Cathy Le Feuvre

I Shall Pass This Way But Once...

I've been doing a lot of clearing recently and as I continue to rifle through lots of stuff, clearing & storing and 'letting go' of many things … I found this little picture!

 

I remember it at home over the years propped up here and there … the mantelpiece, various shelves. 

 

On the back of the card are these words:

 

To Major and Mrs LeFerve (sic) With All Good Wishes from Marjorie Holleyoak

I''ve no idea who Marjorie was but it was a long time ago that my parents received this lovely card, probably from a church / Salvation Army corps member or friend - my parents were Salvation Army ministers.

 

A long time ago given as a gift, but the sentiments are the same today as they have always been!

 

‘I expect to pass through this world but once. Any good thing, therefore, that I can do or any kindness I can show to any creature, let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.’

 

This quote is credited to Stephen Grellet …a prominent French-American Quaker missionary, 1772-1855.

 

I'm wondering now if the sentiments in this message seeped into my psyche down the years ... you may (or may not) know that in recent years I've written a book about kindness ... 'The Gift of Kindness', published by Authentic Media and written with my friend and writing buddy, Debbie Duncan.

 

If this be loving ... then I love!

On this Valentine's Day I share with you something very special.

A few years back I wrote a book based on the lives and letters of the couple who founded The Salvation Army, the global church and charity movement.

William Booth met Catherine Mumford in 1851 and they married four years later, in July 1855. Their relationship was developed through letter writing, and that correspondence continued throughout their marriage.

Those letters are held in the British Library in London, and it was sheer pleasure to spend hours pouring over those epistles, deciphering the handwriting. Through the correspondence I got to know these individuals on quite a personal level and I discovered that, although they were obviously very religious and spiritual, they were also complex characters, flawed individuals, and ... I found to my surprise ... very much in love.

That personal even romantic love kept Catherine and William close, and that and their love for God and humanity and their mutual passion for sharing the Christian gospel,  helped them to stay strong often during very difficult times.

I love that in 1872, 17 years into their marriage, William - who was also quite an accomplished poet - was inspired to write this to his wife, the mother of his eight children, and his partner in life, faith and Christian mission.

These were William's words, penned to his beloved Catherine in 1872 ... by the time he wrote this loving poem, they had been married for 17 years, having got married on 16 June 1855!

If ’tis love to wish thee near,

To shed for thee the silent tear,

To start at every step and fear,

Yet hope, that it will bring thee near –

If this be loving, then I love.

If ’tis love to wish that I,

Knit by some strange mysterious tie,

Might with thee live or with thee die,

Then dwell with thee eternally –

If this be loving, then I love.

 

Your own, your husband,

William.

By the way, if you fancy reading my book based on the Booth Letters, I will be honoured.

It's called 'William and Catherine - the love story of the founders of The Salvation Army told through their letters' (Lion Hudson 2013)

You can also find it and some of my other books on Amazon and other sites.

You can also check out my Author Central page on Amazon 

If you go to the top of this page and click on 'Cathy Home Page' you will also find my main website and occasional blog. And there's more info on 'Cathy's books'.

Thanks and Happy Valentine's Day!

(This post was first shared on February 14, St Valentine's Day, 2021 ... as part of my 'One Day at a Time' blog which featured a thought for every day that year. I've added a few words here but if you want to check that blog out it's on the front page of my website ... click here for 'One Day at a Time')

A Thought for New Year

Happy New Year!

I pray blessings on you all this coming year ... may it be a peaceful, healthy, and happy 2024 for you!

It's interesting, isn't it ... how we put so much store in the passing of this one day into another?

Is there anything 'special' about January 1st really? After all, it IS just another day. The sun rises every day and every day we are presented with another 24 hours and we may decide to either spend it well and wisely, or not.

Of course, there IS something significant about the start of a New Year because it allows us an opportunity to stop, and think, if only for a moment in the midst of the mayhem of partying (if that's your thing).

We may think on the year that has passed, the people we have been blessed with, the kindnesses we have experiences, the loved ones we have lost not just in the past 12 months but before that ... people who were once part of our New Year, and who like us, once started their year with hope and happiness and yearnings, and laughter and tears.

