Self-Care
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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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Introducing My Soft Animal (…to Myself)
So the conversation went a little something like this… Me: I’m so tempted to move in with my mum for a week over the summer. Lovely Friend Lea (LFL): Do that then! Me: I always feel good after I’ve stayed there for a few days. LFL: A little r&r with your mum would be a great way to treat yourself a little. Me: Yeah – she offered before, and I was thinking no, cos I felt like a wimp – I felt like it would be running away from being independent and standing on my own two feet. LFL: And it’d be the “easy route”, right? Lea knows me so…
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A Summer of Self
I know, it’s an opportunity that most of us fantasize about, right? What would it be like to not to have all our time and space and energy and attention taken up by our jobs, our children, and our partners? Just imagine what we could achieve! A regular yoga practice. A slow delicious morning routine. A sparkling social life. A clean bathroom… the list goes on and on. And then we feel the stirring of the slow-burning embers of a guilty conscious. After all, we’re good at our job, and, let’s face it, in this economic climate we’re lucky to have a job at all. We love our children and…
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Easy Street vs Hard Road – Which Route Will You Choose?
Maybe it’s meant to be easy. Sit with that a second. Now read it again. Maybe it’s meant to be easy. When I first read that in Danielle La Porte’s Spark Kit, I felt a whole range of emotions… relief, regret, sadness, joy and anger. Why? Well, because it uncovered a deep-seated, entirely unquestioned, core belief that life is hard, and if it isn’t hard, then you aren’t doing it properly! You know, I can remember a conversation between my dad and I. I think I was pregnant with my 3rd baby in as many years and I was in the final year of my undergraduate degree. My dad looked…
