Author: Stephanie Hills

  • The Living Language of Water

    The Living Language of Water by Veda Austin Veda Austin captures the way water responds to the influences around it. Using a simple freezing technique, she photographs its symmetrical patterns, and the pictures it forms that echo photos the water has been exposed to. She shows how water responds to the emotions of people who […]

  • Words at Play

    The inventor of throat sweets has died There will be no coffin at the funeral!! * * * *The inventor of auto-correct died last week.  The funnel will be tomato. * * * * Did you hear about the man that drowned in his muesli?  A strong currant pulled him in.

  • Helping the Homeless

    In today’s economy, increasing numbers of people are living on the streets. For the general public, it can be embarrassing, or even intimidating, being asked for money and not knowing how to respond. Nobody wants to be taken advantage of, and certainly not tricked by a con artist. Recently I was witness to a group […]

  • “Charity begins at home.” What does it mean?

    Originally, the word charity referred to a virtue: it meant a loving attitude towards others. More recently it refers to giving to those in need, and charities are organisations that facilitate such giving. Humans are wired to care most about those closest to them, and when times are tough, it can be tempting to draw […]

  • The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace

    The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace. Empowering Organizations by Encouraging People        By Gary Chapman & Paul White You’ve probably heard of the five ‘love languages’, which are the different ways that people show love, or like to have it shown to them. Chapman and White have applied this concept to the ways that […]

  • Loony life lessons

    One nice thing about narcissists: they don’t talk about other people. * * * Teach a child to be polite and courteous in the home and, when he grows up, he’ll never be able to merge his car onto the motorway.  * * * Experience is the one thing you have left when everything else […]

  • Kindness at Christmas

    In November, Jane* found a child’s wallet containing quite a lot of money. After posting about it on Neighbourly and approaching two local schools, she was unable to find the owner. Inside the wallet was an expired gift card from play arcade Jago Town. Jane contacted Jago Town to see if they could trace the […]

  • Responding to being ‘put in your place’

    Sometimes a person’s comment leaves you feeling uncomfortable, irritated or even angry. If their words sound neutral, it can be hard to explain why their comment was upsetting. Worse, if you react emotionally, you can come across as unreasonable or oversensitive. We tend to focus on the information contained in the words, but the more […]

  • The Myth of Normal

    The Myth of Normal. Illness, health & healing in a toxic culture by Gabor Maté with Daniel Maté It can be daunting to start a hefty book like this one, but the authors’ style is friendly and easy to read. Father and son Gabor and Daniel Maté talk about unwellness in the form of physical […]

  • What’s wrong with me?

    I’ve just been to my Plastic Surgery Addicts Support Group meeting.Quite a lot of new faces there today. * * * * I’m on two simultaneous diets. I wasn’t getting enough food on one. * * * * I used to be indecisive. Now, I’m not sure.