Actually? According to whom? Or to what set of criteria?

It is not a new feeling. When I was small I didn’t like going too high, too fast or too deep. I always erred on the safe side. I remember when I was waiting nervously on the edge of an ice rink, my German exchange partner grabbed my hand and tore round the ice with…

There’s better ahead. Over a month ago I drove up to the house we lived in before. I had one motivation: how big was the birch tree now? But it wasn’t there. The new owners had cut it down. I remembered the joy I had felt when it was first planted, the anticipation of it…

What do you think about when you’re feeling a little beaten?

That good things will happen.

Last week I met a man who had difficulties with his hearing and his vision. I sat opposite him for two hours and then, all of a sudden, he turned his face to me and said ‘hello!’ as if he’d only just realised I was there. Since then I’ve been thinking about the gift we…

Something more. So fill up your bird feeders, put plans in your diary and get ready to really live.

I’ve been practising turning my eyes away from myself today. A week of being stuck inside has been driving me mad.

Looking back over the past couple of years, I have started, but never finished, several posts about waiting. This past week definitely merits that title.

The blue or the black?