I’ve come to the end of another sojourn in France and I return to London in a couple of days. I have been more than aware that this time around, my stay in France has been different to previous visits not only because of what I have been doing but because I am feeling different about myself. For the first time , perhaps in my life, I have achieved some of the goals I set myself and I cannot underestimate the significance and the impact this has had on my behaviour. I have managed to reflect without feelings of guilt,…
THE PEN: MIGHTIER THAN THE SWORD?
There is a particular journalist who writes a column for the Sunday Times where she viciously and disdainfully attacks any poor soul towards whom she feels some antagonism. I have latterly stopped reading her column but foolishly decided to read what she had written in today’s paper. She had singled out both Amal Clooney and Meghan Markle and was so thoroughly nasty about both of them that I felt compelled to write a comment at the foot of the article. What I said wasn’t insulting our defaming. I merely stated that it was a pity that someone with this journalist’s…
GREY MATTER
I’m still in France and before I came over this time, I had set myself 3 goals: 1) To play the piano 2) to learn French and 3) to write that book that I have been thinking about for approximately 15 years. So far so good. I am on Chapter 4 of my book, I am playing the piano and revisiting old melodies that I haven’t played since I left school and I have finally begun learning French via an App called Babbel. Having self-disciple as I have previously mooted is not something that I have exercised much in my…
BLESSED ASSURANCE
I have just read Psalm 103. For me, it says it all and it fills me with hope, joy and inner peace. At those times when we feel overwhelmed by our daily battles, its such a relief to know that we can hand them all over to The One who created us and who loves us more than we could ever imagine. It is only right therefore to sing His praises and to adore Him !
VAPIDITY
Whenever I haven’t posted for a while it is fairly guaranteed that I am facing yet another struggle with my demons. Of course there are times when I am ortherwise occupied and unable to sit down and write, – in my case, its usually when I have people around. I am in France and my family have been over here on holiday. However, I can’t use them as an excuse because they returned to the UK a week ago and despite resolving to continue writing, I have been unable to do so. Amidst my blog musings I have been trying…
EAT YOUR HEART OUT!
It dawned on me yesterday that the heart is the only part of us that never, ever rests. Whilst every part of us is being repaired and revived during our sleep, yet the heart is wired to keep on ticking, no matter what. Whilst there are people being kept alive with mechanical and artificial hearts, these cases are extremely rare and our existence is based upon our hearts’ continual beating. There are so many references to the heart. We are called warm or cold-hearted. We are even called heartless when we act in a callous and uncaring manner. Romance and…
FRIENEMY
I have been thinking about the difficult people in my life. You know those people whom you dread having to encounter and when you do, they seem to suck the life blood and energy right out of you? Even if you are just thinking about them ( and they seem to occupy so much of our daily thoughts despite how we feel about them ), they have the extraordinary capacity to invade and pervade our beings as if by osmosis. If one cannot walk away from them or divorce oneself from them , then one needs to find a way…
PLUMB CRAZY
Okay, I admit it. I LOVE assembling flatpack furniture. As long as one has an electric screwdriver and space to lay out all the components and parts, its a breeze. I refuse to belong to that stereotype categorising women as being unable to read maps or build furniture. I’m back in France and spent a happy couple of hours today assembling a suitable disguise for a very ugly loo. Maybe one day I will write a book entitled : ‘ How to renovate bathrooms in France with a French plumber who doesn’t speak a word of English ‘.…
THE MIRROR CRACKED
Why is it that I can be so utterly dedicated and disciplined when it comes to my dietary subsistence and yet so rubbish at all other forms of discipline? Take this blog as an example. I have established to myself that I love to write, that it ticks several boxes for me. Whether I have any talent or not is a moot point. My subject matter should be irrelevant as long as I am actually writing. However, this leads me to question whether my dominant preoccupation with self and my obsession with food-related issues is a two-edged sword. It gives…
BLA, BLA, BLA
You know those moments when you have been talking to someone and it becomes blatantly clear that they aren’t listening to you? This has been occurring with some regularity when I am conversing with my nearest and dearest. He hasn’t yet figured out how to give the illusion that he so interested in what I am saying, when in reality , he is miles away. He is too honest and too transparent for that. Instead, his eyes start wandering and in his case, he will interrupt what I am saying because he has been thinking about what he wants to…