At New Year we may take time to give thanks for all the blessings we have. As a person of Christian faith, I give thanks to the Almighty for everything I've been granted in this life and pray that I may be aware of His presence and guidance in the unfolding days.

But then, I ask myself ... surely I should be doing that EVERY morning? That sort of gratitude should be for every day.

I have a calendar which is full of helpful mindfulness thoughts - some religious, most not - which I have in my kitchen and which I find inspirational. Having walked through last year with it, this morning (on January 1st), I have turned it back to the start of the year. I will travel with it again in 2024 ... perhaps gaining new insights from every daily thought the second time around.

And before this year really gets underway, I am reminded about the importance of greeting each new day, not just New Year's Day, with that sense of gratitude for the time we are given on this earth. And to make EACH day a blessed day full of opportunities, love and gratitude, kindness, wellbeing and success and happiness and contentment ... and whatever we wish for ourselves, dream of and pray for.

In the words of the philosopher poet Ralph Waldo Emerson ... whose wise words were the thought for Dec 31st on my calendar.

'Write it on your heart ... that every day is the best day of the year'

Be blessed everyone!

 

Christmas Without Christ

Christmas!

 

It's a lovely time, isn't it? Some would say the 'Most Wonderful Time of the Year'.

 

How much fun to be had, family to be surrounded by, presents to be unwrapped, food to be consumed, songs to be sung very loudly, alcohol to be consumed in vast quantities.

 

It's part of our culture, at least for many in the 'modern', 'western' and developed and entitled world where Christmas is often seen just as a time for partying, excess and overindulgence. Yes, a time for getting together with family, which is important, but also for giving in to the commercial pressures of ... oh ... so ... many needs and wants.

 

I'm not going to talk here about the over commercialisation of the season ... numerous people cleverer than I have spent many words doing that before me.

 

But I am going to address the 'elephant in the room' ... something which isn't new but which has become uppermost in my mind in the past weeks.

 

Let me explain.

 

A friend of mine who does PR and communications, especially on behalf of Christian organizations and charities, posted something in the run up to this festive season which really challenged me ….

 

He wrote …

 

‘Spoken to a journalist in the last hour: I asked who their main Christian guest was this year. The journalist said no-one - we are doing Christmas differently this year!

I'm sure Christmas starts with Christ...’

 

“We are doing Christmas differently this year’!!

 

Ah ….. No ….!

 

As my friend points out … it’s in the name!

 

‘Christ mas’ …

 

Of course, it saddens me that there are journalists out there who, when thinking of their Christmas coverage, decide to ignore the reason we celebrate in the first place! It's not surprising, I guess, given the culture we live in ... but it shows just how far removed that culture has become from the 'real' Christmas. And how much the commercialisation and myths of the 'happy Christmas time' have increasingly shaped our perception of this mid winter festival.

 

This also reminds me that, without being too heavy handed, us Christian folk … the people who follow and believe in the Christ whose birth we celebrate at Christmastime … need to gently remind people that it’s more than drinking, eating, tinsel and pressies, or even all the wonderful charitable kindnesses that happen especially at this time!

 

All this put me in mind of a poem I wrote some years ago … it has featured in a couple of BBC local carol services when I needed a poem - if I can’t find the words I need, I’ll write them myself.

 

But here …as we move through this Christmas season  … I share it with you my friends… and pray that in all the partying and stuff we choose to surround ourselves, we may all take some time to remember the Reason for the Season!

 

Christmas Blessings on you all!

 

Treasures Among the Stones

In recent months I've begun to collect sea glass.

If you don't know what that is ... well, sea glass is bits of glass which have washed up onto beaches!

When you find a piece of sea glass it's not just a thing of beauty to behold, but it has it's own story to tell! 

At some point the glass was probably part of a bottle or something else fashioned of glass and who knows where it came from in the world? The sea currents could have brought it from far-off oceans and coasts until it is finally broken up into the smaller pieces that pitch up on our Jersey beaches.

