Month: September 2026

Categories
Inspiration support

Encouragement, support and inspiration

This was where I was 12/13 September

I’m on version three of this post. One I shared on my Barefoot At The Kitchen Table website because that was who I went as over the weekend, one I shared on my Substack because I’d got some lovely encouraging comments there, and also that is my “being a writer” space, and now I want to share here because I shared that I was going on Holding That Space and I want you to know what happened when I held that space and waited.

The weekend at Ten or Less was awesome. It reawakened in me why I love encouraging others to write. I met loads of amazing people, many of whom have signed up for my newsletter, spoke to people about collaborating and have a buzz of ideas not just of what to do with workshops but what to do with my writing. Read more about it here – Encouragement and Inspiration

The weekend also reminded me of why I write and how I love to write. People talking about their desire to write their memoirs reminded me of my desire to do. Do the workshop I did reminded me of how much fun I get from putting words together. I have people to chase up [one who’s already got in touch with me] about collaborating together. The joy of meeting with other creatives and how that inspires us all. I’ve written more about that on here – Encouragement, Support and Inspiration

And of course I had to add these posts to here because this, even though it is not my first blogging space it is my longest running. The first post I posted on here was on 1st January 2015, [Read it here – Good Morning 2015! ] with lots of things about my life up in the air and that was all before we knew we were moving to North Wales and before I believed enough in myself to start writing group – which again only came about through encouragement and support.

I know there have been people who have been dismissive about the “likes” etc on Facebook, blogs, etc but I don’t know about you but I like them. I love it when I see the same person put a “like” on my post regularly, when I get new followers. It isn’t an ego but it is an encouragement thing. Yes at times I have to be careful not to post with who I think is reading it in mind but just share where my heart it. Sometimes when I’ve shared with trepidation and then get a “like” it gives me more confidence to go and do it again.

So let us all remember to “like” each others posts, to comment on each others post, and to share our hearts gently and kindly whether in written word, spoken word or deed.

And always feel free to Buy Me a Coffee or similar

Face of a lady so excited by my workshop on Saturday

Categories
doing a new thing ten or less

Holding That Space

For a while I’ve been feeling like I’m in a rest period – like the Cormorant it was time for me to stand and let my wings dry after having had a very busy time. I’m still doing things so not totally dormant but it felt like resting. Or maybe more like not pushing doors. At times that has been frustrating because I’ve wanted to push doors, wanted to see what would or could happen if I got in touch with certain organisations and people.

Then about 10 days ago I went to a recycling leather workshop run by Blue Garlic Creates. I’ve known Fiona for ages and we get on. After the event I felt like we could do something together. But of course then felt this check about not chasing, not pushing doors. Well Fiona got in touch with me and suggested we collaborate.

Then two days ago Tom from Bodrhyddran Hall got in touch. It is a local big house that hosts events. We went to a Cermaics one in the summer. He has asked if I will come as Barefoot At The Kitchen Table, my writing group guise, to have a stall there and maybe to run a workshop or two. Here’s the poster for it.

If you live in the local area please do come along. It looks like it will be a fun day.

Who knows what will come from it but I know I am trusting that doors will open without me having to give them a push. All I need to do is turn up and be me and trust that what will be will be.

Needless to say I do roll from excited to confident to terrified to what-am-I-doing. But on the whole I staying in that place of trust.

Categories
freedom unconditional love

Dolly Parton

Dolly Parton singing into a microphone onstage with a band and audience
Dolly Parton captivates a cheering theater audience during a dazzling live performance, found using AI!

There have been so so many tributes to and about Dolly Parton over the last few days. Definitely one amazing woman who saw her gifts and talents as a way of blessing others. But out of all the tributes this one is my favourite, which can be found on I didn’t have my glasses on “I wake up with new dreams every day”

“Now the night I graduated from Sevier County High School, back in 1964, we were all asked to stand up and talk about what we were going to do with the rest of our lives. And everybody had a different story. And when it came my time I stood right up there. I said I’m going to Nashville and I’m going to be a star. Well the whole place laughed out loud. And I was so embarrassed, cause I thought, ‘How odd. Why is everybody laughing? ‘Cause that is what I’m going to do.’ But as bad as I felt at that moment and as embarrassed as I was, it did not shake me from my dreams. So I guess I showed them, huh?”

– From her 2009 University of Tennessee, Knoxville commencement speech

The reason this stood out to me was because I wondered how many of us got knocked off our dreams because one person said “really?” to us when we said what we wanted to do when we were sixteen. Not a whole place laughing out loud but just that one person. Sometimes it only takes the one key person.

Or how many of us would have chased out dreams but with a f**k you attitude, being smug and saying “see look what I’ve done”, would have kept all that we made to ourselves, or kept making sure those who laughed at us knew we had made it big?

I think of all those people who have “chased a dream and made it” and rarely do we see one so willing to give it all away. I found a lovely story [which I’ve now lost] of Dolly having a jamming session in a bar in Ireland, no pretentions, no big deal.

I often wonder who we can show the world what Jesus is like, and what changes following him makes to us. Well I wonder if maybe this amazing lady is who we should look to. She took insults from teenagehood, then more because of her body shape, and many other things, but she never threw an insult back. She made loads of money and gave so much away. She still had her nice house and that but there are thousands of children who received over a thousand books from her, who maybe wouldn’t have had a parent read to them without Dolly’s reading scheme.

She appears to not have let what happened around her define her; not insults, not her talent, not her body shape, not her background. All these things are involved in shaping how she turned out and why she did the things she did but, from what I can see, they never defined her.

From what I have read Dolly Parton knew who she was in God, knew she was unconditionally love, and allowed her gifts, talents and giving away, flow from that place.

Could I do that? Could you do that?