People keep saying to me, “You are amazing.” Or, “Thank you so much for this.” Or, “What you’ve done is incredible.” I’m not going to be falsely modest and say it was nothing. That would probably be irritating, but it would also be dishonourable to what we have created here. Because 1000 Voices Speak For Compassion is amazing, and every … Read More
Self Compassion – Does it Work?
Self-compassion one year on. It’s a little over a year since I read Kristin Neff’s book Self Compassion and the topic seems to keep cropping up everywhere – in conversations with other bloggers, and just in life in general. So it seems a good time to write about how my life has changed in the year since I read that book. … Read More
He Is Worthy of Compassion
A friend and I were walking home after shopping, two days before Christmas. It was already dark, and though I was wrapped in a thick coat and scarf, the cold hit my face. It would freeze again soon. The street was crowded with shoppers, talking, walking, or waiting for buses. A few people walked past arm in arm, on their … Read More
Believe in Love, Not in Powerlessness
My elder daughter and I are standing at traffic lights, waiting to cross the road. I look down at her – small for a six-year-old – and a huge wave of joy and gratitude for her existence washes over me. She looks up, smiles and says, “I know.” “What do you know?” I ask. (Though really, I know what she’s … Read More
Self-compassion, grief, gratitude and helping others
On Saturday morning a week ago, I logged onto Facebook and saw that our group for 1000 Voices For Compassion had surpassed its target. We had 1002 people on board to write about compassion on February 20th. (If you haven’t joined up already, just click the link – we always welcome more!) I felt grateful, and full of excitement at … Read More
Is Compassion Possible in Politics?
Once upon a time, in the dark depressed days of my late teens and twenties it would have been fair to call me a cynic. I disliked most of the human race, and I particularly disliked those who disagreed with me. In the 1980s, otherwise known as The Thatcher years, I moved to London. In a novel I’m working on … Read More
One Thousand Things of Thankful
It’s been quite a week. A week ago I was tired of blogging and not sure I’d ever write another post (though really I knew I would.) This is my second post in 3 days, after weeks of nothing, and now I’m back joining in Ten Things of Thankful. How could I not write this weekend, when I have so … Read More
1000 Voices Speak For Compassion
Compassion. Sometimes it seems our world has in short supply. There have been some shockingly violent occurences in the world lately. The murder of school children in Pakistan in December and of journalists in Paris last week, the massacre of 2000 people in Nigeria this month. Reading a newspaper report of the last of those deeply affected me. This paragraph … Read More
Busting myths: you get what you focus on
This is the first in a series of posts aimed at demystifying spiritual jargon, debunking myths about the Law of Attraction, and helping people see through beliefs we use to torture ourselves. I am not an “enlightened being,” but I have been questioning thoughts and releasing feelings for many years so I do see through stories that some people might … Read More
A Celebrity Dies of an Overdose – Should We Care?
When a young mother dies, leaving behind two tiny children, it is sad. When that mother is a celebrity who dies of a heroin overdose, public reaction varies from sadness to condemnation. I don’t normally write about celebrities, but something about the death of Peaches Geldof and the information that has come out during the recent inquest, strikes me as … Read More
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