Kind space

I made a small trade with a friend today: she offered me some glass storage jars which she'd just bought only to realise they were the wrong size for her needs. I gave her in return a rug we had stored away which matches her new curtains perfectly. Now I have freed up some space... Continue Reading →

October 24, 2021 3

Being vocal

One of my close friends called. Her mum’s dying in hospital in US. She hasn’t been able to travel to visit her because of Covid restrictions. When I answered her call, she told me “I just wanted to hear your voice”. So we chatted a bit about nothing much, there being nothing really we could... Continue Reading →

May 9, 2021 2

Feeling the love

It was my birthday recently. My second lockdown birthday. The idea was a bit grim, not what I expected — not again! Ordinarily I’m a big fan of birthdays — I feel as though we should celebrate our own birth — but I had a hard time getting into the mood on this one. When... Continue Reading →

April 29, 2021 5

Changing our view

Hmm, the whole lockdown-pandemic thing is starting to bore me a bit. I know I’m lucky to have made it through 4 months or so before beginning to feel like this... and only in a minor way even now! Hah, perhaps all that yoga practice really does ‘work’! In UK it’s hard sometimes to believe... Continue Reading →

August 2, 2020 3

Tropical yoga

One of my friends on social media recently invited us to post the last picture we took before lockdown, something that represented our life then. The old normal. My last photos are actually a professional shoot! How glamorous! Not so much in reality. It was actually ‘a date’ with two friends — one photographer and... Continue Reading →

May 26, 2020 0

Counting the days

I like to think I'm a pretty organised kind of person. So why does Christmas seem to take me by surprise every year? It starts so early in the shops, after all, and I seem to dwell in the self-righteous opinion that they're spoiling the season by over-exposure -- until all of a sudden it's... Continue Reading →

December 5, 2019 0

Under examination

Remember my Sanskrit exams earlier this year? I wrote at the time about the small support network I gathered around myself as I put myself forward for these exams, feeling very much out of my depth but with a determination just to try and see what came from it. I tried to enjoy the accelerated... Continue Reading →

August 17, 2019 6

My best yoga friend is leaving town

Maybe I didn't present quite as much equanimity as I was aiming for. My teacher called out to me after class as I was unlocking my bike to go home, asking me if I was OK. Of course I'm not OK! My best yoga friend had just announced that she was moving back to her... Continue Reading →

June 8, 2019 2

Support network

A support network can be really.... well, supportive! I'm not a big one for sharing all the details of my life (anonymous blog, geddit?) and I can in fact go a bit the other way and tend towards isolation in my liking for privacy. Privacy is kind of comfortable; there's no accountability in secrecy, no... Continue Reading →

May 21, 2019 5

Rupture and continuity

One of my best friends nearly died recently. A ruptured appendix, a bungled diagnosis and delayed surgery. I've been visiting her in hospital, feeling helpless in the face of drips, oxygen, and the indignity of surgical gowns. She was weak and confused. I'm not sure she remembered if I'd been with her or not; she... Continue Reading →