What am I waiting for?

What am I waiting for? For the winter to be over? For Spring to arrive? For my life to start? For something to give a little, to feel that sudden shifting that says something is going to move soon? For the stars to move into a favourable conjunction? For better times? Till I am grown [...]

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The myth of permanent growth ~ or what goes up must come down

The myth of permanent growth ~ or what goes up must come down Recent news reports on the British economy have been pretty depressing lately. I really don’t find either politics or economics even vaguely interesting but I was struck by various things recently. The concept of growth, for example. Some years ago, I was [...]

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Doors within Doors ~ deciphering the dreaming

Doors within Doors ~ deciphering the dreaming Last year I found myself taking lots of photographs of doors and doorways, some open, some closed and some even bricked up.  The best ones (visually anyway) were ones that were taken from the inside looking out. The view is framed by the doorway and the view is [...]

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Guesting elsewhere today ~ balancing peripheral characters with main characters

A few weeks back, I was asked if I would contribute my thoughts to Thea’s wonderful blog. The subject she wanted to me to tackle was how to stop peripheral characters in a story usurping the main ones. “Oh,” I said. “You mean how to stop Side Show Bob murdering Bart Simpson?” and the post [...]

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Analysing the creative process~ part 2 by Marc Nash

(This post came from an email exchange between Marc and I after I had been worrying about losing my creativity. Marc was happy to have his process shared here) I’ve read books on the sources of creativity, mainly by psychologists & analysts. None really clinch it for me. You’ve probably got your own ideas on [...]

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A (fairly) light-hearted look at insomnia ~ scourge of my life and that of others

A (fairly) light-hearted look at insomnia ~ scourge of my life and that of others. If there is one thing guaranteed to get people talking on social media (and we shall exclude certain subjects for reasons of simple decency) it’s insomnia. It’s far from a simple subject, as this article from Wiki shows but when [...]

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Is there someone there? ~ a sense of presence

Roses…   Is there someone there? I’m almost sure I can feel you there. The scent of roses comes and goes. It reminds me of something long ago. The hairs of  my neck are bristling. I can feel you. Who are you? Talk to me. Please. Nothing the computer hums softly, the blood in my [...]

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Snow at the shoreline

Snow at the Shoreline Cappuccino waves crash upon the shore Spin-drift and snow meet at high tide, Overlap and kiss across a barrier Made of iced shingle and flotsam, Feathers and cuttlefish corpses. Roar of sea and wind drown out The cries of gulls and the crunch Of feet through snow and sand. Breath snatched [...]

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Sensitive skin, sensitive soul ~ Toughen up or die?

Sensitive skin, sensitive soul ~ Toughen up or die? Did you know that the skin is actually the largest organ of the body? More than merely a cosmetic layer to hide our insides and hold them together, skin is extremely important to health. It helps regulate our body temperature, excrete unwanted waste products via sweat [...]

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I WANT TO BELIEVE ~ being Mulder AND Scully

I WANT TO BELIEVE ~ being Mulder AND Scully One of my favourite TV shows of all time was the X-files. I happened upon the pilot episode when it first aired in the UK and I was hooked. Mulder had a poster in his basement office at FBI headquarters which I have long coveted. It [...]

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