It was just after the first real snow of the year. A couple of wet inches, which might be gone by noon or may last all winter, greeted us. It sure was pertty, that untracked white. I smiled at the sight, though dreaded the cold winter ahead.
A chill ran through my bones as I thought of last winter. Not everyone lives through winter, see? At least not out beyond the frontier. Yeah, it was pertty an’ all, and I was as happy as the others, but…
“I say winter is here, no matter the calendar tells us. Let’s get our tree today,” Pa said as we stood around gaping the changed world.
I had occasion recently to talk with someone whose actions had once caused me a good deal of pain. I was asked, in the light of later maturity, if I could ever forgive them.
I found that I could not.
I could not forgive because I had never really blamed. I cannot blame what I can understand. That does not mean that I condone, accept or agree with harmful actions. It simply means that if I can see why it was, for that person and at that moment, the only thing they felt they could do, I cannot truly blame. If I were them, I would be in their shoes at that moment and would I have acted any differently? Probably not.
It is something none of us can know. We will never be in their precise position and can only hope that if we were in a similar situation, we would do otherwise. That does not make any of us better than another, or any more likely to take the best course instead of a reactive one. It just means that we approach each moment with a different arsenal of experience with which to make our own choices… and our own mistakes.
“I forgive you.”
The word sounds like the giving of a gift, doesn’t it? In some respects, that is true. But what exactly are we giving… and to whom? A full pardon for an offence? An assurance that we will put the memory of that offence behind us? Or a complete forgetting of all that the offence engendered? Whatever those words mean for each of us, the simple fact of choosing to forgive implies that we feel a wrong was done and that some aspect of that injury remains. If not, there would be nothing to forgive.
By offering forgiveness, there is also an implication there has been an admission of guilt… a mutual accord that wrong has been given and received.
Is it even humanly possible to choose true forgiveness and forgetting in a single moment? To wipe the slate clean with three words, leaving no trace of hurt, resentment or guilt? I don’t think it is. We may be able to maintain an attitude of forgiveness and genuinely act from the heart, as if it were true, but all hurts take time to heal and memories need time to fade.
The only way I have found to really forgive a perceived injury is to change my own relationship to it. Sometimes a little human understanding is enough and the old platitudes about ‘walking a mile in their shoes’ and ‘there but for the grace of God, go I’ can be enough to create that change. Many injuries are not what we feel them to be but have their cause rooted somewhere beyond the obvious.
Sometimes the change may come with a flash of understanding sparked from an outside source, like the words of a friend or a chance phrase you have read. Most of the time, though, you have to dig deeper, realising that in hanging onto your resentment, the only person who is suffering may be yourself.
After trudging through muddy snow, the cold permeating their winter coats, they finally found it. This was the answer to their prayers, a completion of a promise and a quest all in one.
The three children just fell to their knees with exhaustion. It had been a long journey for such small legs, but they all felt relief and expectation. The book was correct, here was living proof. They followed the map in the story and found the tree of light.
Mike Biles, from A Bit About Britain, continues his explorations at Smorgasbord:
Delighted to welcome Mike Biles, author of A Bit About Britain’s History as a guest writer until the end of the year.
Aslan and Gandalf go for a pint
How often do you walk into a pub mentally dwelling on things like wizards and talking lions? Be honest now. If you need help with this, try stepping over the threshold of Oxford’s Eagle and Child, because it was a favourite watering-hole of close friends JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis.
Disappointingly, there’s nothing obviously magical about the Eagle and Child – though it does offer a captivating pint of local Brakspear’s for a paranormally reasonable price, and the barmaid is enchanting. It has been a pub since 1650 and, before that, had a role in the Civil War (1642-49), when Oxford was the Royalist capital of England and the building was either used as a pay-house or a playhouse, depending on the source of your typo. Its name comes from the arms of the Earl of Derby, the Stanley family, who I assume had some connection with it back in the foggy mists of time. The Eagle and Child’s long history has, however, been subordinated to the lure of its more recent fantastic literary connections.
Judy woke up as the rays of the sun struck her closed eyes. She must have nodded off while sitting in the car. Urgently she fumbled around for her camera and opened the car to get out of it. The sun was almost up. She had planned to take pictures of the sunrise and now she was late.
Cursing herself, she looked for the best angle to capture the sunrise. There was a tree standing in the way, and she couldn’t get a clear shot. She moved around, the shutter clicking all the time, taking a great many pictures. I hope I get one good shot out of this day’s work, she thought to herself.
