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inspiration, life, self care

Creating Mental Space in a world of demands

mental space missing part head

Sometimes it seems impossible that your head is able to hold all the things you think and feel and react to on a daily basis. It’s like a jar full of stones – some jagged, some porous and rough, and others shimmering with vibrant colours. If you’re lucky there are some stones hiding veins of gold or diamonds in the rough. But the stones are heavy. They rub up against each other and sometimes the jagged ones shatter those that are lighter and brighter. These jagged stones can sometimes seem like they take up the whole space in the jar. Other times it’s the mud that clings to some of the stones that seems to wash over everything – dulling the jagged corners true, but also dimming the vibrant shine of the others.

This can lead to a feeling of being stuck. The mud that clouds our judgement can cloud our sense of proportion too. Sticking to everything it makes it hard to distinguish what is the largest stone in our jar, what the numbers of them are. Continue reading “Creating Mental Space in a world of demands”

inspiration, life, Personal

“If you can be one thing, Be Kind” – the importance of kindness

kind cartoonIn the words of Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson – “Not only do I think being nice and kind is easy, but being kind, in my opinion is important.”

 

I too believe kindness is incredibly important. Kindness is central to the sustainability of our existence. Kindness given without requirement of return, not out of duty but out of feeling. Kindness given in recognition of our shared humanity. Kindness stemming from empathy. Continue reading ““If you can be one thing, Be Kind” – the importance of kindness”

Musings on Fiction and Tropes

Why I still love a good old quest Fantasy

fantasy the ring

“I’m going on an adventure!” cried Bilbo, and we went with him.

 

Quest fantasy as a sub genre includes tales that have a basis in the old Greek epics, fairy tales, and the mythic hero’s journey. There is a quest, a journey to achieve or retrieve something. Books I particularly equate with this genre are the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn series, and the Dragonlance Saga (particular favourites of mine growing up). The Arthurian myths also often have an element of quest fantasy, particularly those relating to the search for the Holy Grail.

 

The internal struggle of the character whilst undergoing the literal quest means that the character undergoes a quest for knowledge and self-betterment. The Wizard of Oz involves a literal journey for Dorothy to defeat the Wicked Witch of the West and return home to Kansas. Her internal journey is recognising that she was always strong enough and brave enough and kind enough to win over evil, and that ‘there is no place like home’. Continue reading “Why I still love a good old quest Fantasy”

inspiration, life, motivation

The Power of Choice

fork in the road 2

Making a choice makes us powerful. Choosing our attitude, our path, our sense of self, is how we can start to take control of our lives.

 

Ever since my late teens I’ve had a philosophy about choice that backed up my parents’ lessons when I was young. They always taught me that you could choose to change your behaviour, that how we behaved and acted was a choice. For instance, we often allow ourselves to behave badly around family because we know they will love us anyway. That was called out in my family  – we were made aware of what we were doing so that we could decide to do otherwise. Continue reading “The Power of Choice”

life, self care

Resilience – or, bouncing back like Tigger

daisies in concrete

Resilience. The ability to tap into an inner core of strength and keep going. To bounce back. There are a plethora of great quotes on resilience. They centre on the idea of persisting despite failure, of overcoming obstacles through sheer tenacity and willpower, of rising to the challenge.  About choosing to be strong (which, in itself, is an act of strength).

 

This is a really important skill and something I think we’re not really helping our young people develop. I look at the changes in the student cohorts I’ve taught over the last 11 years. There’s been a big shift in their (outward) resilience. I see increased anxiety, apathy, a belief that if you don’t succeed the first time you’re just rubbish at it, a tendency to become overwhelmed at the workload and social pressures. Resilience is needed and I don’t think they’ve been helped to develop it in the system that we provide. Continue reading “Resilience – or, bouncing back like Tigger”