After being battered about in the waves and on the sands, probably for many years, it's usually smooth, not jagged ... although at times I do find 'newer' pieces which are a bit lethal and which, obviously, go straight into the bin! So my sea glass hunting is also helping to clean the sand to prevent accidents to unsuspecting bare feet.

Here in my home island of Jersey in the Channel Islands, sea glass has often been used to create beautiful things. Some artists work sea glass into their pictures and create fabulous jewellery from the items which can be discovered on our many beaches. 

I've been doing quite a lot of sea swimming and walking on beaches in the last few years as I've tried to handle the stresses of life, changing circumstances and the ensuing mental health challenges that have come my way, and this year I've begun searching for sea glass.

Inspired by a canvas that a friend gave me as a Christmas gift - an image of a festive tree created out of pale green, bluish, clear and white sea glass - I decided (as you do, even if you're not an artist) ...' I could do that!' 

And so at times, I find myself wandering up and down beaches, looking for the little bits of glass among the stones and detritus which the tide has washed up. And, as a result, I'm amassing a little store of pretty glass ... much of it clear and milky, some blues and greens of various shades. All different shapes and sizes.

Recently I took a walk at La Mare Beach in St Clement on the east coast of Jersey and beyond to the area called Le Dicq, which I know is good for sea glass and also little bits of pottery including blue and white ceramics from a piece of crockery which at some point probably graced a kitchen dresser or a dining table. 

It was low tide, and not quite sunset,  a perfect time for sea glass hunting, and apart from a few other walkers I had the beach to myself. I'd had a pretty stressful 24 hours so I needed to clear my head and, to be honest, I wasn't confident of finding much glass. I'm a person of Christian faith, and I was listening to some encouraging music which assured me that in the storms of life I have a friend who is there for me - Jesus Christ - and that nothing is impossible with God, even when we are faced by uncertainty and what we may consider insurmountable problems.

At first, I only found a couple of little pieces of sea glass. But the closer I looked, the further I walked, suddenly I began to spot more ... and more ... and more.

A small piece of glass hidden among the stones on the shore, a shard on its own in the sand, and then a few quite large pieces smoothed and shaped from years of weather and wearing just sitting there waiting to be discovered.

And it occurred to me that sea glass and sea glass hunting is like life, and like my journey of faith.

Sometimes I am so overwhelmed with the challenges of life, and worried about the future, that I miss the beauty of the moment. I miss the sparkling treasure sitting there, right in front of me, just waiting to be discovered and used for something new and beautiful.

When I looked closely, even at a pile of stone and rocks and seaweed, suddenly a tiny piece of glass would sparkle in the setting sun over the beach. I was reminded that sometimes I might have to sift through some of the challenges of life to find beauty. I might have to ignore the detritus of my life to find moments of joy and love and hope. I  might have to keep looking and keep looking for the good ... but trusting that it's there to be found!

The interesting thing about sea glass hunting is the more you look for it, the more you see. I walked probably half a mile up the beach and then turned around, following mostly the same route I had taken on the walk up ... and yet as I made my way back to the carpark and my vehicle, I spotted glass I had missed the first time around.

Maybe that was because I was looking more intently now, or perhaps because I was looking at the beach, and the race of stones and rocks on the shore, from a slightly different angle. I'm sure you're getting my drift on this ... sometimes we miss joy and peace and hope and beauty but then, when we return to the situation, and maybe look at life with a different mindset or from a different angle, we find all those treasures in exactly the places we may have missed them before!

It also occurred to me that once the tide has come in again, once the water has shifted things around and churned things up, it will leave more treasures on the sand, and new beautiful objects that wash up on that tide. But the water may also uncover and reveal bits of sea glass which may be hidden tight now but once the piles of stones and rocks and seaweed are moved around, they are there ... to be discovered.

As I walked along that beach, listening to my inspirational music, I found myself asking God to help me ... to help me not to obsess so much about the challenges and rocks in my life but to seek out the beautiful things, the hope and the miracles which may be just waiting for me if I can but see them. If I but look for them! If I make myself aware that they may be there!

Some people call this talking to God  'praying' ... not in the way that you might pray in a church or a temple, which can sometimes be rather formal, but just having a 'chat'. Not just talking to God but also listening. Most importantly ... listening.