Dogs come in all shapes, colors and sizes. There are the posh types, the ones who come with a pedigree which can only be claimed after a thorough genetic analysis followed by careful match-making arrangements. Then you have the rest, the ‘mutts,’ who see the light of day after some hush-hush, fast and furious random encounter. Whatever type of dog you come across; they will always be present ready to serve as a guide dog, police dog, guard dog, or just a loyal companion and cute addition to the family unit. If you pay close attention to their behavior, dogs can teach you valuable lessons in the Art of Living.
Dogs are considered man’s best friend and they give their owners undivided attention, companionship, and love each and every day. But, despite this, most dog-related expressions seem to have a negative connotation like in the story below.
A Dog’s Life
If you fall in the category of those who are unhappy with their lot in life, then you will be leading a ‘dog’s life.’ Walking the streets looking defeated and without purpose. For those who find themselves in that category, the only thing that can cheer them up and get their tail wagging again is if some kind soul offers to get them out of that torpor, take them to the park, get some fresh air, get some exercise, have a run around, give a kick to that torpor and play fetch instead. A dog’s life has its ups and down. Just make sure the down time don’t last too long. Snap out of it.
If you work in the Corporate world and wants to make it big in the City, then you will learn very quickly (if you are one of those whose mission in life is to go up that Corporate Ladder) that ‘dog- eat-dog.’ But to be successful you will have to ‘work like a dog’, days in and days out and sometimes at night too, there is no way around it. So, you spend the early years of your adult life doing just that, waking up early, working all hours of the day and night (sometimes), till the day when you become as ‘sick as a dog’, because let’s face it, it is not realistic to expect someone to maintain that kind of rhythm over a long period of time. So, you take a couple of days off to recover and stay in bed all day not feeling like going out at all as it ‘is raining cats and dogs’ outside. Still, ‘every dog has its day, and once back in the office after a couple of days off, you feel re-energized and ready to get back into the swings of things; you rejoice and find solace in the knowledge that your hard work is paying off and is taking you where you really want to be, i.e. on top of the Corporate Ladder.
But once you reach that place up there on top of the Corporate Ladder, you will have to stay alert because there are a lot of people who have a strong desire to take that spot from you. If you don’t up your game, learn new skills and keep yourself current, you could find yourself fighting for your survival. For the most resilient types, you will be well placed to teach all those ‘newbies’ a lesson in resilience by showing them that ‘you can never teach an old dog new tricks.’ You may have to be ‘meaner than a junkyard dog’ to keep them from taking over that nice spot at the top from you.
Advice From a Dog
To avoid your days being like the story above, you may want to have a conversation with your dog. From their perspective humans are a strange species, they do strange things and seem to get themselves stressed-out about all kind of stuff.
I asked my dog Louis for his best advice to humans, he says:
Work hard, Play Hard,
Pull your weight when requires
When you lost your way, dig deep
Sniff out the right opportunities
Chase out the bad ones
Trust your intuition
Learn new tricks no matter your age
Growl and bark when the situation require desperate measures
Guide the blind souls who cannot see clearly
Celebrate small victories when they come your way
Love what you do
Delight in the simple joy of a long walk
When loves one comes home
Always run to greet them.
This my dear friend, is how a dog lives his life.
Maybe we can learn some new tricks from our canine friends, they have it all figured out!
About the Author
Joanne Reed, the author of ‘This is Your Quest,’ is a lawyer by profession who currently lives in Seoul, South Korea. She is also an entrepreneur, a wife and a mother of two teenage daughters. She was born and raised on the French island of Réunion. She is not an academic, a psychologist or an anthropologist. She is neither a scientist nor an economist. She is an observer. She is a thinker. She is curious about the world and she is curious about people.
Joanne believes that people should live the story they want to tell. It was not her desire to write a piece of fiction, her objective was to write a book that will change people’s lives by exposing them to concepts, philosophies, and ways of thinking that were perhaps not so obvious to them before.
Her own journey started when she decided to put her thoughts onto paper embarking on her own Quest into greater fulfillment, stepping outside her comfort zone, overcoming in the process her fear of the unknown, letting instead her curiosity and sense of adventure show her the way.
Maya Angelou once said, “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” Joanne believes that writing a book is a great privilege, but it is also a gift. It is first and foremost a gift to herself (because she has a lot of untold stories inside her literally bursting to get out) and it is a gift to the people, as it is her desire to share those stories with the world.
