Fran Macilvey's Blog, page 19

A mdeditation for the year end

Here is a meditation that I have been mulling over for a while.

At the end of the year we release to life all that yearns to be released.

We light three candles.

The first candle is lit,

to resolve in what remains of the year, all that can be resolved.

The second candle is lit,

to take all the good of this year forward to make miracles in the next year.

The third candle is lit,

to unite and strengthen our purposes and promote peace, understanding and love.

Wishing you all a very happy...

End of term

End of term

Dear friends

As the end of term hoves in view, it’s time for me to take a break from blogging, though I will pop in from time to time.

In past years, I have done my best to continue working through the holidays, but that rarely works. We have commitments in other parts of the country and in other countries, which makes blogging impractical, so now I take a rest with my family and enjoy seasonal down-time when it comes.

Thank you all so much for reading, commenting and supporti...

As Christmas Comes

As Christmas Comes         

 As Christmas comes and a time of new beginnings draws near, what useful lessons have l learned that I might take with me into 2019?

I am capable of far more than I ever thought possible. Though at times my life resembles that of a juggler and fancy-footwork merchant, if I just work steadily towards a stated aim, I’ll get there. Doing a little of my own work every day, no matter how busy I might otherwise be, feels better than doing nothing at all. Since we are...

Book Review: “The Time Traveller’s Guide to Medieval England” – by Ian Mortimer

Book Review: “The Time Traveller’s Guide to Medieval England” by Ian Mortimer

 I started reading “The Time Traveller’s Guide” while at my mothers, and – skipping the introduction, which I have now read – started reading the first page. I felt myself swallowed by the narrative, taken up quickly into seemingly effortless depictions of castles, gate houses, bishops’ palaces, merchants’ homes and hovels for those less fortunate.

The subtitle for The Time Traveller’s Guide is “A Handbook for Vis...

Being scared of writing

Being scared of writing

I suspect that one reason why we writers shy away from writing is that we are scared of it. I know I am – I have been – but I suspect that this fear, which can be paralysing and lead to all kinds of delaying tactics, is based around a fundamental misconception about how writing works.

Writing is basically about having fun with words. And worrying about writing is obviously not fun. But why do we worry?

I suspect that one reason we delay, fret and make endless excuses n...

“This Charming Man” by Marian Keyes

“This Charming Man” by Marian Keyes

I may have said this before – okay, so you’d have to be entirely new to my blogs not to know – that I really love Marian Keyes’ books. It’s the same with any author we love: we read their books to shreds, and each time, uncover new wisdoms and ideas that strengthen our own lives. Why else would we read them?

I first read “This Charming Man” soon after it was first published in 2008 – I was in the early stages of serial reading: find the latest, read it, an...

Speaking for themselves

Speaking for themselves

I finished Book 2 in my “Lisa Somerville” series of novels and then confidently expected to carry on with Book 3 and just write it. You know, just fill the page with wonderful, easy text that would be lifted from me as if by magic.

But Book 3 had other ideas. “You need to rest for a while,” it said, “You need to take a bit of time to find my new characters and get a feel for them, before you can write me.” And most obviously, “We are different voices, which may take a...

Thinking about life

Thinking about life

 

Thinking about Life, the Universe and everything, I feel that it is now time for me to commit. Considering all the articles, the books and blog posts I’ve written about being positive, staying cheerful, finding meaning and purpose in mundanity, I’ve finally come to the point where, instead of saying, “Some day, I wlll…” I am now thinking, “Now I shall…”

I’ve decided that ‘positive’ is going to be my default. Okay, so that doesn’t mean I’ve suddenly evolved, or that I wi...

Reading books or hiding?

Reading books or hiding?

I have decided that I’m going to collect all of Marian Keyes’ books, re-read them and keep them. They are not only some of the best books I’ve read – funny, heartfelt and honest, as every reviewer has said – but every time I read them, I learn something more about myself. I see aspects of myself clearly in the characters of her books. And perhaps now it’s time to engineer some of their happy endings for myself. Yet, after reading these novels, nowadays I am struck wi...

Changes are everywhere

Changes are everywhere

Admitting one simple thing – yes, I would like a more interesting life – has amazing knock-on effects. Conceding that I don’t need to keep a handle on everything in my immediate sphere – it’s all right if the laundry ain’t washed today and meals aren’t cooked, because hubby can have a stab at it when he gets home – has started a ball rolling. Or the knitting to unravel, the dominoes to fall. At the moment, changes are everywhere.

So too, if I want to write well, I have...