A day of fewer words
All day long, in all sorts of places, we acquire words. Walking down the street, past the shops and adverts, we kick through them like a carpet of Autumn leaves, and they stick to our shoes. Sitting at the keyboard, they fly up like the finest baker’s flour at the mixing bowl, and lodge under our fingernails. In conversation they spot and speckle our minds, like raindrops on a clean pavement. Sometimes, like thick snow falling on the lines of a car park, they obscure the order which might have been. As a writer, I must take my share of the blame for this pollution. The thing is, can we turn them into something, all these acquired words?
Recycled from the words above
Today I shall be spending the day at the lovely St Michael’s Convent in Ham Common- a place of beauty, tranquility, and prayer. The day has been a long time coming. For the past 15 years I have gone there two or three times each year for a day’s retreat. Last year, I sent myself an email with the subject line “do not delete this”, containing my New Year’s resolutions. One of those resolutions was to hold a staff team retreat. Life came along, things happened, and the retreat did not. Today, I am glad to say. that day has come.
In a word-rich, noisy environment, the opportunity to withdraw intentionally, talk quietly, and listen intently is golden – and I intend to make the most of it.
Taken in the St Michael’s Convent Garden
