Category: Creativity
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The wonder, and joy, of a remembered dream . . .
Never mind the actual dream events, I thought to myself earlier this morning, it’s the conflation of strange but contemporary circumstances that has sparked a graceful note from my subconscious. That note is like an admonition from my listening, watchful alter ego: yes, you do have an imagination, somewhere within. I have no real wish…
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History as grist for story . . .
Long ago, when we were young(er!), we visited Sicily several times, falling in love with the island. On one of our holiday adventures, we persevered and actually found the mausoleum, high up on Mt Venere above Caselmola, where the doughty Florence Trevelyan reached her last resting place. Not many tourists, we figured, actually make that…
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A trip down memory lane . . .
I had cause yesterday to renew my mental acquaintance with the research fields of my youth, adult and middle-age experience. Now that I am old(er!) I have to traverse back some two decades to remember some of the epiphanies of my research endeavours. After finally being redundified from my postdoc passions at the hoary age…
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Snow on distant hills . . .
My beloved says, of snow, that she enjoys it from far away, in a scenic setting. Up close and personal not so much. Perhaps you have to be born into a snowscape to love it for itself, for the feeling of it. However the context, its presence heralds the cold. We passed below many snow-covered…
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The joy of a clever idea
One of the reasons I get quite grumpy around this time of year is that I have to deal with siting the annual Christmas tree. We’ve had so many live ones in, over the years, that there’s no more room in the garden to plant any more! So this year, with great reluctance, I agreed…
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A joy of wonder . . .
In one of my writing groups, the monthly task has been to do a piece on the deep significance of something very small. The writing should embody the meaning, rather than telling us. I decided to write something about my discovery of an iconic piece of LEGO. I was pleased (I confess that I am…
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The joys of flexibility
This morning I’m exulting in multiple uses for the same thing. A few years ago we decided to tidy an awkward wedge of space behind our house. The idea was to store wood for the bakery oven, so it would be conveniently accessible, and dry. The first incarnation of the roof was not felicitous; too…
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Advent joy
My beloved opened the first package in her advent calendar this morning. My delightful task, after receiving a lovely thank you embrace, was to retrieve her faithful eSpinner from out of the recessed window nook in the craft room, so she could start to spin the Falklands Merino, Sari Silk and Bamboo blend. Nothing like…
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The strangely compelling world of writing competitions
I participated in an annual competition, at the end of my first year in our local writing group. I entered a piece in every one of the 10 categories proffered by the National Association of Writers and Groups. I worked hard to hone each piece, to adhere to the rules, and to submit my entries…
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Joys of Writers Groups
Today I’m hymning the praises of writers groups; that is, groups of writers who have a common interest in becoming better writers. I’ve participated in four (no, wait a moment, five) groups of writers now, in addition to a writers retreat under the auspices of the Arvon Foundation, at Lumb Bank, Ted Hughes’ home. The…
Roads to Joy 