Most of the time, we don’t struggle to remember the names of our alpacas. It’s not only how they look but how they behave and interact with each other. Their ‘names’ are merely the moniker we have given them so we remember who they are. But they know. And they know each other. In the … Read more
How do you know when the berries are ripe? Or when it’s time to cut the hay? And when do the fledglings know it’s time to leave the nest or the goslings leave the lake? Or the leaves start to turn, and the fungi push their fruiting bodies into the air? It’s not a knowing … Read more
Recently I’ve been conscious of being on the edge of time. We have never been where we are today and need fresh eyes to see it properly. In this space, words from ‘A few miles above Tintern Abbey’ by Wordsworth, quoted by Bob Leckridge, have lodged with me: While with an eye made quiet by … Read more
This lovely poem by Derek Walcott has many layers. Sit with the one that is drawing you and come home again. LOVE AFTER LOVE The time will comewhen, with elation,you will greet yourself arrivingat your own door, in your own mirrorand each will smile at the other’s welcome, and say, sit here. Eat.You will love … Read more
What do we do in our places of knowing? Those things we are sure of or have confidence in. Do we go and find something else to add to our collection? Or might we sit with our knowing until it becomes our unknowing? Probing its soft edges and letting them unfold. Until they mellow into … Read more
At Easter last year, we looked ahead with pandemic weariness. The hoped-for respite didn’t last long, and our confidence in the future was a little shaky. In this context, my friend Andy Hunter from The Presence Project commissioned a blessing that would speak to both our collective experience and the marking of this particular season. … Read more
I first heard this poem and its origins several years ago and waited patiently for the right time to share it. Today, Good Friday 2022, seems to be appropriate. KINDNESS Before you know what kindness really isyou must lose things,feel the future dissolve in a momentlike salt in a weakened broth.What you held in your … Read more
Looking at the gorse flowers, can you smell their pungent coconut scent? Can you feel the damp mist on your hair and face? And what about the sound of the distant brook? Are you smiling? What does it remind you of? And where does it take you in your imagination? I wonder, what do you … Read more
Most of the time, we assume we are linear. And that we are moving from one step to the next in a way that could be defended. Yet the reality is far more magnificent. For a start, we don’t only know with our minds. In fact, our mind is often in catch-up mode, giving us … Read more
Quiet, before theunfurledbeautyof arosebud, sorrowawakensthe soul,remindingof anotherwholeness. Be still and know.