In life, there are times when someone says something and it resonates so deeply that it changes your perspective on everything.
I had that experience when I was 11 years old and it changed everything.
I was a naturally curious child. Some people – normally my mother – would have said I was ‘into everything’. I thought this was a good thing; often she did not.
I was always exploring, trying to find out how things worked, and always asking questions. Continue reading
I walked past a coffee shop the other day and the sign in the window said ‘Happiness, Love, Hope.’ It made me want a coffee.
Later that day I went past a church and the sign outside said ‘The wages of sin is death.’ Unsurprisingly, I guess, I walked straight past. Continue reading
I had coffee with a friend the other day and we were talking about his job. He was about to go on a leadership retreat and his team had contributed 360° input to this. I asked him what he thought they’d say about him. His response was that they’d say that ‘I am a visionary leader who always produces work of an excellent standard, that I have incredible energy and great communication skills. And that I am basically amazing at my job.’ Continue reading
This week we lost an inspiration.
In the death of Maya Angelou we lost so much.
We lost a woman who used her voice for speak for those without a voice. We lost a woman who was incredibly wise and yet spoke with simple clarity. We lost a woman who experienced pain and knew how to overcome it.
But more than all that we lost a woman who to the very core of her being epitomized courage.
The words hung in the air. They hung there refusing to go away.
My friend, Lauren, had been through a tough time and had felt that some of her friends who should have been there for her hadn’t. It was difficult to know what to say to make life better.
What do you say to someone who is really hurting, who has been badly let down and feels isolated and alone? When someone utters the words ‘I don’t know who my real friends are’ they are letting you into a deep part of their soul.
Lauren’s words that day have refused to leave me. They almost haunt me. They haunt me because they make me wonder what being a ‘real friend’ means. Continue reading
I love being a woman, I always have. Ever since I was a small child, I’ve loved the fact that I’m female. I was fortunate to be born into a family that celebrated women and believed that women could do anything. This was just as well because early in my childhood my mum discovered that she was going to have to do just that – anything and everything.
My mum is one of my heroes. She’s a straight talking East Londoner who calls a ‘spade a spade’. She’s comfortable with having an opinion, finding the right words to express herself and is comfortable if you don’t agree with her. It wasn’t until I was much older that I realised how amazingly freeing this ‘life lesson’ was. I’ve found that knowing that you have the right to an opinion is a powerful tool to yield in life. Continue reading