Some of the most popular stories, because we can all relate to them, are ultimately about ‘home’. For example, Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz trying to get back home to Kansas; ET trying to get back to his home planet; the Starship Enterprise trying to return to earth; Peer Gynt travelling the world only[…]

Mother’s Day is a day on which I could easily feel sorry for myself. Because it’s one of those annual days of celebration that makes me feel a massive hole in my life. My mum died a few years ago, so I miss her being in my life more acutely on a day on which[…]

When is the first day of Spring? This is an important question as far as I’m concerned because I was born on the 21st of March. It was drummed into me as a child that this date importantly marked the first day of Spring: so my birthday fell on a special day in the calendar[…]

Singletons should not try to ignore Valentine’s Day, but try to claim back what was once OUR DAY. Anyone born after about 1980 probably doesn’t know that Valentine’s Day was specifically devised so that singletons could hook up. It was the custom on14 February each year for anyone without a partner to shyly, and often[…]

What is the most common type of cancer in the UK, killing about 12,000 people a year, who are predominantly over 50 years old and with no family history of the disease? I reckon you will have guessed I’m talking about breast cancer, but are you familiar with all the above facts? I’m already in[…]

People who are single, it appears, are thriving – despite never having had the social and financial advantages of marriage, a rite of passage that is celebrated globally, and which automatically bestows adult status and maturity. In a western culture obsessed with happiness, the sad singleton stereotype persists even though more people are choosing to[…]

Were you suffering from Blue Monday at the start of this week? If yes, I hope you were able to get over it in one day. You may have booked the day off for wallowing in misery and self-pity; celebrated the day by eating ‘blue foods’ (blueberries in everything?); taken part in ‘beat the blues’[…]

I’d been talking to myself about it for ages. Well, just about every time I opened a cupboard door, especially in the kitchen. Where’s the…..? I thought I had……. If I could just reach…. It wasn’t that the insides of the cupboards were untidy –they were just stuffed full, mainly with stuff I hardly used[…]

What are the highlights of your 2018? I bet one of them wasn’t, like me, playing a cowardly stoat, as pictured. I like taking stock and reviewing the previous 12 months. It’s good to identify what you could have done better. But, more importantly, it’s a time to tot up your successes and give yourself[…]

Have you ever made a new-year resolution and not been able to stick to it? Given up after a few days of agony or in the face of temptation? Of course you have. We all have! But I think there are reasons for these failures that have nothing to do with temptation or poor resolve.[…]