Monthly Archives: November 2015

Let’s spread some peace, love & happiness

16 Monday Nov 2015

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This week it had been my intention to write about Friday 13th and the superstitions associated with it, however after the events that occurred around the world last week I don’t think it would be appropriate to do so and my heartfelt thoughts and sympathies go out to all those who were affected by the atrocities last week not just in Paris but all around the world.

These acts of terrorism affect us all one way or another but I still believe there is far more goodness and kindness in the world than hatred and we must try to focus on that during these turbulent times.

Anyone watching the footage of Paris during the last few days will see just that with all the people who came out to show their respect and light candles. One such man was Davide Martello who drove 400 miles with his piano to play outside the Bataclan theatre to pay tribute to the victims. He chose to play John Lennon’s Imagine. He said he had wanted to try and comfort and offer a sign of hope. People queued the next day to give blood. These acts of kindness just prove and demonstrate that there really is compassion and kindness that still exists in the world.

Equally, whilst the events were unfolding on Friday night, the BBC were holding their annual charity event, Children In Need, which raises money for disadvantaged children. It raised over £37million and that amount is still rising compared to £32.5m last year. There are many charities and generous and kind people all around the world doing good and making a difference, unfortunately we don’t hear so much about the feel good stories but we should take comfort and remind ourselves that they do exist.

We should never forget all the things that are important to us; family, friends and love.   We should also be grateful and appreciate everything we have. There might be times in our every day lives when we feel our tempers rising when things aren’t quite going our way but we should take a step back and ask ourselves if it really is worth getting upset about in the grand scheme of things.

Let’s be grateful for our precious lives that can be taken from us in an instant. We shouldn’t stop living our lives and we should remember there is more goodness than there is bad. Let’s try and spread peace, love and happiness wherever we can.

 

 

 

 

 

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Why I love London Bridge

09 Monday Nov 2015

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We all have places that we have to go to or pass through on a regular basis and that place for me is London Bridge. I don’t choose to go there but it’s on my way to work and every time I cross it, whether it’s to go to or from work I think how lucky I am.

I’ve learnt to enjoy and embrace the view that London Bridge offers and I’ve come to absolutely love that part of my journey. I’m surrounded by iconic buildings such as the Shard, Gherkin, Cheesegrater and the Walkie Talkie and then there is the beautiful Tower Bridge. These sights all look different depending on the season and what the weather is doing. Some days they are shimmering in the sunshine and others they are shrouded in fog and mist.   I love the countryside but I can still appreciate the beauty of the City and it’s history.

There are also street entertainers that come out on certain days and my favourite is the fire-eater and juggler, he is always cheerful and he brightens my day, no pun intended.  Come rain or shine he pitches up without fail.

London Bridge is also a stop for tourist buses and tourists from all over the world pile off with their cameras in hand ready to take pictures of the River Thames, Tower Bridge and the iconic buildings. I always imagine how they feel at finally seeing something they might have talked about for many years and spent time planning to see and now here they are in person. It’s always very easy to take things we see everyday for granted but if we look at tourist faces it can sometimes act as a reminder to us to stop and take a look around us.

There is never a dull moment, the other evening on the way home a guy jumped up onto one of the large plant containers and started to dance – no music, just moves which made you want to stop and stare to see what he was up to. He wasn’t drunk and looked completely cold stone sober. He ignored all the stares and as he danced, he kept looking up at an office window, obviously trying to get the attention of someone. Passers by stopped to see what he was doing and it still makes me smile when I picture him now. I have a feeling he was trying to get someone’s attention and he was going to ask them to marry him.

Regular fashion shoots also take place on the bridge and that makes for interesting commuting especially when you see people wrapped up in Northern Face gear looking like they belong in Antarctica. Other times there have been brides with their bridesmaids all strutting their stuff looking so very glamorous and cool.

London Bridge is an excellent location for film shoots although as yet I’ve never seen any filming because I think filming takes place at weekends or during the quieter times of the day or night. I always recall the scene from the movie Bridget Jones when she has finally got it together with Daniel Cleaver and she is seen walking to work feeling oh so happy with herself, her held is held up high and she is smiling away to herself.   This is how I feel most mornings – just happy to be alive.

