Many of you know I like writing stories about people with ghost best friends… Well, I was recently invited by Shepherd.com to share my favourites. The hard part was narrowing it down to just five! The original request came in for Alma’s Grace, so it was lucky timing I’d just published The Ghost and Ms […]
Time and Tide Wait for No One
Time and tide bring to mind the story of King Canute commanding the tide to be still. But tide is also an Old English word, meaning a period of time, such as Yuletide, (good) tidings and (woe) betide for example. By now you know that my definition of wealth includes time and health as well […]
The Nature of Pleasure
I recently read an article that suggested stoke survivors have a decreased ability to experience pleasure. As do those with depression, traumatic injuries, and chronic stress. So it made me wonder about the nature of pleasure. The Cambridge Dictionary, is next to no help on pleasure; it’s 1. enjoyment, happiness, or satisfaction, or something that […]
Taking Pleasure Where You Find it
Taking pleasure is largely a matter of choice. Sometimes the things that bring you pleasure are the things you have to work for. According to the Cambridge Dictionary, pleasure is enjoyment, happiness, or satisfaction, or something that gives this [feeling]. This week, we’ve been taking pleasure as we’ve prepared to welcome a new dog into […]
The Pleasure of Getting Things Done
Despite the hope of getting things done, we’re often better at starting than finishing them. Yet by definition, getting things done is all about the finish. Finish: A1. to complete something or come to the end of an activityB1. to eat, drink, or use something completely so that none remains Cambridge Dictionary And there’s the […]
The What, Why, and How of Pleasure
When times get tough, one of the first expenses cut is pleasure. In the face of all other considerations, it becomes frivolous and wasteful. And yet, without pleasure, life can look and feel very grim. The other day I was watching one of a series of news reports by Geoff Thompson on Australia’s housing affordability […]
How to Solve the Time Management Mystery
I was chatting about the Time Management Mystery with some creative friends the other day Actually, we were whining about how we have so much to do, and not enough time to do it in. And speculating how some of the creatives we’re inspired by manage their time. For the most part, all of us […]
Alice ‘mid the Starships
“Normal” people get caught in social media quagmires, but I run down a different kind of internet rabbit hole. When I first saw this image I was intrigued because it’s a Victorian glass lantern slide titled ” Oh there, ‘mid the starships, Alice, I know a”. And I was really curious about the starships. The […]
Books: to keep or not keep?
Since I read Marie Kondo’s The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying, I keep falling over intense, library voice (whispered) bookish debates about whether to keep or not keep books. More often than not, the argument centres on not keeping, and Ms Kondo’s insistence on only keeping those that “spark joy.” Can/does a book “spark joy”? Well, […]
Life Is All Too Short
Life is a finite thing. It has a beginning, a middle, and an end. Sometimes life is all too short, and sometimes it’s way too long. Australian botanist Dr David Goodall felt his had taken too long. According to Charlotte Hamlyn, at 104, his declining physical condition and failing vision forced him to give up […]