Conversations

On these pages you will find selections of Blog postings and videos. If you are interested in a specific category you can find it listed under Archive Categories on the right hand side of this page.

Your comments are important for this web-site's development, as well as of interest for others. So, comment away! I am still open - wide open - to listen to what you would like on this site. If you have any questions or comments about what you read, you are welcome to contact me.




Feb 28 2010

Chris Woodland dies, aged 72 on February 23rd 2010

Tag: Persephone's UpdatesPersephone Arbour @ 11:56 am

There are some of you who read this site who worked with Chris at Cortijo Romero and other places before he retired to Scarborough. I received notice of his death today – and wanted to honour him in some way. We had been good friends and colleagues, it was a privilege to have known him.
On [...]

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Feb 27 2010

Introductory Day to Becoming Bolder as well as Older, with Persephone

Tag: Human ConditionPersephone Arbour @ 3:00 pm

ON: Saturday March 20th from 10am – 5.pm
AT: Kimmeridge, Dorset. COST: £20 per person.
Please note that there are only nine places
“People like you and I, though mortal of course like everyone else, do not grow old, no matter how long we live. We never cease to stand like curious children before the great [...]

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Feb 25 2010

Guest post: Jews & Israelis are not the same, by James Bonser

Tag: Guest Posts, Human Condition, Persephone's Updates, SpiritualityPersephone Arbour @ 2:03 pm

This piece came in originally as a comment on my article: Living Near Golders Green, which appeared recently. I thought it deserved more prominence, as I found it both moving and interesting.
Persephone, I thoroughly enjoyed your piece on Golders Green. Your words brought back memories of so many things I experienced when deciding to [...]

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Feb 18 2010

An Insider’s View of Civil Funeral Celebrancy, by Persephone

Tag: Articles, Human Condition, Persephone's UpdatesPersephone Arbour @ 10:36 pm

I have been working for the last fifteen years as a Civil Funeral Celebrant, and started this work when still living in Australia. I am often asked: “I would like to do funerals, how does it work?” ‘Doing’ funerals is not quite it! There is no particular format to ‘do’! Each funeral is uniquely personal. I would prefer to say “providing families with a service for celebrating the death of someone very close”. There is much more to this than meets the eye!

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Feb 18 2010

Living near Golders Green, by Persephone

Tag: Articles, Human Condition, Persephone's UpdatesPersephone Arbour @ 10:08 pm

For most of my adult life I have known about the extraordinary Dr. Viktor Frankl. A Jewish psychologist and scholar, who, on finally being freed from the Nazi concentration camps of WW2, was able to write his extraordinary book Man’s Search for Meaning. Imagine my delight when, seemingly by accident, I came across this series of three videos of the man himself talking with beautiful clarity about his thoughts on this whole matter.

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Feb 18 2010

A Mideast Bond, Stiched of Pain & Healing – N.Y.Times

Tag: Human Condition, Persephone's UpdatesPersephone Arbour @ 9:54 pm

This story touched me greatly. It is a moving account of two children from apparently ‘opposing’ ideologies – and their brave and intelligent parents.

JERUSALEM — He can be impulsive. She has a touch of bossiness. Next-door neighbors for nearly a year, they talk, watch television and explore the world together, wandering into each other’s homes without a second thought. She likes his mother’s eggplant dish. He likes her father’s rice and lamb.

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Feb 02 2010

Terry Pratchett: Why stop trusting a doctor who has the power to kill you?

Tag: Human Condition, Persephone's UpdatesPersephone Arbour @ 9:33 am

I watched the Dimbleby Lecture last night with deep excitement. The excerpt below is from today’s Independent – and I wanted to share it with you. I hope Youtube – or some such – will soon produce a video that we can view. If you can find a copy of last night’s lecture – WATCH [...]

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