And so, on this particular sea glass hunt I clearly heard God's voice as I walked and talked with and listened to him.

I heard him say ... something like this...

'Look for the beautiful things, they are there but may be hidden.'

'Your life may be full of rocks but, like the tide, my love can wash away those challenges if you let me do so, and treasures and happiness and insights and joys which at the moment may be hidden in your grief, confusion, uncertainty and hurt will be uncovered, will be there ready for you to discover.'

In the end, I gathered quite a little hoard of lovely sea glass on my walk, to add to my collection at home - and one day I will create something beautiful. At the moment I don't know what that will be ... perhaps, as in life, we don't need to plan everything meticulously in advance but just see what comes when we are ready to create! 

There are Treasures Among the Stones of life ... perhaps we just need to look more intently and patiently, to try to see beyond the rocks in our lives and instead be alert to the blessings that are granted to us and believe ... a Better Life is on the way!

And, as if to prove His promises, at the end of the day I was blessed with one of God's most beautiful creations ... a most glorious sunset!

How great is that?

A Little Welsh Doll

If you take any notice of this blog at all, then you will have realised that it's been a whole twelve months since I posted anything.

My last blog post was March 1st 2022 when I wished you all a 'Happy St David's Day'!

And today I repeat that greeting ... including in Welsh ... because, of course, St David is the patron saint of Wales, and today is his patronal day.

Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Hapus!

And in honour of the day, I share with you a Little Welsh Doll ... dressed in traditional Welsh attire ... but more of that later.

When I wrote my blog post last year,  I little realised what the succeeding 12 months would bring.

Let me explain ... and this will also explain my absence.

For quite a few years now I've been living with my darling Mum here in Jersey in the Channel Islands and although she grew older she remained well and happy and active. That is, until the COVID pandemic hit us and, in 2020, forced us all into 'lockdown'.

This affected Mum as it did many elderly folk across the world. We were together as a family (Mum and myself and one of my brothers) but our lives became 'smaller'. Mum's mobility altered and she became frailer. I worked from home for a couple of years but then, at the end of March 2022 I left my job, to work more 'freely' and give myself time to spend more time with Mum as her needs grew.

This time last year Mum was forgetful and not very mobile, and often terribly anxious about pretty much everything, but still herself really. Although we kept isolated, COVID finally got us in late March, and that seemed to speed up Mum's ailments. She quickly became very poorly and her forgetfulness developed into what we now know was full on dementia, with moments when she barely knew us. And yet, there were still moments of clarity and personality, and love.

In The Salvation Army, the Christian denomination (church) that Mum and I are aligned with, when someone dies we say they are 'Promoted to Glory' because we believe that when we die we do not 'disappear' into nothingness, but rather as believers we go to Heaven to be with God and Jesus and all those who have gone before.

In early May last year, our darling Mum was 'promoted to glory'. And although I know that, at the end, she was ready to go ... so tired and so poorly ... the shock of losing her was immense for us all, especially her family.

Mum was the centre of our family, the secure point in my life certainly. She had a special relationship with all her children and I, as the only girl, was privileged to have a beautiful relationship with her. She was not just my mother, but my role model in life and faith, my friend, the person to whom I turned for recognition and affirmation and wise counsel.

And, suddenly, she was gone. No more smiles or laughter, stories, kisses and hugs, support and advice.

The grief I've experienced in the past year has been ... well ... earth shattering for me.

For months I just couldn't operate at all. I was so tired - physically and emotionally exhausted - from the many months of caring for Mum as she became less well and less mobile, more anxious and more vulnerable. Not to mention the last six weeks or so including the final few weeks sitting beside her, holding her hand in hospital as she slowly slipped away. As a family we were able to say our final 'goodbyes' but the whole process ... including hospital issues which I won't go into right now ... was devastating. Losing her has also brought other challenges and anxieties for me and often I have found myself wanting some advice and not having Mum, my sounding board, to turn to.

Right now I'm still tearful at times because I miss Mum so much...but the gut wrenching grief, which overwhelmed me in those first days, weeks and months and which rendered me immobile at times ... is beginning to level out. A little.

