Global Wave of Light

 

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"When you are sorrowful look again into your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight."

The Prophet – Khalil Gibran

 

Today is Global Wave of Light 2024 - an annual observance that honours and remembers babies who have died during pregnancy, childbirth, or infancy. 

 

It is 41 years since I had a miscarriage - April 9th, 1983 - but the memory of that awful event is still with me. So profound was the effect of losing my first baby, that I afterwards spent ten years as a telephone contact for the Miscarriage Association, listening to other women's stories of baby loss, and trying to offer a sympathetic ear. I also set up a support group for parents at the Bradford Royal Infirmary.

 

At the time, miscarriage was still a taboo subject. Indeed, it wasn't until my own miscarriage that my mum revealed she too had experienced two, but had never felt able to talk about them with anyone.

I regard myself lucky to have lost only one baby. Many women experience multiple miscarriages. On the day I eventually had my first child, by Caesarean section, the women who went to surgery just before me had had 12. 

Last Wednesday (October 9th) the Government announced that everyone who has experienced pregnancy loss—regardless of when it occurred—can now apply for a certificate that formally acknowledges their loss. I'm thinking of applying for one. 

Click here to access help after miscarriage. Click here for help after stillbirth. Click here for help after the death of a baby.

Writing prompts:

• Have you experienced the loss of a baby during pregnancy, childbirth, or infancy? Set a timer for six minutes and write about it. Write quickly, without stopping or editing.
• All of us will experience grief at some point in our lives. If you can, write about someone you have grieved for. Set a timer for six minutes.
• When was the last time someone lent you a sympathetic ear? Write down what happened and how it helped you.
  

An Inky Surprise

 

Through thickets deep in dark

The spears of sunlight rush

On brown and yellow mushrooms

Under every bramblebush.

They hide among the stumps

Where birds alight to rest,

And when we lose ourselves,

The shadows guide our quest.

So brief these autumn days

And sunset solitudes,

The twilight has no chance

To linger in the woods.

from 'He's Gone "After Mushrooms"!' by Boris Pasternak 

(click here to read the rest of the poem)

I recently went for a brisk walk, because I was in a low mood, and found a moment of joy. I came upon this wonderful mushroom while coming back down the lane from Coley to Norwood Green. It surprised me, because I didn't notice it on the way up. Is it possible it poked its head up out of the ground when my back was turned?

It's a shaggy ink cap which is, apparently, delicious if picked and eaten straight away. I'll take the word of WildfoodUK for that. Click here to find out more and, (for all you fellow fountain pen addicts), how to use them to make your own ink.

Writing prompts:

• Write about a time when something surprised you and gave you a moment of joy.

• What do you do to try to shake yourself out of a low mood? Write about it. 

• I love foraging, especially for blackberries and crab apples. However, I've never felt confident enough to gather wild mushrooms. Have you? Write for a few minutes about your foraging experiences.

  Please do share some of your thoughts by posting a comment. If you're not sure how, just look on the right at 'Using the Blog'.

  I do get feedback on how many people look at my blog, but would really also like to know what you all think of it. Thanks.
  

 

 

World Postcard Day

Today is World Postcard Day. Click here to learn about the history of the postcard. 

I've been 'Postcrossing' for quite a while. So far, I've sent 298 to every corner of the globe and received 304 from almost every country you can think of. I love receiving the cards. Finding a postcard lying behind my front door is pure joy! From the carefully handwritten messages, to the colourful images and stamps, postcards are little surprises that delight, inspire and connect me with strangers.

Reading the handwritten messages brings me closer to people in other countries, even though I've never met them, and reminds me that essentially we are all the same, all trying to make connections, all wanting peace, security and happiness for our families and friends.

So why not send someone a postcard? Perhaps send a postcard to those family members who might live far away. The children in your life might have not yet had the pleasure of finding a postcard, just for them, in their letterbox, so you could be the first to surprise them!

Maybe you know an elderly person who could use some cheering up when perhaps they are feeling a bit lonely.

Postcards are a great way too to catch up with friends you haven’t seen in a while, letting them know how you’re doing and that you’re thinking about them.

You could even join 'Postcrossing' (it's free) and send a postcard to someone across the world. 

Writing Prompts:

• Write a postcard (by hand) to someone you have not seen for a while (living or dead), but who holds a special place in your heart. What would you really like to say to them? Write with honesty and passion. Post it if you can and if you want to. 

• Who in the world would you like to send you a postcard? What would you like them to say? Write about it.
  
