Embracing the ordinary (and staying alive to the extraordinary)

Trigger warning : I talk about an attempted suicide . This past week, one of the much loved teachers at the school our children attend, had a birthday. I was aware of it because of Facebook. (Yes, as a social networking tool, it is pretty awesome!) And I considered what I wanted to say to this man. These are some of the things I thought about: He partners with us to educate our children and has a hand in shaping their perceptions of the world around them. That is a very significant thing. And as a person, he is likeable and an inspiration as he seeks to continue growing and learning, has a sense of humour and engages the people around him. Our children look up to him as someone with important information to impart in a unique way that inspire them to continue the process of learning outside the classroom. He plays a significant role in the life of our school. After thinking about all of that, I came back to what I say to everyone in my circle that celebrates a birthda

My husband and I have recently watched a sci-fi series on Netflix called "Altered Carbon". We started watching because it featured (for all of 1.5 seconds!) a new bike made in Mielec, and we are ok with trying new genres. The concept is based around the fact that people could continue living, beyond a "body death" by exchanging their "sleeve" or body and inserting their "stack" (memories, intelligence, soul) into the new sleeve. Don't worry, there won't be a test on this terminology and that is all I am going to say about the series. But this concept of our bodies being interchangeable sleeves we could wear like clothes, simply to house our spirit, minds, memories etc. was fascinating and resonated with me. I have always had an unusual (though I didn't realise it was) relationship with my body. As a child, I delighted in what it could do as I climbed trees with abandon, ran fast, jumped far and pirouetted with precision. It seem

The lies of our times Yesterday I attended a coffee morning at a lovely hotel, organised by IWAK (International Women's Association of Krakow). At all their events, they invite a photographer to document the time we spend together, drinking coffee, chatting and laughing together. It is such a lovely idea. And YET, I often find photos of myself, looking completely normal and ordinary ... by which I mean: Completely lost in the moment whilst talking/ listening, eating and drinking with abandon, laughing in unselfconscious ways. My face takes on all the various stages of animation. And I never achieve the illusive "ideal" of looking effortlessly graceful. When I saw this picture of myself, I thought: "do my eyes really look that wonky?" and "I bet my Mom would love this photograph. I look happy and she'd love to see that!" So, I went ahead and sent it to her with this message:  " Yesterday we had a coffee morning with a Valentine’