Author Archives: bethpow06
FMM 7 5 19 Low Expectations
“A flower does not think of competing with the flower next to it. It just blooms.” ~ Anonymous. I was never fond of competitive games as a child. Maybe it was because I was the youngest. I was not as smart, as quick, as experienced as my older siblings, and my feelings would get hurt […]
FMM 6 28 19 Clashing Symbols
“Let the rain kiss you. Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops. Let the rain sing you a lullaby.” ~ Langston Hughes. I was born in a part of the world that was always famous for its rain. Manchester, in the north west of England was so wet and dreary that […]
FMM 6 21 19 I’ve looked at Clouds
“The ultimate value of life depends upon awareness and the power of contemplation rather than upon mere survival.” ~ Aristotle. When I think about it, I had the childhood that an anthropologist would have paid money for. Being plunged into the Jamaican countryside was an immersion experience for this eight-year-old English girl. In typical Jamaican […]
FMM 6 14 19 Sing out Loud!
“As long as poverty, injustice and gross inequality persist in our world, none of us can truly rest.” ~ Nelson Mandela. There is nothing like waking up before dawn in the cool hills of Jamaica; there is peace and quiet before the roosters start to crow, and the dogs start their chorus. Once the daylight […]
FMM 5 31 19 Set a Better Example (upcycled)
“Lively up yourself” Bob Marley Is there anything as unattractive as a slouch? Someone who walks with no energy, arms folded or hands in pockets, looking as if they would rather be anywhere than where they are? It has always made me crazy to see people who approach their job in this fashion – it […]
FMM 5 24 19 Brass Bands and Parenting
O Joy that seekest me through pain, I cannot close my heart to thee; I trace the rainbow through the rain, And feel the promise is not vain, That morn shall tearless be. ~George Matheson. I am not sure why I love the sound of a good brass band. They are a particularly English phenomenon, […]
FMM 5 17 19 Shape Shifting
“Whoever you are holding me now in hand, Without one thing all will be useless, I give you fair warning before you attempt me further, I am not what you supposed, but far different.” ~ Walt Whitman. Story-telling is in our bones, in our genes, in our blood. It is how we know who […]
FMM 5 10 19 Mirror Mirror
FMM 5 10 19 Mirror Mirror “Low self-esteem is like driving through life with your hand-brake on.” ~ Maxwell Maltz. One of the joys of genetics is that you never know what features a baby will have. Will he/she be a ‘mini-me’ of one parent, or a blend of both? I don’t know what age […]