There is something rather satisfying about making something with your own hands. You start with a pile of materials that don’t look particularly exciting, spend a few hours experimenting, and somehow end up holding something that wasn’t there before. Perhaps it is beautiful, perhaps it is useful, perhaps it is something that makes somebody else […]
The Dictionary Continues By now, our imaginary Narcissist’s Dictionary has become quite a substantial little publication. In Part 1, we looked at some of the classics, including “You’re too sensitive”, “I was only joking”, “You’re imagining things” and the rather impressive conversational detour of “You’re the narcissist.” We discovered that a simple disagreement can sometimes […]
A quick recap before we continue In Part 1, we opened the rather unofficial Narcissist’s Dictionary and started translating some of those wonderfully confusing phrases that can turn an ordinary conversation into something resembling a parliamentary inquiry. We looked at “You’re too sensitive”, “I was only joking”, “You’re imagining things”, “Everyone thinks you’re difficult”, “You’re […]
There are certain conversations in life that leave you feeling as though you have accidentally walked into a meeting for which nobody bothered to send you the agenda. You begin with a perfectly ordinary sentence, perhaps something as harmless as, “That wasn’t very nice,” and somehow, fifteen minutes later, you are discussing your personality, your […]
The moment you realise the atmosphere has changed There are certain people who can walk into a room and change the atmosphere without saying very much at all. You can be sitting quite happily with a cup of tea, chatting about something completely ordinary, and then suddenly you find yourself choosing your words carefully and […]
The older I get, the more I understand that a beautiful life doesn’t necessarily need to be a bigger one. The photograph I didn’t know would stay with me I took this photograph in 2018, simply because I thought it was beautiful. I remember sitting inside that little rustic room, looking through the glass at […]
The little things that quietly emptied my cupboards The first things I stopped buying weren’t particularly dramatic. They were the ordinary household purchases that seemed completely reasonable at the time and therefore escaped much scrutiny. These are often the hardest expenses to notice because they don’t feel wasteful. They are inexpensive, familiar and usually marketed […]
People often talk about learning life’s greatest lessons from wise grandparents, inspiring teachers or well-thumbed books. I seem to have learnt a surprising number of mine from three cats who have completely taken over my house, my furniture and, if I’m being honest, a rather large piece of my heart. Besides that, my cats have […]
There are some days when life feels heavier than usual, although nothing obvious has happened. The washing still needs folding, emails continue arriving, supper has to be made and the world carries on exactly as it did yesterday. Yet somehow, everything feels just a little more difficult. Those are often the days when I notice […]
There is something rather amusing about the day you realise you’ve become “a gardening person”. It doesn’t happen overnight. One day you buy a little flowering plant because it looks cheerful sitting by the front door. A few weeks later you find yourself slowing the car to admire somebody else’s roses, peering over garden fences […]
