of goods delayed getting to customers. The alternative route around Africa takes 2 more weeks. We have blockages of our own. Some small, some huge.…
Cardiac Ward 28 – Camaraderie and 3am Lunacy
Sometimes we are thrust together with people through no choice of our own, or of theirs. Maybe in a queue, a lift, a waiting room, at a concert or on a plane. Those were the days. Our English default is to remain quiet and to keep our distance – physically and emotionally. To be private,…
Pipe Cleaning My Heart
When I was a boy, my grandad smoked a pipe. To clean it he used a pipe cleaner; around six inches of flexible wire encased in fluffy cotton. My sister and I would make intricate models out of them. Similar, larger pipe cleaners are used to clean sinks and drains. Whatever the size, pipe cleaners…
Unwrapping The World 