Zen Moments

“The natural state of the human mind is calm and clear…”

I was in my mid-fifties when I met my soul mate. It’s not that I never wanted to get married, the problem was that I never met anyone I wanted to marry or if I did, she didn’t want to marry me. Anyway, [...]

“Why hadn’t he asked me to marry him?”

The time and the place were perfect. We’d been together for just over a year. We were deeply in love. We were sitting in a fabulous restaurant after a magical evening listening to the Prague String Quartet. (Bach – my favourite.)  We’d had a box (!) in [...]

“I discovered why the universe wanted me to be a teacher…
the day I broke my toe…”

Well to be fair, it was a few days after I broke my toe. And I’ve always suspected that what the universe wants is really what I want. So perhaps it would be better to say: I discovered why I [...]

“Having a child … can be an adventure all on its own…”

When I realized that my life experiences are simply different and wonderful in their own way, I stopped feeling inferior due to wonderful stories of travel and adventure I hear from my childless friends. Having a child when you’re a still a child can [...]

“I love him for every single bizarre behaviour he throws my way…”

I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this before – but my three year old son, Oliver is weird.
This is at least partly due to something called SPD (sensory processing disorder) that causes him to engage in activities that “feed” his need for a lot [...]

“Not-knowing is not easy, it’s not comfortable…”

“And what do you do?”
Back when I was 21, I was unemployed. I didn’t know what I wanted to do, and I hated that question.
“I’m unemployed” was the truth, but I would cringe each time I gave that answer. In those days maybe there was more of a stigma [...]

“As heartbroken as I felt, my world had become richer for loving.”

I was in Southern India at an Ashram at the foot of a sacred mountain. During my time there I would go from the mountain to the place I was staying. There were many people living on the streets and many animals, as anyone [...]

“We must be the change we wish to see in the world” – Ghandi

This is a short summary of a powerful, inspirational video which documents the moving transformation of a group of teenagers as they follow Challenge Day’s “Be the Change” program.
“The Be the Change movement inspires people to notice what’s happening in the [...]

“I hugged him every time he asked the question – 21 times – my innocent little boy…”

A Father and Son sit together in the garden – a touching reminder of the need for patience as our parents get older…
A short (5 minute) Greek film made in 2007. Directed by Constantin Pilavios.
Some versions on YouTube have a [...]

“You no never mean to me…You a good person”

While babysitting and hanging out with my best-good friends’ children, I was picking and prodding pomegranate seeds from the shell, having picked some fresh from the girl’s backyard.
While the youngest, age just 2, was eating hers from a bowl while watching kid shows on the couch, the [...]