And these days I find myself remembering and smiling, sometimes through a few tears, but more often with thanks for the lovely person Mum was, and the relationship I had with her, and the legacy of faith and love that she left us, her family, with.

Today was one of those days and this is where the Little Welsh Doll comes in.

My Mum was originally from Wales and she was very proud of her Welsh heritage ... she kept the traces of her Welsh accent even though she lived out of that country for most of her life. 

Years ago my 'Auntie' Lil, one of my Mum's 'Best Friends' in Wales, made this little doll, probably for a Salvation Army church fair, knitting the outfit which represents the traditional Welsh female national dress. Mum often said that when she was a little girl, she used to be dressed up in the dress, apron, shawl and big hat on St David's Day and for other special occasions. She loved that doll because it reminded her of her childhood and her family who raised her, her heritage, and her friends. The shawl also reminded her that when we, her four children, were babies, she swaddled us close to herself in a Welsh blanket or shawl as generations of Welsh mothers had done before her.

That Little Welsh Doll usually sits on her dresser, but in the past few years we've placed it on the other side of the lounge, on the fireplace mantlepiece where it was in her line of sight from her chair. Seeing it there made Mum smile, and brought memories flooding back.

This time last year when the doll was once again placed on the mantlepiece, we again had a conversation, as we had so many times, about the Welsh costume days, and the Salvation Army bring and buy 'fairs' or sales, especially in the early days of my Mum and Dad's Christian ministry as officers or church leaders of The Salvation Army, some of those spent in South Wales itself.

So, today, I took Mum's Little Welsh Doll from the dresser, blew off a few specks of dust which had gathered on the dress, and placed it on the mantlepiece.

And I smiled, albeit through a few tears, and remembered my Mum with all the love in the world.

I miss our conversations, even if we had them over and over in the past few years. I miss her so much, and every day, and probably will do so until it is my time to cross over to that other land. 

But today, as I remember St David and all my Welsh family and friends, scattered across the world, I smile and remember my darling Mum and give thanks to God that we as her family and friends, and the world, was privileged to have her for so long (nine decades) and we were privileged to be able to care for her at home until almost the end. I give thanks even for those final hours as we watched her slip into Heaven, heart breaking as it was.

Thanks Mum! Love you Lots! See you in the morning!

Hope you're enjoying your first St David's Day in Heaven!

Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Hapus!

Happy St David's Day!

Today is St David's Day!

And if you're from the country of Wales, if you're Welsh, or part-Welsh (as I am) this is an important day.

On March 1st every year the people of Wales, and those of Welsh heritage wherever they are in the world, celebrate their patron saint. 

My Mum is Welsh so in our family we've always known about St David's Day. But it was when I spent my final two years of schooling in Wales that I realised how passionate people are about their saint, their history, their culture and their language. 

On this day, people wear the traditional symbols of Wales - daffodils or leeks - and in fact at school I remember one girl coming to class with a leek ... a huge vegetable ... pinned to her chest.

It WAS, of course, very funny ... and wow did it smell by the end of the day ... but it also impressed me as being a great show of 'nationality'.

On this day we may also enjoy traditional Welsh food ... my favourites are Welsh cakes which are like little griddle pancakes. Yum!

Today - St David's Day 2022  - also happens to be Shrove Tuesday, the start of the season of Lent, 40 days during which Christians prepare for Easter.

Shrove Tuesday is also known as 'Pancake Day' ... if you want to find out more about that maybe you'd like to read my blog post from 2021 when I wrote a blog every day of the year ... 'One Day at a time'.

But let's get back to St David, and you might be asking this question ... who was he?

Well in the 6th century, he was a Bishop of a place called 'Mynyw', which is the modern day St Davids, a city in the county of Pembrokeshire  in the southwest of the country.

David (Dewi) was born in Wales, although there's no clear evidence as to the year that happened. It is known that he was a celebrated teacher and preacher and that he founded monasteries and churches in Wales - St David's Cathedral is situated on the site of a monastery he founded in the Glyn Rhosyn valley of Pembrokeshire - in 'Dumnonia' (a kingdom in the southwest of England) and even Brittany in France. David is even believed to have visited the ancient religious site of Glastonbury. 

