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5 (Early Day) Summer of Self Lessons
So, the family has now flown to Australia, and I am sitting in a very quiet apartment with none of the usual hustle or bustle that ordinarily surrounds me. It’s been an interesting couple of days since they left, and I wanted to share with you some of what I’ve learned in my Summer of Self so far… 1. I have no idea how to do a food shop for one person, let alone how to cook for one. I visited the supermarket today to buy supplies as my kitchen looks like it belongs more to old Mother Hubbard than to myself. And I must admit that I got a…
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And So Our Journey Begins..
It’s hard being left behind. The opening words of The Time-Traveler’s Wife sit heavy in my heart. As I explained in a previous post, I’m usually the one leaving on a jet plane – heading off to international conferences, navigating my way on various modes of transport to trawl through university library archives. I am never the one left behind. Until tomorrow, that is. Tomorrow my most special people will be held tight in my arms. I’ll breathe in the scent of their hair. I’ll brush my cheek across their cheeks. I’ll feel the swell of their inhale and exhale as it reverberates through their frames. We’ll cry, we’ll kiss…
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Breathing Deep
I seem to be sighing a lot at the moment. Huge sighs that seem to rise up from the soles of my feet. I’m breathing deep and leaning in. I’m ignoring the inner critic, being kind to myself and I’m letting the tears flow when they need to – which is often. But in the midst of all this sighing, I’m keeping busy. I’ve put together the details for our summer read-along of The Time Traveler’s Wife. We’re going to start reading on the 20th June (next Monday) and I want to invite you to join in, share your thoughts in blog posts, on Twitter and FaceBook, and in the…
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Answering the Selkie’s Call
I am dreaming of selkies. The distinctly Scottish spirits of the sea that take the form of seals, slipping between the cold waves, and then transform into beautiful pale-skinned women who dance on the beaches in the moonlight. In my dreams they are swimming in the waters of the Forth just outside my window. Their heads bob in the dark water, almost indistinguishable from the rhythmic rush and roll of the waves. They are calling me, these sea spirits. And I answer their call. Clarissa Pinkola Estes writes about these beautiful creatures in the hauntingly lovely tale Sealskin/Soulskin. She tells us of a fisherman who spies a group of selkies…
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Departure Gate Goodbyes
The time when my family flies halfway around the world is drawing closer and closer. In fact, time seems to be doing that funny thing that it does – speeding up to meet a dreaded date, like an excited labrador who has spotted its owner across the other side of the park. And it doesn’t seem to matter how much I pull on its lead, time just refuses to slow down. So now we’re getting into those logistical conversations about adaptor plugs and check-in times and those silly wee padlocks that you buy for holidays, and then promptly lose the keys on your return. And the question that keeps raising…
