Journal Musings

At school I would wish so hard that we would run out of time and the lesson would end so I wouldn’t have to read out loud. I thought about this today as I was driving to The Kitchen at The Wharf in Langport –  my hosting venue for Somerset Art Weeks. As a child I was SO scared of speaking out loud. Reading in class, or heaven help me – public speaking! Reading in class was a real issue for me. I still don’t like reading out other people’s words in case I mess up. I used to si

I’m a little late in writing a new blog post. I was suddenly aware it is nearly mid summer, and realised I haven’t written since the trip to France. Rather than panicking about it, I noticed that I have actually given up worrying about time. People inevitably exclaim,’Where has the time gone? Is it mid-summer already? It will soon be Christmas!’ We are normally sent into a panic when this happens. Time moves at the same rate. We just perceive it differently. As children, term

‘You just want everything to be pink and fluffy, that’s not real life you know.’ YES, I do want things to be pink and fluffy. Why wouldn’t you want everything to be nice? What is the harm in that? Now, I am realistic, I know world peace is probably a far off dream, and there are people on this planet who people steal our possessions, cause harm to others, take our pets, and bully children. I know we are all here for a higher purpose, and global events are here to teach us som

Mindfulness techniques are something you can’t really use at the dentist. Mindfulness is all about being in the moment, and when I’m at the dentist, I don’t want to focus on being in the moment at all. I’d like to be somewhere else. A long way away! I’ve always looked after my teeth. At least a two minute clean twice a day and regular check ups all my life. Sadly as you age, things start to fall apart, not matter how well you look after yourself. Gums start to recede, and tho

When I first moved here to the countryside after selling my two salons, I knew exactly which direction I was taking. I wanted to be able to treat clients on a one-to-one basis in an environment that enabled total peace and relaxation. I left behind the bustling high street salon environment and wanted to be in a space where I could teach Reiki without having to take students on a Sunday when the salons were closed. That was nine years ago, and things have changed so much in t

So we are back to the issue of ageing again. It seems to come with age. If you see what I mean. It’s not until you get I really enjoyed my 30s as I was running my salons and building what I thought would be my little empire. I got married in my 30s and moved in to a lovely cottage in the country. I had plans. Five salons by the time I was 40, sell them as a chain and move on. For those of you who have read my book, you will know the story, but the bottom line was that I chang

Move with the times and time is indeed moving very fast. Is it an age thing? People say the year seems to go faster the older you get. I think it’s just your perception of life and time in general. We become more aware of the world around us, the seasons changing, and how our diaries run. When we are children, we have no real need for a diary, we just looked forward to the end of term! We didn’t even really pay attention to the actual date the term finished, but I guess our p

It’s a funny thing wisdom.  When do we get it? Does it mean the person has just lived longer or experienced more, travelled more, seen more, read more or just offers the advice that hits the spot? I’m 48 years old. I don’t always mark my age with a birthday, but with the turn of the New Year. It used to upset me as we approached the ‘turn’, and I’ve never really being one for parties – the last time I went out on New Year was for the Millennium. It’s a young persons thing. An

So the college reunion last weekend with 10 beauty therapists, many not in the industry any more, was a huge success. One of those events that you get yourself all worked up about and then find everything just slots in to how it used to be. Our class was very close. There were two groups of Hair and Beauty students on the three year course. On our first day in September 1984,  32 young 17 and 18 year old would be beauty therapists gathered in a hairdressing salon at Weston Su

I’ve been meaning to write about this for a while, but keep finding new things to add. If I leave it any longer, I will have been through and come out the other side! In my line of work, I see all sorts of people with varying physical and emotional ailments and issues. As I’ve got older, so have my clients. I have seen many through life changes, marriage, children, and now we have the menopause. Is it a ‘pause’ ? I don’t think so, although it does seem to mess up the flow of