David established his own Monastic Rule, a system of religious and daily living for monks, and one of David's main rules was that when his followers were tilling the soil, THEY had to pull the plough themselves, rather than animals. Monks living by the Monastic Rule of David drank only water and ate only bread with salt and herbs - no meat, and certainly no beer. They were allowed no personal possessions and while David's monks worked in the day, they spent the evenings reading, writing and praying. 

So, why is David's feast day March 1st? 

That's the day when it's thought he died. As with his birth, there's a question mark over what year that was. Some say 601AD, others 589AD. 

David was buried in St David's Cathedral and his shrine was a popular place of pilgrimage throughout the Middle Ages. Invading Vikings removed the shrine during the 10th and 11th centuries but in 1275 a new shrine was constructed, the ruined base of which remains to this day.  

Although St David had been a popular saint in Wales since the 12th century, his religious feast day didn't become a national festival until the 18th century. And it's on March 1st every year that Welsh heritage people celebrate the man who now is their patron saint. Children especially are encouraged to celebrate as they learn about their history, and they often head to school for the day dressed as coal miners or in the traditional Welsh woman costume, with the girls often wearing a leek in their lapel. I remember at school one girl wearing such a BIG leek, a huge green vegetable, that it covered her whole chest and ... boy did it smell (like onion).

But why daffodils, and why leeks ? 

Well the leek became a symbol of the Welsh spirit because one legend says that St David advised his people to wear leeks in a battle against the Saxons. It was the days of hand-to-hand combat and wearing the leek meant that they would be recognised as Welsh by their compatriots in the heat of the battle - so no chance of someone killing a fellow Welshman! That's just one of the stories, but leeks were a popular food for many centuries and were also used for medicinal purposes, and the link with St David's Day is thought to be especially through the Tudors, who had strong Welsh roots and heritage.

And the daffodil?

This lovely yellow blooms appears in early Spring, around the time of St David's Day and it's just a joyful flower, isn't it?

But the floral link with Wales is fairly recent really and is thought to have been adopted as an alternative to the leek in the early 20th century, by which time the wearing of vegetables on your coat on March 1st had become a bit of a joke. Welsh politician and elder statesman David Lloyd George, who was British Prime Minister from 1916 to 1922, was said to be an advocate of the daffodil being used as a symbol of his Homeland.

The Welsh are a proud people and on St David's Day that pride is more obvious than ever.

If you're not aware, the country (now called the Principality) has its own ancient language. Welsh is a Celtic language - with links to the ancient Celtic Britons - and although for centuries Welsh was the common language of the people, it did fall into decline in the early 20th century as English became dominant. However in the 1990's the value of the native language was formerly recognised for its importance to the Welsh culture, heritage and future, with The Welsh Language Act 1993 and the Government of Wales Act 1998  regulating that the Welsh and English languages should be treated equally in the public sector, where sensible and possible.

These days there's Welsh speaking media, the language is taught in schools, as well as there being educational establishments where Welsh is the predominant language for conversation and teaching. I read recently that as of September 2020, it was reckoned that about a third of the population of Wales could speak the language and more than 15% spoke Welsh every day. It's been a real success story for the reinvigoration of a mother language that could easily have died out. And if you visit Wales, you'll see signs everywhere in Welsh and English.  

I know just a few words of Welsh ... passed down through my Welsh heritage ... but I'm no expert.

So, finally, today I could say 'Happy St. David’s Day!

But I instead will sign off by wishing you ...  'Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Sant Hapus!'

Blue Monday or Multi-coloured Monday?

Sorry to announce this but ... if you weren't already aware ... today is ...

BLUE MONDAY!

Depressing I know ... again ... sorry!

Today is the third Monday of January, a day which apparently is supposed to be the 'gloomiest' day of the year.

It's sort of midwinter so in some parts of the world the weather is cold and dark and damp ...  that can be a bit depressing. After Christmas some of us are facing debt, and the bills will start rolling in. If we've made New Year's Resolutions, some of us may have fallen off our intended wagon already. All round, it's a day when all the things that are 'bad' in our lives seem to congregate.

