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Thursday 14 March 2024

Clean It Up!

 
 https://unsplash.com/@austriannationallibrary
 
"We are all born happy. Life gets us dirty along the way, but we can clean it up."
Isabel Allende 
 
Have you done any Spring cleaning yet? We had some carpets cleaned this week, and we're about to repaint our hall and bedroom. The longer days and a bit more sunshine might have motivated you to fling open the windows, let in some fresh air and blow away the cobwebs. Psychologists tell us that Spring cleaning can be good for our mental health. Click here to find out why.

Keep Britain Tidy is organising 'The Great British Spring Clean 2024'. Click here to find out more and learn how you can join in. 

Writing prompts:
  • Write for a few minutes about how life has 'got you dirty along the way.' Have you been able to 'clean it up', as Isabel Allende suggests?
  • Do you enjoy cleaning? Write about the effect is has on you - physically and mentally, good or bad.
  • Describe your feelings now that Spring is arriving and the days are getting longer. Are you motivated to try something new?

Thursday 7 March 2024

International Women's Day 2024


 Let's Fly Together

Let's flap our wings and fly together,

Break the chains of patriarchy forever.

We stand united, hand in hand,

No longer silent, we take a stand.

 We need more women in leadership roles,

Their ideas, their vision, and their goals.

We own our bodies, we own our minds,

We leave oppression far behind.

We lift each other up, we amplify our voice,

We fight for our rights and our choice,

Together we'll reach the highest of heights,

And achieve our goals with all our might.

 Let's build a world where love conquers hate,

And create a future we'll all celebrate.

Not just a dream, but a reality to see,

Where women are truly, completely, free.
 
Ayesha Islam

Based in Sahiwal in Pakistan, poet Ayesha Islam uses the power of poetry to encourage her readers to #EmbraceEquity, penning an inspiring poem for IWD.

Titled Let's Fly Together, Ayesha's poem explores themes of women's solidarity, empowerment, leadership, and equality - all of which align with the values and mission of IWD. 

Click here to read more about International Women's Day March 8th, 2024.

Writing prompts:

  • Have you ever felt discriminated against because of your gender? Set a timer and write about the experience for six minutes. 
  • Imagine if men and women switched for a day. Click here to watch a video that explores gender equality, then write about how it would be if you switched with someone for a day.
  • Is there a woman who has inspired you ? Write about her.

Thursday 29 February 2024

Dance to the Music

 The Dance
By Paul Laurence Dunbar

    Heel and toe, heel and toe,
    That is the song we sing;
    Turn to your partner and curtsey low,
    Balance and forward and swing.
    Corners are draughty and meadows are white,
    This is the game for a winter's night.

    Hands around, hands around,
    Trip it, and not too slow;
    Clear is the fiddle and sweet its sound,
    Keep the girls' cheeks aglow.
    Still let your movements be dainty and light,
    This is the game for a winter's night.

    Back to back, back to back,
    Turn to your place again;
    Never let lightness nor nimbleness lack,
    Either in maidens or men.
    Time hasteth ever, beware of its flight,
    Oh, what a game for a winter's night!

    Slower now, slower now,
    Softer the music sighs;
    Look, there are beads on your partner's brow
    Though there be light in her eyes.
    Lead her away and her grace requite,
    So goes the game on a winter's night.
 
 *****

"Whatever music you beat on your drum there is somebody who can dance to it."

Chinua Achebe

I love to dance with my husband. In the past we've bopped along to many a great soul classic, but more recently have enjoyed a more sedate waltz, or slow foxtrot. We've been having ballroom dancing lessons some quite some time, I'm not sure we are any better now than we were at the beginning. However, we enjoy it and there's something very special and intimate about dancing with the person you love. 

Click here for some great Motown dance tracks.

Writing prompts:

  • Dance around your living room (alone or with a friend) then describe how it felt.
  • What music do you 'beat on your drum'? Write about it.  
  • Who is the person that dances, or has danced, to your music? Set a timer for six minutes and write about them. 
  • What's your favourite kind of music? Write about how it makes you feel - emotionally and physically.
 


 

Sunday 25 February 2024

Signs of Spring

 

 “Snowdrops (Consolation)”

A small bird twitters on a leafless spray,
Across the snow-waste breaks a gleam of gold:
What token can I give my friend to-day
But February blossoms, pure and cold?
Frail gifts from Nature’s half-reluctant hand…
I see the signs of spring about the land…
These chill snowdrops, fresh from wintry bowers,
Are the forerunners of a world of flowers.

~Sarah Doudney,  c.1881

The snowdrops outside our house were limp and forlorn today in the early morning frost, but soon perked up as the sun broke through. Click here to read more about these resilient winter superstars. 

Type 'snowdrops' into the search box on this blog to find more poems and writing prompts about these delicate, but tough little flowers.

Like them, we all need a little bit of sunshine to warm our hearts and revive us when we're bending under the weight of anxiety or sadness. 

