For the first time in 12 months, my right knee is feeling strong and stable. I haven’t needed to ice it in 3 weeks. The muscles around my knee, particularly the inside of the quads, are bulking up and the tone is back. However, I’ll never get back the medial cartilage that was removed last September. I turned 40 in March and at least a third of my male friends have had the same operation. By the fifth decade, our bodies start to wear out. A combination of abuse, heredity and just living life starts to catch up. In response …

My 8 year old son is learning guitar. After a few months of rote-learning standard riffs and chords, he is beginning to experiment with his own tunes and chords. “Daddy,” he says as he fingers an improbable combination of notes. “Is this a real chord? It sounds kind of cool.” On balance, he spends as much time creating his own sounds as he does practicing the songs and scales his guitar teacher provides him. Both types of practice are important and both help to wire his developing his brain differently. In this TED Talk by brain surgeon Charles Limb, he …

Home at last! It’s been a hectic 6 weeks. I have facilitated many workshops, hosted conversations, travelled many miles and, as always, improvised along the way. Most of the workshops have been with 1 organisation and they involved an engagement process with community. The standout from this process was the teamwork and willingness to genuinely engage and learn – as often a sole facilitator comes in, performs and then leaves. Staff from across the organization have contributed their time, passion and stories. The month long process has been a learning journey for all involved. Many staff have had opportunities to …

Here is a gift from my beautiful neighbours. They lovingly created a 40th birthday message across our front doors at home. I felt honoured (and a little emotional) when I arrived home to see this after a birthday weekend away with family. And YES, I have just turned 40 … and YES, 1 of my nick-names is “TEDDY”. ‘Story of Name’ as a group process ‘Teddy’ is a nick-name that came from an spare-class that my dad took when in year 9 at High School. Somehow, he let slip that I still slept with a teddy (and yes I admit …

For the first time in weeks I haven’t uttered a single word for hours. I am alone, but not lonely. I’ve been practicing sitting meditation on the foreshore in Cowes. The tension in my hands and the sounds around me were particularly noticeable tonight … long after the sun dipped out of sight. Solitude is a precious gift and I am attracted to the wee challenges that solitude brings. For me, new and old questions emerge from time alone. Not during the ‘unfocussed’ and ‘busy’ times alone, but rather the times when we allow ourselves to be still … non …