Hello, my lovelies,

June is here, a month of heat and heat and sweat! And did someone mention football…

I don’t live with any football fanatics, so I’m able to continue in blissful ignorance of the World Cup. I’m sure I’ll know about it when or if England succeeds. I discovered how many friends are Arsenal fans this month, particularly when people pulled out tablets to watch matches at family gatherings…

This month has been one filled with family festivities, with lots of birthdays in June.

I didn’t manage to get to Katakata’s open mic, but I did attend a brilliant workshop run by Third Space Poetics. Anna Robinson gave a masterclass and gave some great advice:

• When editing a poem, ask ‘What does this poem want to be?’

• Dig deep to find the heart of the poem.

• Everyday words do more work in a poem to convey emotion

• The most impactful words in a poem often come from a Germanic root

We wrote three poems in quick succession and also shared poems at the end. I met some old and new friends, which was great.

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Upcoming event

I’m also preparing for an event where I’ll be sharing a couple of poems. My friend Christine is currently holding an exhibition of her beautiful paintings called ‘The sea is history’.

The theme is inspired by Derek Walcott’s poem ‘The sea is history’ referencing the fact that the sea holds much history of the Caribbean people. The event will be held at Blackhorse workshop cafe in Walthamstow, London on Thursday 25 June at 6.30pm. There will be a short poetry event including music from cellist Rachel Darnley Smith. If you are local, come and join us.

Writing update

Devotionals are books or resources that are a daily dose of teaching or thinking by a favourite spiritual author on a particular topic. My devotional is a collection of scriptures and insights I’ve learned on my path of healing and recovery from emotional brokenness. 10 years ago (!) I felt prompted to write down some of the lessons that God has taught me along the way. Once again, it has taken me a long time to get to the point of sharing and it’s still not a totally comfortable path, but I believe what I share will help others.

This took me to St Paul’s Cathedral bookshop this week. I was actually in search of the CLC bookshop, but I only noticed it was permanently closed when I’d walked round in a circle about 3 times! Nevertheless, St Paul’s bookshop was enough for me to see a small selection of books.

I discovered that the journal format is now popular and it made me think about the last time I bought one – essentially never as I’ve generally always been given them.

One of my favourites being Bread for the Journey by Henri Nouwen and also My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers. I read these back in the 90s and early 2000’s before the Internet, habit tracking and social media. Before adult colouring books and mindfulness. A lot of the devotionals are now in apps or on websites. I’m still debating whether to call it a devotional at all.

Have you ever read a devotional or spiritual journal?

Did you buy it and what do you use now? It would be really helpful to have some feedback.

I’m getting a clearer picture of what I’ll need to do, so onwards we go!

Till next month – adieu!