How to Keep Going!

It can take someone who doesn’t know you to give you a new perspective on your own life. This year when I went to Iona for my writing retreat, Wendy said, ‘You’ve given a lot to others during your working life, now’s the time to focus on what you want – your writing.’ The time away allowed me time to relax and recover. 

Hotel where I’ve enjoyed my stay since my first  writing Retreat in 2018

When I broke my elbow a year last February, I did the exercises at my bedroom window  every four hours while watching a pair of magpies building their nest. The nest remained until this spring. I learned that magpies don’t use the same nest twice. They move on.  Where, I wonder, are the twigs they so painstakingly carried? Have the pair transferred them elsewhere? Or have other birds, seeing they weren’t being used, retrieved them for their own nests? I don’t know.

I do know the magpies have moved on.

My first stop was St Oran’s chapel. A special place for me because women from Roselle’s retreat have offered prayers and sung in its peaceful space

And so have I. The experience of pain was unwelcome but I survived. Not having the operation wasn’t a choice. Without it my arm wouldn’t have been able to push a door open. The bone is stronger and so am I. 

Iona

What the experience reinforced in writing terms is that my writing matters. I’m continuing to look for an agent for my finished novel Making Good, I still enjoy reading and writing poems, and I’m working on my new novel, Kaleidoscope.

A retreat isn’t for everyone. For some it’s practically impossible or psychologically/emotionally not what’s needed. We all know, deep down, how and when to recharge. 

Photos: All are taken from the public domain. I prefer to take my own photos and I used to be able to send photos from my iphone via email to my computer. From there to my blog. Google no longer allows that. 

Reading: Finished – Small Wars in Madrid – Anthony Ferner – highly recommended   The Story of the British Isles – Neil Oliver – Interesting stuff   Politics On the Edge: A Memoir from Within – Rory Stewart There was a lot I didn’t know about how government operates. I noted how Stewart was able to listen and respond to Prison Officers’ Union and thus avert a strike and how the Conservative party came to elect as their leader a man who was known to be a liar. Days of Long Shadows – Tim Franks 

Continuing to read: House on the A34 – Philip Hancock ( raffle prize from one of Jonathan Davidson’s poetry courses) Poetry Unbound – 50 Poems to Open your World – Pádraig Ó Tuama    and Roselle Angwin’s courses can be found on roselle-angwin.co.uk as well as on Substack.