Hilary

William James seems like an interesting man. He’s an example of something less common these days, a polymath. He studied widely across medicine and philosophy, developing expertise in both fields so that he taught physiology, psychology and philosophy (at different times) at Harvard, whilest finding time for an apprenticeship as a painter, and…[Read more]

Looked up William James and found he was an American Philosopher and Psychologist.

Happened upon a little book of quotes on my heaving bookshelf 😊

William James (? Do not know of him) considers that “There is but one cause of human failure and that is man’s lack of faith in his true Self.”

Eileen Caddy in The Dawn of Change says “A soul without a high aim is like a ship withouna rudder.”

This I think mirrors one of Athelston…[Read more]

THE  VESTAL VIRGIN

Background History 

(Some data courtesy of Wikipedia)

This is the story of Lucia and her parents who lived in Ancient Rome.  Lucia was prepubescent and had been chosen to be enrolled in The  Virgin Goddess Vespa’s College of Six Priestesses.

This is the story of a young girl chosen to help protect Rome’s Sacred Hearth…[Read more]

I won’t lie, I logged in last night to find out what the prompt for this month’s comp was going to be, little expecting – in the face of the other entries – that I would be setting it 😂

So thanks, Ath, for the comp and for that WTH!? moment when I got home from work 😃 and thanks to everyone else for inspiring me to try in the first place. I’l…[Read more]

Well, that’s an unexpected turn of events!

Thank you, Athelstone for setting the thought provoking theme and now for your considered and kind comments in judgement.  I enjoyed each of my fellow writers’ entries and it is a good feeling to be amongst such talented people once more.

Last but not least (sorry!) I extend huge congratulations to the worthy winner, Seagreen.

Oh, hooray, and congratulations @ Seagreen, but similarly to all for a varied and thought-provoking selection of ‘last times’. Thank you too Ath  for the prompt – a subject which I ponder increasingly  frequently.

Bumper crop springs to mind, but the cliché is wrong because these stories didn’t just spring up, they were all lovingly made by hand.

Janette’s story reminds us of the way that roles are exchanged as age demands. More than this, it reminds us that life is full of last moments each important and deserving of attention and memory. There is a wist…[Read more]

Any more takers? Last chance today. That could be the subject.

The Last Divided Island (approx 300 words)

The mini heatwave in England in June slowed down Stella’s physical activities and afforded her more time for reflection and remembrance.  Almost fifiy-one years previously she and her parents had been forced to flee to London from their Cypriot home amid the mayhem and sufferings of war.

The woman she w…[Read more]

UNTITLED (149 WORDS)

Contains an obscenity

Today is the last day I will beat myself up over this.

It’s the last day I’ll say sorry for hurting you, as if I haven’t said sorry a million times already.

It’s the last time I’ll try to make amends for something you will never forgive me for.

It’s the last time I’ll go to bed and wonder how di…[Read more]

Jill, it’s so good to hear from you again, in spite of what you’ve been, and are, going through.

I think any response that isn’t on a level with your own experience of positivity is likely to sound trivial, or at least less significant. But it is a fascinating topic. It’s often said that realists have a less positive expectation of outcome, but…[Read more]