In the past few days I’ve been struck by the story of the stranger who noticed a man sitting on a bench outside a coffee shop in some distress – vomiting and sweating. As others passed by – perhaps avoiding someone they may have assumed had drunk a little too much – this woman stopped...
We’ve kind of got used to not seeing beyond today or tomorrow given the clouds of uncertainty that persistently hover. With many of our everyday ‘taken for granteds’ being on hold we’ve perhaps all had to get a little better at being in the moment, and living moment to moment. And as much as we...
Humanity is and has been in a profound time of mental activity and development of its intellect – this has been going on for several hundred years in this current level of intensity. We see it present in the ever-growing activity in Science, Medicine, Technology, Engineering and so on. We want to know about our...
Wherever we turn we seem to be confronted by difficult news, by distressing things happening. Convulsions in our world, affecting people. We get sucked into the suffering on a micro-scale, our compassion focused on the single individual, family or small group affected and facing the challenge. Appreciation of a bigger picture – a world re-forming...
So often when we reflect on our purpose in life, we become focused on trying to express it in concrete terms and that’s sensible of course because we like things to be tangible. We may find that our purpose is expressed in terms of a cause such as organic farming, or as a talent such...
So much happens in the course of a day, in our own lives, and in the world around us. The information coming at us on so many fronts – whether our own internal radar (thoughts and feelings) or externally – can, at times, feel overwhelming. We may feel like we have little time to reflect,...
It’s rare for people to share much about their inner world. We do it sometimes with close family or friends but even then it may not touch into the real depths of our inner reflections and sense of self. And of course there’s also the question of the depth of our own self-awareness – do...
How often do we litter our conversation with the ‘intention’ word – ‘it is my intention’ we say, or ‘I intend…’ without really having invested in our words or the substance beneath them. At the simplest level this commonplace phrasing sets up an expectation in ourselves and others and is casually wasteful of the true...
I’ve long felt a deep connection with the legend of King Arthur, his knights, Merlin and the sword of Excalibur. Like so many legends and folklore one can discover deep and manyfold layers within the characters, the stories and the symbols. Excalibur for me represents the sword of leadership and courage and the mutual dependency...
What do we hold onto in the choppy and extremely fast-flowing waters sweeping through our lives at this time? With only daily exercise or a weekly shop for variety, life confined to home can feel like stagnation on an epic scale. We’re also looking through a window on a world changing at breakneck speed, and...