Sheila Bridge Blog
Breathing: necessary, unconscious, continuous, usually an easy activity, we don't even learn it, we just do it. Prayer: ... err? a learned activity, a conscious effort, we 'might do it wrong', we are not sure why we do it or who is 'listening' or what effect it has but that doesn't stop most people praying... Continue Reading →
I’ve been leading a mindfulness group for the last 9 weeks. “Leading” is actually a slightly misleading word. All I did was invite 10 to 12 friends to purchase the same book that I myself had decided to read and then I set up a closed group on Facebook with the idea that we could... Continue Reading →
I recently posted up a blog about the usefulness of Mindfulness as a practise. Some of my reflections came from this recently published book by Tim Stead. This is a very useful and readable book on subject of Mindfulness. I especially liked his insights on God being one and God being experienced in the now.... Continue Reading →
Thinking back over the book "Stranger than we can Imagine", would I recommend it? I'm not sure I would - it's a fascinating look back over the 20th century but it doesn't leave you with any sense of hope about the 21st-century. And hope, substantial hope in something solid, is what we all really need... Continue Reading →
This is an amazing read! It leaps from relativity to Cubism to Surrealism, to the optimism in Star Trek and the nihilism in Casablanca. It explains quantum mechanics using a hilarious analogy of Putin punching a kangaroo. From there it goes on to existentialism, individualism and the space race. Higgs has written a factual book... Continue Reading →
This is an absolutely fascinating read. Written by a scientist, it explores the research into ways our minds influence our physical well-being, our tolerance of pain and our immunity. The first chapter is all about the placebo effect. So far so good, most of us have heard of this and feel slightly self-conscious about the truth... Continue Reading →
This is one of the saddest books I've ever read. That's not to say it isn't good, it is. But it is also pretty unrelentingly sad. Sally Magnusson, daughter of the well-known writer and TV personality, Magnus Magnusson, writes both her mother's life story and the story of the mother's descent into dementia. Along the... Continue Reading →
https://www.facebook.com/mobymusic/videos/10154690698776108/ Watching this powerful video made by Steve Cutts for the song 'Are you lost in the world like me?' reminded me of how much I was impacted by reading The Village Effect by Susan Pinker earlier this year. Pinker makes one point. Yes, only the one point! But she makes it really effectively and what... Continue Reading →
Yesterday evening I enjoyed a lovely meal with a group of girlfriends I hadn't seen for a while. On previous such occasions the main focus of our conversation would be about the personal details of our lives "how are the kids doing?", "Where are you going on holiday?", that type of stuff. But last night... Continue Reading →
The story of a broken family, broken through several generations then formed and broken again, this book is heart-wrenching but brilliant. A debut novel for Taiye Selasi, it won the Granta best young British novelist 2013 prize, deservedly so. It is the story of a Nigerian-Ghanaian family who are trying to make a new life... Continue Reading →
