Values Shared

One of the worrying aspects of the 21st century is a real corrosion of values. It's an issue which is being aired in many different fields of life, from education, to politics to family.

I had dinner last week with a good friend and this was one of the areas which came up in conversation. He described how, as a young man, he had worked in a mortuary for nine months ...and how well he thought that this experience had served him in life. He said that it had taught him one thing ... that to be alive is everything , and it's a good thing to remember each and every morning when we re-awaken and open our eyes, to value this great gift of living.

I agreed strongly with him on this ...before anything else, even if life gets rough, tough or whatever, simply to be alive is still the greatest of gifts. To be conscious, able to see, move, think, love and feel .....is a precious thing ...and yet how easy to take it for granted?

I thought afterwards how very strengthening it is, in life's ups and downs, to make time to share what we value with others who feels the same importance as ourselves.

Inter Connections...a little bird told me!!

Over the weekend, I was feeling a bit down, ..as one does sometimes !! Out of the blue, two old friends from Australia skyped me .....the conversation was so uplifting ....exactly what I needed to hear at that very moment. Made me wonder about the webs of connection ...and somehow, you just know, yet again, that even when you can feel very alone...you never really are.


This morning, sitting in the office, I had a tap on the window ...a tiny little bluetit clinging on to the window ledge and looking at me, pecking away to get my attention. Having fed the birds for many years, I knew exactly what that meant and looked up to confirm that the birdfeeder with the fatballs was indeed empty!!!! But what a strange thing really, that a tiny ball of fluff with a brain smaller than my fingernail, knew what to do, to get breakfast on the table!!!

Another of life's great mysteries!!

Where is Home?.

Monday morning and reflecting over thoughts from the weekend.....I watched Lark Rise to Candleford last night ... lovely 19th century period drama set in the Oxfordshire neighbouring villages of Lark Rise and Candleford. For the characters there, home was very clearly defined by life in the village. In earlier centuries in the UK, you would need a passport to move from one village to another.


Hard to believe in an age of world travel! Today, more and more people identify themselves as citizens of the planet ...global citizens with a world view of themselves and the people with whom they share their 'home'

Yet turning my mind to the stretch of this comparison from village to global, I wondered if my mind needs to stretch further to encompass the planet as part of the universe.



After all, it is simply factual that Larkrise and Candleford are villages in Oxfordshire, Oxfordshire is part of England , England is part of the planet, our planet is part of the universe.....

It just depends how far one's perception and identity travel....and of course whether this has significance and meaning to us personally....more on that later !

Work calls !!

Do we all make a difference to life ?

I had a great Skype call with a couple of good friends in Australia yesterday.
We were talking about how someone could make a difference in the world .....and the question came up about how much difference could one individual make?

Not the kind of unusual 'stand above the crowd' individual who writes books, introduces new concepts and inventions, makes their mark as a politician, artist, musician or whatever...but just a regular sort of person...who believes in the bright side of life, wants a more humane future and who constantly makes a stand to be the best person they can be.....


I asked the question, do we need a context in which to be effective..whether that is one's family, work or being part of some kind of team or project .....a place to share the best of one's self and be a positive influence ?

The more I thought about it, the less comfortable I became with the question in the first place!!

A different view picture formed up in my mind..... which linked to some other thoughts.

Each person alive is a citizen of life .... lives , breathes and radiates into the air that we all breathe and share. So, whatever any individual does...whether as part of a bright regenerative quality kind of influence, or someone who adds to a degenerative curve of lessening value and humanity .....then of course we all make a difference simply by being alive.

I found that a very cheerful and encouraging thought!


After the call, I went out to do some gardening and the thought process continued....I could be out there just weeding away in my own little world, or go out there, conscious that I am a citizen of the world...and not living in isolation.


It was a great experience....bringing me closer to home with myself on the one hand but with a real feeling of expansion and belonging, being a part of something bigger, on the other!

The Certainty of Uncertainty

Over the last few days, I have been reading various web articles on climate change.

The variety of views about it was , to say the least, somewhat bizarre, in my eyes. As someone who has been following the unfolding facts about climate change over the last couple of decades, including reading a fascinating book recently about the very worrying changing patterns down in the Antarctic, I was amazed to read that in a recent poll, the number of people in the UK who feel the climate issue is being exaggerated has increased, and that only 41% accept that it is largely man made. Even more astonishing, only 31% believe it to be a definite reality.

Then there is the government producing ads to try and increase public awareness....... now a couple of their ads have been banned as not being based on facts but on projections ....one of those ads showed the 'three men in a tub' ( as in rub a dub dub!)to illustrate rising water levels and danger of flooding.... Again I just thought it so odd, that while the government ( and all of us) are being faced with the most serious of crises...that firstly they have to hire advertising people to publicise it, and then secondly they are banned from putting it out, as it would be scare mongering, and too distressing and misleading......

How are the general public to know what 'on earth' to think about it all?


Then there was the BBC 'Earthwatch' reporting that from their World Service Trust survey, that although many Africans are noticing progressive change in their climate, the tendency is to ascribe it to a 'higher authority' One fisherman from Ghana was quoted as saying " When it comes to rainfall, God has changed his calender" MMMM.....That's another way of thinking about it!

Reading the three articles one after the other, made me pause and ponder .....


The one thing all seemed to agree on is that things are changing, we don't know quite how or why, and that the future is full of uncertainty -- is this the only thing that is certain !!??

Stability in unstable time

One of my friends just had a look at this blog and pointed out the blog is about living in times of change - yet the last few articles are about permanence and stability ...Good Point!!

Yet, when one's boat is being rocked, it's sometimes good to have some places to go to in one's mind,where it feels safe and protected. Thats' why the blog has both aspects.

The Unchanging Vibrancy

Hi again,

Well today is another stunning blue skied spring delight! Sitting here at my computer and resisting the pull to the great outdoors, I can hear the most gorgeous and vibrant of birdsong.

Even before the sun came out and the skies cleared, I noticed a few weeks ago the quality of the bird song changing. For bird lovers, it's unmistakeable when spring is 'in the air' Their song levels change and you can almost feel the overspill of that amazing vibrant energy which is transforming the latent winter landscape into the appearance of spring growth.


In a time when there are so many radical changes happening all around us, it is so encouraging to spend time not only considering some of the more permanent aspects of life and living, but experiencing it consciously and deeply. It can be so very refreshing !!