In this section of the site you will find my longer articles.
Some will be new and others from my past collection. For these also, we will value your comments.
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!
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.
A recently received document from an old and dear friend has prompted my response below. This document, written by a young woman at great length, talked about the failings of the whole movement around our guru Osho, after his death. She also talked (in my opinion, totally spuriously) about the idea of creating a new commune. It was a political letter, with political and hidden personal aspirations that I found quite alarming, and based on untutored knowledge. This is my personal rebut, written to my friend, and also forwarded on to the young woman concerned.
Sometimes I join in the conversations that grow from what has been posted here. Recently, there was a reply to the post: “Dinner for Two – Romance in Aged Care. The writer wonders what gives life meaning ‘at that age’. My question would be,”what gives life meaning at any age?” My own thoughts on the [...]
I came up with this title when scurrying around in my brain, trying to remember something that I had forgotten. Whether it is something needing to be said, done or acted upon makes no difference. The feelings of frustration and the shadow of fear are always the same. I mention that because it is the [...]
Yes, it is possible. Now 76 and living alone, I think my life is happier and more content than it has ever been. I have a lover who lives on the other side of the Atlantic, much to the bemusement of my friends. More on that in a little while. I grew up in a [...]
The other day I received an email from a friend in Australia. She works as a carer in (her words) an ‘aged facility’. Here are some excerpts from that letter:
“I recently put on a romantic dinner for two at the aged facility where I am currently employed. This was a huge success, given that most of our residents are really ill and in the very late stages of their lives with the average age of 90.
“We are all going to die. My own belief is that I also, and everyone else, have the right to choose the manner of our own death, as far as is possible. A simple clear legal document, signed when still in our right minds could ease any fears.”
Krishnamurti is quoted as saying that when two people meet, two images meet. This is a salutary thought. It suggests that we need to look more closely at not only who it is we are meeting, but who it is within each of us that is doing the meeting. When you walk into a roomful [...]
Just because I am 76 years old, this doesn’t mean that my love is old, or my thoughts are old, or my sexuality is old.
Just because I am 76 years old, this doesn’t mean that my words are old, or my spirit is old or my dreams are old.