I also love the history associated with London Bridge and the many times it has been built and even sold.   I remember as a small child hearing the nursery rhyme (here I go again with songs) “London Bridge is falling down”.   There is so much history steeped in the City of London and especially that of London Bridge and if you are interested in reading all of it’s history since the Roman Army first built the bridge in 42AD to the present day the following website is fascinating and I am sure you will be surprised at what you read.  http://oldlondonbridge.com/history.shtml

I’d love to hear from you about any places that you have to go to on a regular basis as part of your daily journey and how you’ve learnt to embrace and enjoy it or perhaps you don’t but maybe can learn. The world really is an amazing place if we just open our eyes and really see it.

london bridge

Wishing all my readers a wonderful happy week exploring and learning to love the places we see every day and maybe even take for granted.

Taking on Challenges

02 Monday Nov 2015

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It appears that we’ve become a nation of people who love a challenge, especially ones that involve charitable events, anything goes, from taking part in bike rides such as Lands End to John O’Groates, trekking in the Himalayas, skydiving, parachute jumping, triathlons, midnight walks, the list of challenges available to us are endless. The best thing is that people usually take part in these challenges to raise money for charities that are close to their hearts or even just for the sheer hell of it.

Do you enjoy a challenge and pushing the boundaries or do you tend to shy away from anything challenging? By nature I think we all like a challenge at some point during our lives, we’re not designed to stand still and become stagnant.

Not all challenges involve jumping from planes or running marathons and November brings me a fresh new challenge of my very own – the Nanowrimo Challenge. Regular readers will recall that last November I also took part in this challenge for the first time, basically it is “write a book in 30 days”.

The idea is to encourage budding authors to put pen to paper rather than talk about the book that one day we are going to write, when we have more time, more money or whatever excuses we give ourselves. Whilst most books are usually more than 50,000 words , the idea is it encourages all participants to start writing and getting into a writing habit. It is a worldwide event and various groups and forums come together to chat and give encouragement and inspiration to each other. I think it is a fantastic idea and it certainly got me writing last year completing the challenge successfully.

Like many, I lead a busy life so I find that if I write everyday it is achievable and means I only need to write 1667 words a day. I find this manageable and not so overwhelming. I know some participants prefer to write larger chunks at weekends or on certain days the key is to find what works best for each of us and then to stick to it. For me, when I write each day it also gives me thinking time in between so I can develop and create the story in my head and I usually do this when I’m walking my dog, horse riding or commuting. Last year my story took a very unexpected turn as a result of giving myself this extra thinking time.  i tend to work with a very vague plot line.

This year, I’ve dithered about what to write and finally decided to do an experimental piece of writing based on both fact and fiction in a style I’ve never tried before.  Initially I had two ideas but the one I have chosen is by far the most difficult one but I quite like a challenge and I have decided to push myself, I may well regret my decision in a few weeks’ time. It is a story that is unfolding in my mind and I feel really excited about it.

The other great thing about Nanowrimo is there is no going back and editing, you just write, then once completed at the end of November, you then have something to work with and to edit. Okay, it certainly won’t be perfect but at least I will have something to edit and develop. On completion of the 50,000 or more words at the end of November the participants become a “winner”.  Friends have asked me “what do you win?” Well actually there is no prize other than the sheer satisfaction that I have completed the challenge. To me the prize is completing the challenge that I set out to do and more importantly I will also have a manuscript that I can start developing and editing.

The key with any challenge that we set ourselves is to make it achievable, breaking things down into small bite size chunks, this method always work for me and it keeps my mind fresh, happy and enthusiastic about the task in hand. By breaking things down into baby steps we don’t find things so overwhelming and our goals can remain within our reach, after all we wouldn’t go and run a marathon without any training, it would be utter madness.

I would love to hear from you about any challenges that you set yourself and had success with, do you like challenges or do you tend to avoid them?

Wishing all my wonderful readers and Nanowrimo participants around the world a very happy and successful month.