This image is the first in the book 'The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse' by Charlie Mackesy. This image is the final one in my series of five posts of parting gifts. Notes to myself about what I've learnt working in the NHS and indeed a fellow human. Hello When...
Weather fronts Generally you have to pack for all weathers in this kind of work. You never know what weather front is coming in to the life in front of you. What was a sunny day last week may be a great storm, or what was weeks of bleak grey drizzle, the skies have...
Words The folk I've worked with in general all have too many voices, too many words in their heads. Turns out words can be the most unhelpful thing. Turns out that some space and silence and pause are not only beautiful but necessary. Turns out that chaplains, for me,...
Dreams I had been brought up to dream big and do something significant. Not by my family so much as society at large with all its inspirational quotes and ideals. Like we have to make our lives count. And there is of course something to be said for that. But all this...
Untold stories I need speak about them for their stories are not often told Lives with great lines going through them Stripped back humanity Niceties are gone But so is pretense Which is refreshing But what is unearthed is achingly devastating like bare roots like...
If you take a good look around, in most people’s lives you will find an ensemble. Some may call it your team, some may call it wherewithal, some may say they are a ‘self made man’ and have no need for such things. I do not think I have met anyone who has attained...
In spite of everything we managed a holiday. Family in a van. Changeable weather. Changeable moods. Same sky. I took paper and pencil and wrote a poem a day, by way of capturing them as they passed by. If you wish sit back, read, listen and take a trip with me, see...
There was a time in recent years past, and for you it may have been in recent weeks or months. It may even be right now, where we sink below the level of comfort. Find ourselves in financial dire straights. This horrified me, like I was always skating atop the abyss...
I don’t know about you, but I have come to be very cautious around the word ‘transformation’. It makes me nervous. It comes loaded with power and assumption and disappointment. To me one of life’s greatest cons is that something can be transformed instantly, like the...