Vocanic Eruption Disruption

I am reading James Lovelock's 'The Revenge of Gaia' at the moment and find it very interesting .... though I find the title pretty ridiculous! Why would anyone want to ascribe 'revenge' - one of humanit'y most destuctive of negative emotional reponses to the planet?

However, that aside, being in the midst of the disruptions and aftermath from the recent eruption of the Icelandic volcano, one particualr sentence on page 13 jumped out to me in my nocturnal browsing.

" There is a small chance that the sceptics are right or we might be saved by an unexpected event such as a series of volcanic eruptions severe enough to block out sunlight and so cool the earth"

Food for thought!

Yet again, this recent event has brought home to me that as people we make our own affairs so important, make ourselves the centre of the universe, yet how easily we can all be brought to a standstill by the power of the planet.

Any irregularity has us talking and complaining for days...but what about the extraordinary constancy that we often take for granted ? That for millenia and for generations, human life has been supported and given continuous conditions to live, refine and evolute ? Things like the stability of the earth, the cleansing quality of water, the warmth of the sun or the very air we breathe.

LLanerchaeron ..a snapshot in time

I visited LLanerchaeron on the weekend .. a beautiful NT property which evocatively encapsulates life in byegone days. It is a snapshot of the life of a Welsh country estate, and not only has a beautiful period house full of interest but has immaculately preserved servant's quarters, and working home farm, which I find quite fascinating. In the late 19th century & early 20th century, this estate was like a little village, and completely self sufficient, apart from tea and sugar which was dropped off by special stop by train from Harrods!


Apart from the gorgeous walled garden which is my top favourite and place I love to spend time, the kitchen always draws me and I enjoy sitting there on a wooden chair and imagining life in another generation.

One aspect particularly captivates me..this is the fact that every item in that kitchen, from the cooking range,long sturdy table, to the simple wooden chairs, to the earthenware jars, to the copper and wooden cooking utensils, were all designed to last for generations. I've spent many a happy hour in that kitchen, encouraging my mind to re-create life as it might have been. And one of the things which really impresses me is that aspect of being surrounded by things which are durable...it gives a sense of stability and security which is really rather settling to the mind.

In comparison, in our century, most items in a modern kitchen, has an in built shelf life. Washing machines, fridges ....all come and go with alarming speed! And even items which might last, tend to look jaded, a bit 'past it' and the general tendency is towards constant updating.

Again, I do wonder how this general sense of expendability, affects the quality of our lives today? And even our dealings with each other ?

Anabolic/Catabolic

Having just been gardening this morning and cut down a box hedge which had taken about thirty years to grow (SORRY!) ..it caused me to think about why it is so much easier and faster to destroy things than to build or grow them.

I thought about the millions of years it has taken people to evolve to today and the sad reality that our generation has developed technology that could destroy us all in a matter of days. It's mind boggling, really.

I thought about how trust is built up over years between people, yet can be broken in an instant. About paintings that take years to be created, yet can be damaged in a second....houses that are built over generations yet can be destroyed by fire in a night.

And most everything of value, it seems, is so slow in appearing, yet so vulnerable and can be damaged so quickly.

So, what does that say to me ?

To take care of what is building in my life, and to be very careful and protective to look after what's there...else, by being careless either in my attitude or actions, something precious get's lost.

Particularly in a time when so much of our world is full of the 'throw away' and the expendable.

Fascinating fact over lunch

Just had a lovely sunny lunch with some good friends and heard a fascinating fact from a lady who has a background in nursing.

In recent research, it's been shown that looking at an unwell person, strengthen's your own immune system.

Several things struck me about this (and I'm looking forward to reading the full article)

Firstly that it happens at all.....demonstrating yet again how alive and measurable are the interconnections between us all.

Secondly, one might expect to have one's own strength weakened by looking at another who is unwell and in a weakened state ..yet quite the opposite happens.

Thirdly, it strikes me how what a very kind state of affairs this is ....you put yourself out for someone who is unwell...and in some kind of magic kindness, your own immunity strengthens ..giving you both a better constitution and in turn of course more capability to help another who is in need.

My friend said her own experience as a nurse confirmed this many times over.

Makes me ponder whether some intelligence wants people to be helped?

More on Inter-connections

Interconnections – becoming an active player


With the ever appearing results of research in quantum physics, modern science is slowly recognizing that there is an interconnected web of life and living. Yet for many this remains something of a dry and perhaps irrelevant ‘fact’

However, it seems to me this will be come an increasingly important and prescient reality for those who want to explore a new human consciousness in the 21st century. An awareness that what we both think and do has an effect on all around us, has a profound influence on our psychology and psyche.

But, let me backtrack just a little away from science …and relocate something a little closer to home. Isn’t it true that if we are around someone who loves and admires us, that it affects our well being, confidence and general sense of expansion and ‘can do’ ? And isn’t it equally true that if we are surrounded by folks who judge and criticise that it tends to shut us down and reduce both our self view and abilities ? Isn’t it true that some places just make us feel a bit down, whilst others always uplift and cheer us up? Isn’t it true that people who love their gardens produce the best blooms and display ?

It’s almost as though a person’s love and values increases the flow between one thing and another ….or to use a more scientific term, increases the 'conductivity' between them. This is a very interesting way of thinking about how to be more of a participant in the interconnected web, and is an area which I have researched and explored a lot with friends with similar interests over a few decades.

Here is a little experiment to try out …….

Have a glance at the following two photographs ..taken yesterday





Now, pause a moment and imagine for a moment a world without colour …everything in monochrome….





Now look again at the photos ..concentrate on the colour for a moment or two …is it having a different effect?

