Lately, I’ve been saddened to the point of despair by the state of the planet, by the fear and divisiveness that abound, by the algorithm vortexes that contract rather than expand minds and gobble up the gullible. I have no answers, but when I look a...

It’s been a while since I shared my cancer diagnosis online. In the days following that post I was overwhelmed by the messages of love and support I received from friends and family across the world and have drawn strength from every comment and ackn...

Curve balls and short straws On any ordinary day you go to your GP because of something you’ve noticed in your body, something that you think, you desperately hope, is nothing to be alarmed about. But it’s been there for a while and you finally decid...

Greetings all You may have noticed that I haven’t been posting much lately. There’s a very good reason for that, which may (or may not) come to a blog near you soon. I’ve been writing about it daily as a way of coping, but I’m not sure whether I’m re...

When someone tells me the grass isn’t always greener on the other side, I always correct them by stating unequivocally that the grass is most certainly greener in the land of my birth. Ireland is poetically known as the Emerald Isle for very good rea...

Way back in the 1980s I worked with a guy called Neil on the advertising sales team of a magazine company.  I was a terrible salesperson. I wasn’t motivated by money or targets or commission, but it was fun for a while, despite my lack of business ac...

As I walked I started to notice more, to pay closer attention. I watched the ever-changing cloud shapes as they shifted from moment to moment. I was transfixed by the first star appearing against a burnt orange horizon. The post In praise of walking...

So, there have been these challenges going around on Facebook. You know the ones: choose ten favourite songs from the 80s or ten albums that influenced you and post them over ten consecutive days, without explanation. I don’t usually join in with suc...

The first time my confirmed Francophile husband (CFH) went to Spain was on a Contiki tour with a bus load of Antipodeans. He has hazy memories of dancing fountains in Barcelona but not much else. The second time was with me, some 28 years later. I wa...

We are all feeling very grateful, judging by the ubiquity of this common hashtag. But what does it really mean? The word gratitude is derived from the Latin word gratia, meaning grace, graciousness or gratefulness. It is a thankful acknowledgement of...