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Recently I have been reading from John O’Donohue’s "Benedictus: A Book Of Blessings". He is a poet from the Celtic tradition and all his work evokes a sense of warmth and belonging and a yearning and a sense for the deeper things in life. It is often as we stand at the threshold of change and loss that we feel that yearning for something beyond ourselves and the warmth and courage that that can bring. The word blessing helps us here as it evokes a sense of warmth and protection; it suggests...

My own experience of grief is that it leaves you awash and somewhat at sea in the general melee of life. It is multifaceted, many coloured and variously described as seasons or waves. I was surprised recently as I lost my dear mother, at the extreme tiredness that suddenly overcame me and yet I know that others can have incredible energy and want to clean out or go for a bike ride. So these words from a loving friend “be gentle on yourself” resonated and I gave myself permission to sleep,...

Recently my dear Mother passed away. She was frail and elderly and yet this was sudden and unexpected. Indeed we were on holiday in the farthest corner of the world – Portugal! At the time a close and wise friend said something that continues to resonate with me. TAKE YOUR TIME – YOU ONLY DO THIS ONCE. When dear Mum died, in a sense it felt like there was ‘no time’. There was the pressure of so much to be considered and decisions to be made – intermingled with my own and other...