Over on Twitter, as part of #EthicalHour (Monday’s at 8pm), I was talking about sustainable flowers. The discussion is always engaging and I always learn something. It’s also been an opportunity to raise topics around bereavement and funerals especially, that people rarely think about. Problems… So many flowers we buy are imported from far and wide, the carbon footprint of … Read More
The Rebel Badge Club
I’m the first to admit, I’ve not been taking great care of myself. The Rebel Badge Club has been a refreshing way to focus on me, in short spurts. I found the Rebel Badge Club quite by accident. A friend online made a passing comment to it when I talked about being motivated by stickers. I’ve come to a place … Read More
Storm Predictions
Stormy Days are the toughest. They take energy and all good things and turn them around. Stormy Days will be the darkest days, and anything we can do ahead of them, to make them leave more quickly or take less from us, the better. If Stormy Days go on without any improvement, no matter how small or fleeting, you may … Read More
Foodie Fun
I lovely friend sent us something they had found truly helpful, after the death of their partner. It changed things for me too, so maybe it’s a thing. Awareness Days MyLegoman creates a ‘Foodie Day’s’ Calendar each year. It’s bright and fun, as well as genuinely interesting. The reason I’ve found it helpful in grief, is that for little effort … Read More
International Women’s Day 2022
My mental load is heavy right now… I’ve been thinking about what I’d like to share today. I’m quite likely to go off-road… Yay Women! While I applaud all the posts on amazing women and their excellent contributions to so many essential walks of life. I’d prefer to talk about ‘ordinary’ women. Also, I sometimes feel crippled by the inaction … Read More
Talking to Children about War
Talking to children and young people about the war in Ukraine isn’t something simple. It certainly isn’t something I was expecting to be writing about. Funnily enough, I have a War Studies degree and an MA in History, my dissertation on conflict resolution and military law… So, my kids have seen Newsround at school and heard various things in the … Read More
Cloudy Caring
I had a cloudy day this week, it was out of the blue and I knew pretty quickly that I was in a cloudy mood. These can be tricky as they are not bad enough that we can stay in bed and call on our emergency resources. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t recognise them and do what we can … Read More
Sunny Guilt, and how to deal with it.
Sunny guilt is a funny thing. It’s something that may come from within you or possibly from those around you. It’s about feeling happy or laughing while you are also sad. Sunny days can be a bit of a minefield, as they are the days we feel more like we can get things done. We might meet up with friends … Read More
Good Questions for Being Green
As with so many aspects of ‘being green’, there is a lot of greenwashing about. This is when a product or a business tries to look better than it really is. The only way to be really happy that you are choosing an environmentally positive option, is to do your research. Find out about who is selling that thing, and … Read More
Grief & Assumptions
This is a rant. It will happen from time to time, a topic sends me into mental overdrive. So, here’s a stream of consciousness about gender, grief and assumptions. Boys & Girls One of the aspects of our son dying, is that we now have all girls. We already had a larger family than average, and people would often comment … Read More