• Choose a world figure (perhaps Vladimir Putin, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Sir Keir Starmer, Joe Biden or Benjamin Netanyahu) and write them a postcard. 

How To Turn A Life Around

 

 

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"Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around." Leo Buscaglia

I'm grateful to Fiona Dowson, the former singing group leader at SHINE in West Bowling, for introducing me to the songs of Penny Stone. Click here to listen to (and learn) 'Give a Little Kindness' and here to view the music and lyrics. 

Writing prompts:

• Did someone offer a kind word to you today? If so, write about how it made you feel.
• When was the last time time you lent someone 'a listening ear'? Describe how it felt for you and the person confiding in you. 
• Has anyone given you 'an honest compliment' recently? If so, write about the experience. If not, write about what compliment you would like to hear and why.  
• Do you agree that small acts of kindness can 'turn a life around'? Has this been your experience? Write about it.
  

Slow Down and Keep It Simple

Simplicity

by Emily Dickinson

How happy is the little stone
That rambles in the road alone,
And doesn't care about careers,
And exigencies never fears;
Whose coat of elemental brown
A passing universe put on;
And independent as the sun,
Associates or glows alone,
Fulfilling absolute decree
In casual simplicity. 

 

"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius—and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction."

E. F. Schumacher

"The times are urgent; let us slow down."

African Saying

"To love, we need to be sensitive to those around us, which is impossible if we are always racing through life engrossed in all the things we need to do before sunset."

Eknath Easwaran

I'm in a cottage by the sea, listening to the sound of church bells drifting across the village as the campanologists enjoy their weekly practice. I'm looking forward to a game of cribbage and, relishing the fact that life has slowed down somewhat and is pretty simple right now. There's nothing urgent to be done and nowhere I need to go - wonderful. 

Click here for some mindfulness meditations to help you slow down and bring some calm.

Writing prompts:

• How simple is your life at the moment? Write about it.
• Write about the pace of your life. If it's too fast, make a list of five things you could do right now to slow it down.
• In the poem above the stone allows itself to exist in the universe without complication. Write for six minutes about what, if anything, complicates things for you.
  

 

 

Bronte Waterfall

'I'll walk where my own nature would be leading:
It vexes me to choose another guide:
Where the grey flocks in ferny glens are feeding;
Where the wild wind blows on the mountain side.

What have those lonely mountains worth revealing?
More glory and more grief than I can tell:
The earth that wakes one human heart to feeling
Can centre both the worlds of Heaven and Hell.'

Emily Brontë

I am lucky to live near Brontë Country, and on a recent walk to the Brontë Waterfall it wasn't hard to imagine Emily and her sisters taking that same route and then on up to Top Withens. 

For my 18th birthday my sister bought me the Emily Brontë Poems and inscribed part of 'Stanzas' in the front (above). Fifty years later they still touch and inspire me. 

Writing prompts:

• Click on the 30-second video above, listen to the mountain stream, then pick up your pen and write for six minutes without stopping. 
• Where has your own nature led you that perhaps others would not have approved? Write about it and the consequences.
• Write about a time when you walked "where the wild wind blows on the mountain side." Describe it using all your senses. Was there 'glory and grief', 'heaven and hell'?
  

 

 

 

 

 

A Change is as Good as a Rest

 

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"Change will come, whether we wish it to or not. To fight it is like fighting the sunrise. Better to say, 'Ah, welcome old friend. Here you are again.' "Bruce Coville

"Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” Barack Obama

"The measure of intelligence is the ability to change.”Albert Einstein

"I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.” Mother Teresa

"If you don’t like the road you’re walking, start paving another one.” Dolly Parton

"All great changes are preceded by chaos.”Deepak Chopr

There are four days to go until the General Election and, whichever party wins, there are bound to be changes. Labour's Manifesto is headed 'Change' and Sir Keir Starmer claims, "At this election we can change Britain." 

'A change is as good as a rest,' they say. Time will tell. 

We're not new to change, however, Rishi Sunak is the fifth Prime Minister since the Tories came to power in 2010 and since then so many cabinet ministers have come and gone it's been hard to keep track. 

Make sure you use your vote on Thursday to bring about the changes you want to see.

Change can be exciting and refreshing, but also unsettling. Use these writing prompts to explore changes in your life.

Writing Prompts:

• Make a list of all the major changes that have happened in your life.
  
• Choose what has been the biggest change then set a timer and write about it for six minutes.
• If you could change one thing about your life at the moment, what would it be? Explore the answer to this question in your writing.  
• If you could wave a magic wand, what changes would you like to see in the world in the future?