I met ‘Aunt Es’ when I was 18. I had heard all about her from my Dad. She had introduced him to the Lake District and...
Humanity
Recalculating the impact of change
A phenomenon. Live Aid. 1985. Hundreds of music industry people coming together, free of charge, to produce the...
Repackaging our greatest skills – for each other.
For the thirteenth year running I have been involved in an induction programme for surgical trainees starting their...
Remembering Dolly and the nurture of nature.
It is Autumn now and I still really miss her. Every morning, that leap of joy as I went downstairs to see if she was still with us, and in the warm, soft evenings, talking gently under the tree, her eyes following me, knowingly, wise beyond her years. She...
Really, really want
In the words of the 1990s pop song, what do we want? What do we really, really want? From life? From work? From each other? Many people have asked this question over the centuries and most of the time the answers are a variation on the same theme. As human...
Realigning our priorities
Five people, strangers, met one sunny Friday in early September. They had not met previously, but had come together with one sole purpose in mind – to create. Standing around in an airy workshop, stuffed to the rafters with material, tools, objects and knick knacks,...
Re entering the wonderful world of work.
For the first time in six months, I felt I had a place in the world again. Six long months of uncertainty, of worry, or wondering if I would ever be needed in the ways that I was previously pre Covid. Not that we are post Covid at the moment, but we are...
Re-humanising at every encounter
“I’m not as scary as I look," he said, this young, wide eyed man standing in front of me. "I have been inside, for four years but it was for beating up my step dad, who beat up my step mum. I wouldn’t hurt anyone else. I’ve done my time and now I just...
Rejoicing in our history
My little girl was leaving her school that day to start at a new one after the half term break, so when a stranger appeared with her when she came out at the end of the day, I was a little surprised. Who was this woman and why was she accompanying my daughter off the...
Re-evaluating: limbo or life?
My husband is 53 today; I will soon join him in the same age. We have been married for 21 years. It is a hot day so we decided against a day out in the country and are lounging around the house and garden, looking forward to dinner a deux tonight as our grown up but...
Re-filling the tank
I’m on count down. Annual leave minus 10 days. If all goes to plan (no local lockdown!) I’ll be going away; an escape to the country, to the coast; a relatively unpopulated area that I’ve spent a couple of weeks exploring most summers for the last few years. A...
Reflexivity and Emotional Intelligence
I should like to introduce you to two people. Both work with the public in healthcare, social work or the police. Both are people facing, hands on professionals and both see some difficult things in the course of their work – sadness, suffering and despair which lead...