The older I get the more I become aware of how rapid life passes, and perhaps how much of mine has been wasted on meaningless chatter. I am less and less inclined to spend time with anything or anyone who does not inspire beauty within me. If it does not sustain the life I want to live then I let it go. I have realised that thinkers are generally not welcome in social gatherings. There is a freedom in this, but also the realisation that I am seeking meaning in a world which is in essence meaningless. I create meaning for myself, through my relationships, though my work as a therapist, and through the creative outpouring I call my art. It has taken me a long time to understand what Erich Fromm meant when he said “man’s task in life is to give birth to himself”.

I have started drawing again of late, after a long time in abeyance. Painting will come again soon. The most difficult moment is the one just before the start, in leading up to it there is procrastination and fear, but as soon as the brush hits the canvas all that falls away.

I think we are all responsible for the creation that is us, we can change what we were into what we want to be, but first we must accept ourselves just as we are and let go the idea of what we should be. in doing so we might be able to change, but not before.