Writing prompts:

  • Write about a time when you have felt 'limp and forlorn'. What has helped to revive you?
  • Go for a walk and notice the signs of forthcoming Spring all around. How do these make you feel? Write about your walk using all your senses. 
  • Do you look forward to 'a world of flowers' in the coming months? Write about your favourite flower.

Saturday 24 February 2024

Calling All Senophiles

  

                https://unsplash.com/@qiuyunfeng

Winter Moon

Brightly the moon like a jewel is beaming,
White in the east, o’er a lone landscape gleaming,
Over the meadows and over the snow,
Glimmering, shimmering, silvery glow.

Low in the east, when the gloaming is ending,
Slowly this white winter moon is ascending.
Looming so large and appearing so nigh,
Satellite framed by a star-spangled sky.

High in the sky with soft radiance teeming,
Nigh to the time when men, women are dreaming,
Weird is her splendour on valley and hill,
Cold is her gleam upon river and rill.

Brightly the moon like a jewel is shining,
White in the west she is slowly declining,
Beautiful moon! Which beams gorgeous and grand
Over the homes of our own Native Land.


– Charles Nevers Holmes

The moon is at its fullest and most beautiful tonight. Known as the Snow Moon because February was (and still is in some places) a time of heavy snow, it also has several other names. Click here to find out more.

Folklore and myths about full moons abound, but there does seem to be evidence that the current Snow Moon can affect your sleep pattern. Click here to read more.

Click here for quotes about the moon.

Writing prompts:

  • If you can, go outside this evening and observe the Snow Moon, then return to the warmth, sit down and write for six minutes about whatever comes into your head.
  • It's been a long time since we had really deep snow. Write about a memory you have of snow, using all your senses to describe that time.
  • Are you a good sleeper? Do you think your sleeping pattern may have been altered by the moon's phases? Write about your experience of sleep. 

Monday 5 February 2024

29 Miles in February

 My dad, Raymond Edward Nolson

"I know three people who have got better after a brain tumour. I haven't heard of anyone who's got better from Alzheimer's." Terry Pratchett

"I don't have Alzheimer's. I have part-timer's." Glen Campbell

"Dementia is often regarded as an embarrassing condition that should be hushed up and not spoken about. But I feel passionately that more needs to be done to raise awareness, which is why I became an ambassador for the Alzheimer's Society." Kevin Whately
 

"Everyone's dream is to take a pill - take a pill every day so you won't have Alzheimer's." Paul Allen

My dad had Alzheimer's towards the end of his long life, so this month I'm fundraising for Alzheimer's Research. 

I started out trying to raise £100 by completing 29 miles in the 29 days of February. I've already reached my target, so have increased the amount I hope to raise to £350 and the miles I hope to complete to 129. 

Lots of generous people have already donated. Please give a little if you can so that we can try to find a cure for this awful disease. Here's a link to my JustGiving page:

https://www.justgiving.com/page/judith-boardman-1704910629974

Click here to learn more about Alzheimer's.

Click here to read about Memory Tree which offers dementia support in Bradford.

Writing prompts:

  • Set a timer for six minutes and write about someone you know who has, or had dementia. 
  • Getting Alzheimer's disease is one of my greatest fears. What is yours? Write about it for a few minutes.
  • Have you ever raised funds for charity? If so, write about the experience. 

Wednesday 31 January 2024

Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall

 

The Rainy Day

by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

 The day is cold, and dark, and dreary;
It rains, and the wind is never weary;
The vine still clings to the mouldering wall,
But at every gust the dead leaves fall,
And the day is dark and dreary.

My life is cold, and dark, and dreary;
It rains, and the wind is never weary;
My thoughts still cling to the mouldering Past,
But the hopes of youth fall thick in the blast,
And the days are dark and dreary.

Be still, sad heart! and cease repining;
Behind the clouds is the sun still shining;
Thy fate is the common fate of all,
Into each life some rain must fall,
Some days must be dark and dreary.

I am sitting at my laptop, looking out on to a very wet, grey, January afternoon. Squally rain showers are keeping me indoors where I'm safe and warm and enjoying being lulled by the music on BBC Radio 3. My heart goes out to any poor creature who it trying to survive outdoors right now.

Some may be glad of the Shipping Forecast. As someone who often keeps late hours, listening to Radio 4, I know that when I hear 'Sailing By' and the Shipping Forecast, it's time I went to sleep!

Click here to find out more about the Shipping Forecast.

Click here to find out more about 'Sailing By'.

Writing prompts:

  • Is your life 'cold and dark and dreary'? Do you feel that the 'wind is never weary'? Set a timer for six minutes and write about it.
  • Do you believe, like Longfellow, that 'behind the clouds is the sun still shining'? Write about how to see the sunshine, rather than the rain.
  • Do you agree that 'into each life some rain must fall'? Does it fall more often and for longer for some?
  • What do you do when you cannot sleep? Write down your strategies and perhaps share them as a comment below.