Or is it?

Interestingly Blue Monday only dates back to about 2005 - the idea was included in a press release from the British travel company Sky Travel who cited psychologist Dr Cliff Arnall. He had devised an algorithm which indicated that the third Monday in January is the one on which we feel the most gloomy. 

It was a way just to sell holidays!

However, as the media and advertising industries are wont to do, everyone jumped on the concept and since then the day has been in the international diary, with hours of time dedicated today to telling us why we may be feeling sad, and what we can/should do about it. 

And VOILÀ!

Today it's a thing which we all think is real!

However, since that first Blue Monday, even the man behind the formula, Dr Arnall, has said it was never his intention to made the day sound so depressing and that unfortunately the coining of that phrase has, in many cases, become a 'self-fulfilling prophecy'. We hear it's 'Blue Monday' and we automatically tend to feel ... well ... BLUE!

The idea has been de-bunked over and over again, including by mental health organisations, who feel the branding of the day is really unhelpful. Actually some now would like us to call the day 'MULTI-COLOURED MONDAY'!

That's much better, don't you think? 

Instead of feeling sorry for ourselves, we're encouraged to turn everything on its head. Wear bright clothing, think positive, go for a walk ... you know what I'm talking about!

But back to the original Blue Monday idea  ... as I said, it really is a construct of the advertising and media industries and while there are companies and organisations happy to jump on the band wagon it'll be difficult to shift in our psyche. These days companies use it to sell all sort of 'cures' for our gloomy mood ...  vitamin pills, drinks, exercises programmes and equipment as well as those hotel rooms and holidays in the sun. 

Due to the fact that the day has been hijacked by companies with something to sell off the back of people's perceived misery, it's unlikely to be replaced soon by the more positive messaging ... but I'm with mental health campaigners who have stressed that depression isn’t something to be capitalised on. 

I hold my hand up ... before I understood much about this I did run 'Blue Monday' features on my radio shows ... although I believe in the final years of my days in the studio I did introduce the alternative 'Multi-coloured Monday' and tried to concentrate on the positive!

And that's what I'm concentrating on today.

After all, today is not a 'real thing' ... it's made up and we can choose to fixate on it or not. It's certainly most unhelpful at a time when many of us may not be at our best, still feeling the effects of the coronavirus pandemic including restrictions and the constant news coverage of the worst of the COVID figures and deaths!

Dr Arnall himself has urged us all to 'refute the whole notion' - so are you with me?

Let's ditch the blue ... maybe consider wearing something bright and colourful. Speak to a friend, laugh out loud ... and avoid watching those depressing news programmes and TV shows which at the moment seem to be increasingly emphasising the depressing situation facing the world today, including using words like 'crisis', 'disaster' and 'critical' and 'catastrophe'.

Of course, if we are feeling really bad then we may need to seek some professional help - that's important.

But we can also try to just breathe through today, rise above all the negative stuff that may be thrown at us, try to look on the bright side of life, simply try to enjoy life and smile!

Especially today!

Have a great day everyone!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy New Year!

Hi everyone!

Happy New Year!

It's 2022!

If you've been following me for the past year or so - thanks so much by the way - you'll know that during the whole of 2021 I wrote a daily blog called 'One Day at a Time'.

I managed to write or post something every day, which was a bit of a miracle at times ... and it was quite a journey.

Anyway, as I said on my final 'One Day at a Time' post of 2021 ... I'm still writing. I enjoyed the daily writing and was really encouraged by last year's experience and actually the daily post became a bit of a ritual so I'll still continue to ramble a bit from time to time - perhaps not EVERY day but more frequently anyway.

I have lots of exciting things coming up this year - including a new book - so do keep in touch!

From now I'll be posting again on this site, my main blog ... but 'One Day at a Time' is still there so please feel free to go back and read my year if you feel up to it! Click on that tab up there at the top of this page and you can read everything from Jan 1st 2021 onwards!

Meanwhile, on this first day of 2022 ... all I want to say is ... HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I trust 2022 will be healthy, happy and peaceful for you all! 

Live your dreams!

Have a great year everyone!