“Once upon a time there was a little chimney sweep, and his name was Tom. That is a short name, and you have heard it before, so you will not have much trouble in remembering it.” – The Water-Babies, Charles Kingsley Lately, I’ve found myself turning over character names like shells from the ocean –…

In fiction, change doesn’t always enter a story with fanfare. It can arrive as a mild or unpleasant disruption: a knock at the door, an email, even unwelcome invitations or news. Yet when the call to adventure is obvious, like a dragon at the village gate, or a map discovered in a mysterious location, characters…

A child sits in a playground, knees drawn up, face behind a book. Perhaps it’s a girl with a comic inside her Maths book, while her friends shout and swing. To the outside world, she is hiding away, but inside, something else is happening entirely. The way I see it is that when we disappear…

In February, often our thoughts turn towards love mainly because of the hype about it. It’s the red and pink heart month, but I am, however, grateful for all the kinds of love — soul-to-soul connection, tenderness, self-compassion. As I write this, two hummingbirds have arrived outside my window. Their wings blur into motion, almost…