of attention and hospitality For centuries we have known thin places where the boundary between the quotidian world and the other feels permeable. We call it atmosphere, spirit, genius loci, presence. We sense it along ancient pilgrim paths, on small islands and mountain tops, beside holy wells, in forests or along remote shorelines. We feel … Read more
on choosing integrity over boundaries Hawthorn flowers when hawthorn flowers.Oak rests when oak rests.Mistletoe fruits in winter. We think of integrity as moral uprightness, even as a kind of rigidity, but the root of the word in Old French is about innocence and the Latin integritatem speaks of soundness and wholeness, as in an integer … Read more
A letter to love Midsummer, and the forest is vivid with life. Alban Hefin, the longest day, light and expansiveness bristling in June air. Scents wafting on the breeze, rich birdsong orchestrating the abundance. Brittany has a dense concentration of ancient megaliths and parts of the Carnac alignments are arguably linked to the Summer Solstice, … Read more
finding a rhythm to honour our bodies Until a series of workplace assaults ended the phase of my life that was ministry, I was rarely sick. But if I ever came down with anything it was a sore throat. Voice was vital — conducting weddings, funerals, baptisms, celebrating weekly services, giving voice to the story … Read more
a quiet commons of attention Tending a terrain. Keeping a fire going in a winter hearth. Gathering for a meal at a shared table. What are you doing here? is a question that runs through my memoir, At the Heart’s Farthest Edge. A question I’ve carried through phases of life over more than forty years. … Read more
for whatever comes January bled grey rain, cold and constant. River through the garden swelling, flooding bog meadow, more… water creeping towards the house in mud puddles and gushes. I blanketed myself in work, in its layers — editing, admin, new web pages, newsletters… Rain in the night, pebbles on the attic windows. But inside, … Read more
pacing ourselves in a challenging world I have an ancestor, perhaps a myth, who I carry within. Dig into the earth and we excavate time. The stories say she was ‘fay’, ‘clairvoyant’, ‘away with the faeries’. There are veiled hints of ‘women’s troubles’, of not stomaching food. A fragile creature. Menstruation and menopause were easier … Read more
making meaning with heron and forest From time to time we see a heron fly over the forest that surrounds our home or standing at the edge of the River Squiriou, which runs through our woodland garden. Usually a single heron, occasionally two. Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea) are relatively common in Finistère, particularly in riparian … Read more
reflections on a month of travel Each time we travel to the UK, we begin and end in the West Country, arriving in Plymouth and spending the last few days of the month in Cornwall. At both ends of the month the hawthorn in Devon and Cornwall has been luxuriant. We’re always delighted to arrive … Read more
Meeting the winter with hope and support We’ve arrived at December. As I write we are looking out to sea, across a beautiful bay. We came to the coast in April to mark the tenth anniversary of the start of our relationship and have returned for A’s birthday. The sea is wilder. The coast windswept … Read more