Clik here to view.
Seize the Day!
This article was first published in Connections magazine, August 2006, as “Order, Chaos and Carpe Diem” “ Today I walked to my office, in pouring rain, and got soaked. Here I sit writing, my jeans...
View ArticleClik here to view.
“Soul is about your friends” : an encounter with writer and therapist Thomas...
That brilliant Canadian writer Margaret Atwood was quoted some time ago ( in the UK’s Guardian newspaper) as remarking drily that ”wanting to meet a writer because you like their books is like...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Order and Chaos – a Buddhist ‘take’
Along with many people, I owe a large debt to Buddhist wisdom. Of the many books of Buddhist psychology I read during my 2001-8 time in the Underworld, three stand out which I would recommend to anyone...
View ArticleClik here to view.
“If you go down to the woods today….
….you’ll sure get a big surprise….” as the old children’s song, ‘Teddy Bears’ Picnic’, goes. “Think globally, act locally“ urges people to consider the health of the entire planet and to take action in...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Samhain: A little flare of magic in the night!
If you went down to The Children’s Wood, North Kelvin, Glasgow, UK tonight, you’d find this: a little flare of magic…. photo: Anne Whitaker in the centre of the photo, a tiny flare of fire: a long...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Not quite what Rudolph had in mind…..great excitement in North Kelvin,...
Friday 14th December 2012. It was a dark and rainy night….despite which around one thousand children, parents, aunties, uncles and grandparents all came out to see North Kelvin’s first Reindeer...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Guest blogger Emily Cutts: Constructive criticism is a gift
I am happy to publish this thoughtful post by my friend and colleague Emily Cutts, an independent thinker whose studies and experience in the teaching, research and practice of Positive Psychology...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Help save our Children’s Wood: support the protest any way you can, wherever...
“Wild spaces are invaluable to children, especially those growing up in towns. They stimulate the imagination and nurture the spirit. Places like the Children’s Wood within North Kelvin Meadow...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Observer Ethical Awards nomination
Reblogged from The Children's Wood: We are delighted to learn today that Emily Cutts of the Children's Wood and Douglas Peacock of the North Kelvin Meadow Campaign have been jointly short-listed in...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Children's Wood West-End Festival Gala programme
Reblogged from The Children's Wood: We've got a fantastic line up of activities and stalls for our Gala this SUnday (2nd June). There will be something for everyone. We hope to see you there. Join the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Season of autumn, autumn of life….
I’m feeling philosophical as the autumn leaves start to fall….I feel wealthy in experience, in loving connections, in my talents, in such wisdom as I’ve managed to distil from life’s inevitable pains....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Treasure in the autumn sky….
No, I haven’t vanished from the blogosphere…. still resting my (much improved) tendonitis-afflicted wrist. However, I enjoy emerging occasionally: this time, to share something which has lighted up my...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Support for all women whose male partners have the SAF gene
It is now February, thank goodness, and I have decided to cheer myself and 50% of my Followers up by publishing (with her permission) my correspondence with a female friend last year. When you get to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Glasgow – towards a Green city: Greener Together Awards 2014
Anne Whitaker:In my previous post on this blog, I wrote: “Even in the city, in the increasingly hurried pattern of 21st century life, it is possible to maintain a connection to the cycles of the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
We still need ritual!
In his wonderful book ‘The Sacred and the Profane’, famed historian of religion Mircea Eliade observes that even modern people who reject the tenets of religious belief and practice are unconsciously...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Some thoughts on friendship: Anne and Peggy chew the fat…
I have been reflecting on the importance of having inter-generational friendships, in relation to the type of society in which we live which is riven by a huge paradox. Thanks to the Internet-expedited...
View ArticleClik here to view.
…Transforming common days into thanksgivings…
Growing older has brought me an understanding of the value of living in the day, of being grateful for the texture of blessings that each new dawn brings: all we have to do is be mindful. So, on a very...
View ArticleClik here to view.
How to travel without going anywhere…if Kant could do it, why not you?
As Followers and readers of ‘Writing from the Twelfth House’ will know, I had to give up a busy career and most of ordinary life from the end of 2001 until launching this blog in 2008 – my first step...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Is “ordinary” kindness becoming a casualty of our technological age?
I arrived at the bus stop, cold and in a hurry, as usual – just as the bus I wanted was leaving. “So typical!” I muttered crossly to myself, settling down to wait for the next one with an ill grace. A...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Chip shops and kama sutra: poetry with a difference, Glasgow-style!
It has been some time since I last wrote about a wonderful local initiative bringing children, parents, our wider community and the Great Outdoors together in North Kelvin, Glasgow, U.K – The...
View Article
