An experience worth travelling for

My work doesn't generally involve too much travel outside of London and the home counties. I'd not previously flown for work. I'd not been to Glasgow before this weekend. I've still not really been to Glasgow. I have however been to Pollok House. The beautiful National Trust for Scotland property set in wonderful gardens and parkland made a fitting venue for the workshop I delivered on behalf of the charity Missing People on Saturday afternoon. Working with the families of missing people is a privilege. Meeting them and working face to face in a group setting is a particular privilege, and I left Glasgow on Saturday evening feeling both honoured and humbled by the events of my long day. It was my first time meeting the individuals who participated and for many of them, the first time they had met another family affected by this harrowing issue. Whilst their stories were often very different, the situations in which they found themselves and the thoughts they have been plagued by ever since, bore striking resemblances. We worked with the similarities, and I invited them to take what they liked, and leave the rest. I felt as though I took a great deal with me as I left - there were many learnings for myself and the rest of the team delivering what was the first ever Family Support Day forming an important component of our Pilot family support programme funded in part by the Big Lottery. I was grateful for the opportunity to be of service to this most deserving population whom approached the mindfulness workshop with tremendous open mindedness and willingness. Language barriers notwithstanding, even the Highland cattle were friendly...

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Table. Apple. Penny.

Whilst there were several places I might have been that morning, I wouldn't have been anywhere else. The practitioner from the Memory Service arrived promptly. I liked her instantly. Mum was nervous. I think I was a little, too. It's been a difficult year. "It's Friday, it's the fourteenth of December and I'm at home..." No problems there. CAMCOG, or the Cambridge Cognitive Examination is a thorough assessment tool used to assess the extent of extent of dementia, and to assess the level of cognitive impairment. The standardised measure assesses orientation, language, memory, praxis, attention, abstract thinking, perception and calculation. "Table. Apple. Penny." Three everyday items that were introduced at one point, and then referred to again later on. Again, Mum was able to recall each. I am reminded that the...

Glass half full? Glass half empty? Or perhaps the glass is broken

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Joan Miro: Emotional Art

"Painting and poetry are like love; an exchange of blood, a passionate embrace, without restraint, without defence. The picture is born of an overflow of emotions and feelings." Miro, The Farm 'La Masia' (1921-22) I learnt a great deal about Miro on a recent visit to the Tate. I learnt a great deal about a lot more too. Miro wanted to discover the sources of human feeling. He described his method of creating poetry by way of painting, using a vocabulary of signs and symbols, metaphors and dream images to express definite themes he believed to be fundamental to human existence. The exhibition displays his sense of humor and lively wit. His chief concern was a social one; he wanted to get close to the great masses of humanity, and he was convinced that art can only truly appeal when it resonates with roots of lived experience. "Wherever you are, you find the sun, a blade of grass, the spirals of the dragonfly. Courage cons...

The Reward is the Journey

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