BLENDED WISDOM

Musings from St Paul de Vence after an encounter with a lovely Finnish lady who had returned from an afternoon in the village and was so overcome with emotion. I was checking on her when she muttered the words - “Stendhal Syndrome” - as a way of expressing what had overcome her. A vague recollection of its meaning and I was on the right path, as I had experienced it myself as a young woman coming to St Paul de Vence in France for the first time, Once a winter enclave for artists and wri...

Musings from La Muse Writers Retreat in SW France where I picked up a book of conversations with Joseph Campbell called An Open Life in its wonderful library. The double entendre between the conversations being intimate in a way that opens us up to the heart and mind of Joseph Campbell - student and educator of The Hero’s Journey - and the open life he led by following his interests and ultimately his bliss, in his life, his career and his marriage. He studied Mythology his whole life and gav...

Musings upon receipt of the news, on 25 August 2026, that our beloved Dolly Parton had passed away. She never shied away from speaking into injustice and instead poured money back into her home community, looked after her employees with good wages and their children’s education paid for. Her IMAGINATION LIBRARY was quietly founded in 1995 and she had books mailed to families every month for children 0 - 5 years so that reading became an early influence for them and any barriers were taken out...

Musings post the football World Cup, and the meaning I took away from behaviour on and off the field. How we act in victory is often less indicative than how we behave and treat others in defeat. This was a tricky one to decide whether to publish as I feel I misspoke on a couple of things. So, in proceeding… please be aware I am conscious dictatorships are happening in other parts of the world and did not seek to highlight ones that have happened historically in African countries, as is...

Musings from a stroll through a vide grenier in my village, that powerfully hit me with the notion that in the end, we have to give everything up, that everything in life eventually reduces. A vide grenier is akin to a flea market or a garage sale where ones own items are displayed for sale and repurposing in a new home. While I like the idea of repurposing and relish the thought of a new life given to things and new joy gifted the inherited owner, I was caught off-guard by how sad I fe...