Nature’s first green is gold, Her hardest hue to hold. Her early leaf’s a flower; But only so an hour. Then leaf subsides to leaf, So Eden sank to grief, So dawn goes down to day Nothing gold can stay. – Robert Frost Once you realise this floating life as the perfect mirage of change, […]
Ratnadevi
Plastic-free Friday
(Photo by Brett Stanley Photography) “Do we need anything from the shops?” I ring home from Waitrose, half way through my shopping. “Maybe some tomatoes and salad leaves. Remember it’s plastic-free Friday.” Today is the first Friday since we joined the campaign run by Friends of the Earth, highlighting the impact of plastic on the environment. Every […]
Mindful Christmas! Remembering Our Values
We managed to get a couple of the few remaining seats for the Christmas Oratorio, having only this morning decided to go to the concert. I’ve been brought up with Bach and so it doesn’t come as a surprise when my eyes fill with tears and my throat contracts with emotion as the sweet-sombre chords […]
Gifts of the Moment
Walking along the fence of the allotment, a window opens into something like deep, foraging time. Walking carefully, steadily, gaze turned towards the edible potential to my left, with senses open to the wider environment. Calm, content, alert, I could keep going like this all afternoon. What is it that makes me think of an […]
Who knows what else might come?
Ratnadevi ‘Ready’, called the egg when it was laid. ‘Now I’m ready!’ called the tadpole when it had hatched. ‘Now I’m completely ready! ‘ called the creature, animal when it had two legs. ‘Now, finally, I’m absolutely completely ready! ‘ called the creature when it had four legs and a long tail. ‘Who knows what […]
Who is ill?
Ratnadevi When I tell people that I’ve had a cold for over 5 weeks, I often hear: ‘Oh – there is lot of that going round , I know several people who have been coughing for weeks.’ Being reminded of the fact that I am not alone in my plight is reassuring. We are […]
Make Something
Ratnadevi When I joined Facebook a few months ago I was slightly concerned that it might turn into another of those addictions, like binge watching television series on Netflix (something I have to watch!). But so far, it hasn’t turned out that way, I am glad to say. The holiday adventures of a distant friend […]
This is just to say
Ratnadevi I have eaten the plums that were in the icebox and which you were probably saving for breakfast Forgive me they were delicious so sweet and so cold By William Carlos Williams I was reminded of this poem recently when it was recited in the film Paterson, by Jim Jarmusch. The movie is as […]
If you think of the dark
Ratnadevi I see this poem by Carol Ann Duffy, the current UK poet laureate on our bathroom wall every day; it helps me to keep my cool when faced with the many concerns of 21st century living that easily spark fear. For example: the recent election of Donald Trump as the American president. In a […]
Wagging the Tail at Digital Dilemmas
Ratnadevi Last week I had a Skype call with Raymond Lam, Buddhistdoor’s senior writer, to discuss my new blogging venture. At some point I mentioned that I have trouble attracting interest for some of my courses. He replied that Facebook is now what the telephone and email have been in previous decades: if you don’t […]