Thinking Aloud

When I first saw this meme a few months ago now, it made me roar with laughter. And before anyone rushes to correct me, I don't for a moment think Freud said anything of the sort, not his style. But as a discussion point, the text no doubt has value. When I'd stopped laughing, I started to think about how true this is, and what an effect those around us can have - on our sense of self and wellbeing.  Whilst I'm not suggesting that people who cause damage always deliberately set out to do so, it can be just as harmful whether done intentionally or not.  Being knocked down by a car is going to be a painful experience whether it was accidental or deliberate.  Emotional injuries are much the same. A relationship that had lasted for over 20 years ended for me in the last months of 2017 when, although I had suspected it was coming, I was told that I was no longer wanted. That my presence was no longer required. I offered to leave and my offer was immediately accepted. I...

Yesterday, the beloved children's author, Judith Kerr, died aged 95. She had started writing and illustrating when her own children were learning to read, and was a firm favourite with my own children when they were growing up, with stories like 'The Tiger who came for Tea' and 'When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit'.  Judith's early life had been eventful. Born in Weimar Germany in 1923 to Jewish parents, the family fled the country in 1933 to escape the Nazi atrocities that were becoming commonplace. After a time in Switzerland and France, they settled in Britain in 1936. It was a shrewd decision that her father, Alfred Kerr had made and one which undoubtedly saved the family. He had openly criticised the Nazis, and his books were publicly burned after the family had fled. When her death was announced on the BBC news yesterday morning, I felt a sense of loss at yet another well loved character from this era leaving the earthly realm. My own parents were born in 1924...