Bees and the Interconnected Web

It was a great pleasure today to see and hear a couple of bumble bees buzzing around the plants in the garden today. Spring is really appearing out there!

The large decline in bee numbers is a real source of worry ...indeed in the US, their bee numbers are down so low, they have been importing bees from Australia. Einstein is quoted as saying that were bees to disappear from the face of the earth, mankind would have only four years left to live.

It's yet another reminder of the interconnected web of life...on a very practical level.

I find myself pondering a lot about this 'interconnected-ness' talked of for millenia by the mystics of so many cultures but now being proven as factual by new science. For me, it's not enough to know it as a cold fact ..I want to live with that sentiment as part of my daily consciousness. Wouldn't the world be a different place if we could all feel the reality that as we live, act and even think we are an active influence on the planet?

All the As

I just started reading a fascinating book by a Cambridge doctor, Dr Natasha Campbell-McBride about natural treatment for the A syndromes which are affecting an ever increasing number of children....Autism, ADD, ADHD. The figures on the first page are somewhat shocking.

About 15 years ago, the number of children in Western countries was thought to be about 1 in 10,000. It is now being seen at what could only be decsribed as epidemic proportions.

According to recent UK Dept of Health figures, about 1 in 166 kids are diagnosed with autism. In the US, it's 1 in 150...in Sweden 1 in 141 ......
This book is looking at the relationship between disorders in the gut and mental problems..not only to do with kids and the A syndromes but also the growing cases of depression and schizophrenia in both childrena and adults....and the very successful treatments she conducts.


It made me both worried and furious when I read these figures. Worried for obvious reasons but furious because more politicians and leaders in society are not addressing an issue which to my mind is a red letter alert about a trend in our next generation...which after all are our future. One reads about alarming trends too in education where there are growing problems of retention and learning.

Surely these are issues which should make headlines ..and be of paramount importance for funding and research into why these trends are appearing...and at such speed.

First Time , Every Time

Yesterday was a day where spring sings its arrival. From the first notes of the dawn chorus, to the rising of a sun which grew slowly in warmth and radiation, this was a day to remember.








Primroses opening yellow and pink , swallows swooping an exalted dance..and the soul could breathe in that vibrant energy and feel the renewal to and of which everything alive in the garden were both witness and players.

For me it was a mixed day of relax, contemplate and enjoy…..and some hard yakka in the garden ….weeding, clearing and planting.

In the afternoon, I took a short walk and was quite awed by how utterly energised the day felt…..everywhere I looked were signs of growth and new appearance….including the brilliant green of the newly growing grass and a gorgeous tiny shetland foal which had been born in the field, and was stumbling around and drinking from it’s mother.

It struck me that every spring is utterly new and unique, and to experience it, was for me an equally new and unique experience…like an absolute first time. I let my mind wander to how many springs there had been, over millennium …and just where does that energy come from ?

Trust in Trust

Imagine a world without trust ..it's unthinkable really ...and yet our world seems to be full of important aspects, in which people openly admit to having a diminishing trust.

Politicians are known to be masters of spin and to get away with what they can, to stay in power, religious leaders have been involved in major cover ups of late...and on a personal level, gone are the days when a gentleman's ( or lady's!!) word was their bond!! Advertising is an open book for getting us to part with our money and anyone with any sense knows to be suspicious of what's claimed.

But how does all this affect our personal psyche and psychology?

When somone personally betrays our trust, does it cause us to trust less? The obvious answer is yes, and then we ourselves become part of the diminishment of trust in the world. It seems like a vicious downward spiral. And it will be if people do not make a deliberate decision in their lives to build trust.....to be part of the web of trust.

Having reached this part in today's blog, I took a bit of a pause as to where to go next with this ..into the realms of personal development, mental decision, realism about what can and cannot be trusted??? As I stood up from my desk, which is at an upstairs window, I caught a glimpse of what might have been the first swallow of this season.....exciting and so early in April!!

Now that took my mind down quite another track......and I felt in myself the trust that I have that the swallows will return from their thousands of miles flight from Africa. And I thought about their automatic trust in their own flying and navigation skills that will bring them back to the same village, the same farm and the same barn.. What a mind boggling feat ....and I find myself smiling and knowing there is such a powerful web of trust of which I can be part if I don't remove myself from it by being at difference.

My trust in it's trust...that's the way to go....

Matriarchal or Patriarchal?

I met with some friends for lunch on Easter Sunday and was introduced to some very interesting 'friends of friends'...a South African couple who work closely with animals both here and in Africa.

The lady was talking about how many biologists are reviewing their theories of behavioural patterns of many animal species, ...and in particular to do with gender. She said that many are coming to the idea that the old view of the dominant male, established and maintained by brute force till overtaken, with his 'harem' of females was coming into question and that it was seen to be more likely that the paradigm seen with elephants is much more prevalent than hitherto imagined. This is where there is a matriarchal society with very strong family bonding over generations..... a much more altruistic and caring family picture of the wild than the 'dog eats dog' picture often portrayed. This was what she was finding in her own research with zebras.



When asked how people could have got it wrong, she said that for some centuries most of the naturalists were men and saw what they expected to see....male domination and behaviour more brutal than human's .....that with naturalists like Jane Goodall and Diane Fossey comimg on the scene in more recent years, new eyes and minds were on the case.

Well, I don't know enough about this new research to make too much direct comment till I find out more for myself ( though I do hope that indeed there is more co-operation and kindness rather than simple domination by brute force at play throughout nature) but several things really caught me.

One is how so many views about life on our planet are up for radical review right now, another was the reality that we all tend to look through our own 'biased' glasses... and the third that this new century is seeing a real re-balancing of the influence of men and women as thought leaders.