I am sick of being cold! The sky is deceptively blue and clear today but the wind still has bite and although May arrives tomorrow there is still not enough warmth to tempt me back to the garden or anywhere near the sea. I put my fingers in the sea a couple of weeks ago and I knew that the rest of me would not be following for a while.
The unseasonal cold seems to match the coldness in the culture. We are seeing an increasing disregard for others in the wider culture and a tolerance for the most unpleasant aspects of human behaviour; bullying, xenophobia and corruption, combined with intellectual laziness and philistinism. What a time to be alive.
In the dark moments, it is easy to turn to despair, to be overwhelmed by a sense of hopelessness, by anger and depression. I have to fight the dark and make the effort to look to the light. In my case, the light is found in the work I do, whether that is leading the East Marsh Peace Choir in song on Tuesday teatimes, or admiring the trees East Marsh United and Create Streets planted together in February, or having a brew with like minded folks to develop the next stages of the incredible plans we hope to deliver this year.
I also find the light in simple, mindful activity, such as hand stitching, crafting and when it warms up, gardening. In order to truly flourish, we must find the things that bring us peace and hope and joy.
The dark is always present, times are always hard for millions of beings on this beautiful planet of ours. But the light is always there too and it will bathe and hold you if you let it in.
Josie Moon 