“You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one. I hope someday you’ll join us. And the world will live as one.” John Lennon
I’ve been thinking about each letter in the little word ‘hope’ and finally decided to attach the words below to them. There are so many alternatives it took a little while.
H – health
O – opportunity
P – peace
E – encouragement
I wish you all of them. Thanks for your company.
Georgie
Copyright Georgie Knaggs & The Phraser 2023
The end of another week. I hope it is calm and full of peace where you are, and I think of all those where there is no chance of feeling such stillness.
This past week, as with so many weeks, the darkest news has filled the headlines. The every days, and the quiet happinesses just have to tick on anonymously. Perhaps they’ll get a chance to feature in the new week. If they do, I hope we’ll find the time to notice them.
Life’s pulse is so unpredictable it’s all too easy to take for granted the moments that matter, to think that they’ll last longer than usual, or return as easily as they might have come. But it doesn’t always work that way. What I’ve come to realise is that if they do come your way, you should grab them and hold on to them. Enjoy them.
I’ve also learned that sometimes the best times aren’t always that easy to recognise … at least not at first.
Copyright Georgie Knaggs & The Phraser 2023
Still raining in Scotland when we left. Still hot in London when we arrived.
Now we’re all moving on, scattering in different directions, and as confused by the weather as the trees around us. In Scotland some trees we saw were up to their knees in water, while here those that thought autumn was coming seem to be clutching on to their leaves, reluctant to let them go. It’s strange, like suddenly finding St Paul’s blasting rock music rather than the reassuring ring of occasional bells.
And then there’s the news – the shock of an awful earthquake, and the tragedy of another war flaring up, ugly and raw.
These are unsettling times, but they are not the first, and the book I’m reading is a good reminder of that. I’ve now read a little more of The Christian Watt Papers – Memoirs of a Fraserburgh Fishwife, and it is so clear that her life (1833-1923) was full of hardship on a truly daunting scale. First there was the every day business of earning a living, and then there were the wars, and upheaval, the destitution and tragedy that surrounded their communities. It’s encouraging to see through her, that we can adapt and do adapt, and to read her words as she looks back on her life:
“… At the closing of my days, I have encountered so much kindness. I am blest every time I breathe. My life has been hard but I would not say it has been a sad waste …”
Copyright Georgie Knaggs & The Phraser 2023
The Phraser 