Life - Reflections & Thoughts

Did you know that plastic bags can take 20 years to decompose, plastic bottles up to 450 years and drinking straws, up to 500 years .  No?   I'm not surprised to be honest.  As with everything else, it's all too easy to be unmindful about the impact our behaviours and habits can have on the planet and other people.  I'm sure you're not to blame, are you?  Well, maybe, just a bit - after all, we all are.  As an example, and without conscious thought, we cause 17 million barrels of oil to be used every year to produce disposable plastic water bottles.  Did you actually take that in?  17 million barrels of oil every year, just for water bottles - that's enough to run one million cars for a year!  Whenever discussing plastic pollution, the numbers soon get staggeringly incomprehensible.  The scale of the problem is enormous - and mainly all because of our 'on the go' unconscious behaviour rather than anything malicious. If ...

Explore how gardening can enrich your life - and help others. Until I recently moved into a little home of my very own with my amazing wife, the closest that I'd ever really got to growing my own food was based on distant memories.  Watching my father dig over the vegetable patch at my grandfather's house and watching  The Good Life on the television when I was a youngster.  Neither really resonated or enthused me to be honest, mainly because until recently I never liked vegetables - or rather, I thought I didn't.  Childhood memories of being told to eat my vegetables and salads, with the ubiquitous salad cream dolloped on top, still send shivers down my back. However, that's all changed now - big time; in fact, so much so, that for about a year and a half now I have been a very happy pescatarian.  Why? Two reasons - firstly Guosto  and secondly, being lucky enough to have my own home with enough space for a small vegetable patch.  Both have cha...

Becoming more mindful and relaxed through meditating really is within everyone's grasp - it's incredible and well worth the time and effort.    I'm just a normal chap who stumbled across it by accident, but I feel passionate enough about the benefits of mindfulness to share some insights and tips to try and help you get started.  In this article, I will explore:    My journey and how I got into it Why breathing is the key How to start meditating The benefits of mindfulness Continuing the mindful journey My journey and how I got into it I'd never really thought about meditation, let alone considered actually doing it, until about a couple of years ago when a good friend mentioned an app that they'd started using.  Now, we all go through phases and it may well have been a simple passing fad for my friend, but it was my good fortune that he mentioned it as it was a conversation that changed my life - literally. Before our conversat...

How a short break to a wonderful city highlights issues of animal welfare and human suffering. If you've never been to Marrakech, you should!  What an amazing, beautiful, dilapidated, friendly, hostile, hectic yet tranquil place; it's so full of paradoxes that your head will literally spin - all in the hot, make that very hot, sunshine :) If you fancy a run whilst there, I certainly recommend you go first thing in the morning when it's cool and quiet.  Running is always the best way to explore and get a feel for a new city. A warm evening spent in the main Jemaa El Fna Square, listening to the call to prayer penetrating the background noise of city life, is something never to be forgotten.  Sipping mint tea from the safety of an overlooking balcony before diving in amongst the street vendors, food stands, entertainers and other tourists is fabulous.  Life is colourful, loud and very, very busy.  It's all very entertaining, especially when you can fini...