How To Listen

“Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply.” Steven Covey, Author of: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. What is Good Listening? I used to think that being a good listener meant not interrupting, staying silent while the other person talked. I wasn’t sure if I was a good listener, … Read More

Why Acceptance isn’t Resignation and How to Truly Feel It

“Well I’ll just have to accept it.” When something doesn’t go the way you hoped it would, do you ever say this? Or how often do we say this about children? “She need to accept she can’t always get what she wants.” (When she wants something she can’t have.) “He needs to learn to accept that people are like that.” (When … Read More

Can We Create a Culture of Compassion?

Earlier this month, a British politician died. Charles Kennedy was only 55, and died of alcohol-related causes, having struggled for years to overcome alcoholism. He was also widely loved, and not just by those of his political party. It’s common for people to speak kindly of those who have died, yet everyone seems in agreement that this time, they mean … Read More

Connection For Creativity

Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it; they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That’s because they were able to connect experiences they’ve had and synthesize new things. Steve Jobs I was looking for quotes for the … Read More

How to Connect When It Feels Hard

A few years ago, I realised that the times I felt most hopeless as a parent were when I felt disconnected, when one of my daughters and I had argued and there seemed to be no bridge between us. I’d be in one room, feeling stuck, and she would be in another. I would see  a long sad path before us in … Read More

Life Is – And that’s enough

Do you ever have the feeling that you are alone in the world? Everyone else is off having some party to which you weren’t invited? They are all more successful than you, have more friends, more fun, more everything? Or, do you sometimes sit alone and imagine millions of other people sitting alone too? Do you wish you could somehow … Read More

We Meet in Emotions

Saturday would have been my father’s birthday. Would have been: in those three words you know something of how I felt yesterday and feel today. As you read my opening sentence, you probably remembered the people who have gone from your life, and whose leaving still causes you, at times, to feel a lump in your throat and prickling behind … Read More

Magic Happens When Compassion Flows

The sun is shining in through my window, and the cat is outside curled on the garden seat, soaking up the warmth. Daffodils bow their heads; the grass is so long I will have to get the lawnmower out before the day is over. January’s cold dark days seems a long way off. Yet, images of January flit through my … Read More