An exciting journey through history, socio-economic discourse, and philosophical discussion. This book will guide you, using a holistic approach to finding true happiness. It has the potential to change lives, not by giving advice as to how you should lead your life but by exposing you to concepts, philosophies and a way of thinking (for yourself) that may not have been so obvious before.
Providing an abundance of stimulation and enlightenment on several key topics, it breaks happiness down into three parts (Money, Love, and Health). The etymology of the word “happiness” means “living well”. What flows from this is that if you “live well” you will find happiness and the reason most people believe they will be happy if they are wealthy, in love and in good health is that those three things i.e. money, love, and health promote well-being. This trifecta has the power to make us happy when things are going smoothly, but also the ability to make us really miserable when they are not. The Quest for Happiness is something that every single one of us aspires to.
Our Quest for happiness begins by following historical and present-day examples of figures of accomplishment, those who have succeeded in their own Quests. The whole idea is to encourage the reader to have the mindset of an explorer; because explorers are a special type of human being. They have physical endurance – they have mental toughness – They have plenty of determination and a deep feeling of purpose and most of all they have faith in their pursuit. The author took this concept of exploration a bit further. Geographical explorations have limits whilst exploration of ourselves as a human being is infinite. The author is inviting her readers to turn inwards; because when you turn inwards this is where you find your own treasure.
The book is shaped like a journey, and the author is taking her readers on an Epic Journey serving as their tour guide. This book will entice, surprise and inspire. The words have depth, the journey is meaningful and the message uplifting and thought-provoking. Are you ready for your Quest?
Tell me a story…
If you are a writer, artist or photographer…If you have a poem, story or memoirs to share… If you have a book to promote, a character to introduce, an exhibition or event to publicise… If you have advice for writers, artists or bloggers…
If you would like to be my guest, please read the guidelines and get in touch!
Press a button or two to share... go on, make my day :)
I’m thrilled to announce that I’m going to be part of the Indie Fest in 2020. My partner and I went along to this year’s event to see what it was all about. We had a great time, meeting authors and going along to workshops and author talks. So we knew we wanted to be part of it next year.
The first Indie Lit Fest took place in 2016. It was designed to promote authors and to get them together. Each year it’s grown and for next year, they’re widening its appeal and opening it to artists from all creative platforms. So it’s no longer the Indie Lit Fest but the Indie Fest!
It’s free to go to so come along and enjoy the day. You can find out more about it here.
The door of the hut where Ladd lived with his family faced east. Dawn broke soon after Archer, Knowledge, and Mercy left for work and Ladd still sat in the straight chair in front of the fire. He noticed Cat, with the red eyes, had come in and taken a seat in front of the fire. Behind Cat, there came a small man. He stood at the doorway looking at Ladd with the glow of the sunlight diffused behind him.
“Good day, Ladd,” the small man said.
“Hullo. Do I know you?”
“No, but you will. I was sent by the Grand Wizard.”
Please respect the copyright of all original material and images on this site. You are welcome to use excerpts, reblogs and links as long as clear, named credit and appropriate links back to this site are used. Written permission is required for all other reproduction.
Thank you.
It was just after the first real snow of the year. A couple of wet inches, which might be gone by noon or may last all winter, greeted us. It sure was pertty, that untracked white. I smiled at the sight, though dreaded the cold winter ahead.
After trudging through muddy snow, the cold permeating their winter coats, they finally found it. This was the answer to their prayers, a completion of a promise and a quest all in one.
Judy woke up as the rays of the sun struck her closed eyes. She must have nodded off while sitting in the car. Urgently she fumbled around for her camera and opened the car to get out of it. The sun was almost up. She had planned to take pictures of the sunrise and now she was late.
Dogs come in all shapes, colors and sizes. There are the posh types, the ones who come with a pedigree which can only be claimed after a thorough genetic analysis followed by careful match-making arrangements. Then you have the rest, the ‘mutts,’ who see the light of day after some hush-hush, fast and furious random encounter. Whatever type of dog you come across; they will always be present ready to serve as a guide dog, police dog, guard dog, or just a loyal companion and cute addition to the family unit. If you pay close attention to their behavior, dogs can teach you valuable lessons in the Art of Living.
The door of the hut where Ladd lived with his family faced east. Dawn broke soon after Archer, Knowledge, and Mercy left for work and Ladd still sat in the straight chair in front of the fire. He noticed Cat, with the red eyes, had come in and taken a seat in front of the fire. Behind Cat, there came a small man. He stood at the doorway looking at Ladd with the glow of the sunlight diffused behind him.
Sue Vincent's Daily Echo 