On one of my seafront walks recently I noticed someone sitting by themselves on the beach, gazing out to sea – much like the person in the photo here.
Given my particular interest in suicide prevention I needed to make a judgement call as to whether this person seemed in distress and, if so, whether I would approach them. In this case they seemed just fine.
But it started me thinking – they were there alone, perhaps by choice, but maybe not.
A close friend of mine recently sent me a link to the You Tube video of Carole King performing ‘You’ve Got a Friend’ in Hyde Park. Watching this (which I really liked) made me think of the words of another favourite song: ‘Lean on Me’ by Bill Withers:
“Lean on me, when you’re not strong
And I’ll be your friend
I’ll help you carry on
For it won’t be long
‘Til I’m gonna need
Somebody to lean on”
If my recent post on Men and Masculinity caught your eye, now that the Grayson Perry documentaries don’t seem to be available to view in full, his interview on ITV’s Loose Women will give you a good flavour: Continue reading “Grayson Perry on Loose Women”
What does it mean to be a man in today’s society? The age-old ‘nature versus nurture’ debate rages on, as does to what extent we all can (or want to) overcome any of the predisposition or (pre-)programming that exists from either source. Some of what’s out there may be generalisation but, even then, I quite often find ‘nuggets’ that might hold true. Continue reading “Men and Masculinity”
I was reminded recently of something someone said to me a few years ago.
She was in her early forties and said that she’d got to the stage in her life when it was more important (to her) to be kind than to be right. Continue reading “Being Kind versus Being Right”
A friend put me onto this TED talk by Brené Brown a while ago. Since then I’ve shared it with lots of other people, watched other videos of hers on You Tube (more on vulnerability plus shame and resilience), and read some of her books: ‘Daring Greatly’ and ‘Rising Strong’.
It’s an inspiring talk. Amongst other things, she talks about the importance of human connection and that it won’t happen unless we approach it wholeheartedly, with the courage to risk making ourselves vulnerable to others. Continue reading “The Power of Vulnerability”
Walking along the seafront here, today, I was reminded why I chose to move here. I’d toyed for years with the thought of moving to the coast ‘one day’ but, perhaps, in my head, that probably meant ‘when I retire’. I realised nine years ago, though, that there was nothing stopping me doing it there and then – so I did. Continue reading “A Walk Along the Promenade”
When we act ‘automatically’ towards others this can have a really detrimental effect on them, on our relationship with them, and on ourselves. Continue reading “Acting on ‘Autopilot’”
Whole People 