Any reasonable person knows, one cannot prevent destiny. Being a person with anxiety, however, I must remind myself daily that I can only do so much to prevent trouble. I am often swimming in worst case scenarios. I get sick and tired of trying to convince myself they will not happen. And when I chase them away, new appear. I am battling with a few of them right now. Yet, I do not want to share them, for I am afraid they could trigger anxiety in my readers. Except the funny incident with the soap. I can share that much, I believe. I am too aware of viruses and bacteria, so I wash my hands too often. I...

People sometimes ask me, if my husband and I would like to live in a house with a garden. Pictures of sitting on a comfortable chair in the shade of an old oak tree, of gently caressing vermillion roses blossoming under my care, of leaves turning brown, red and yellow pop up in my mind. Yes, I tell them, living in a house is wonderful, but so far I have not found anything really wrong with living in a small apartment. The basic difference is that we do not own the nature we enjoy in. I look out the window and I see naked branches in winter, occasionally covered in snow or ice. I behold and absorb the...

Shadow all around – red beauty in the warm sun, passion surviving.   Take care, Helena Smole, author of: – a fantasy novel with romance Vivvy and Izzy the Dwarf: A series about relationships – Balancing the Beast, a book offering a bright view of schizoaffective disorder ˗ bipolar or manic-depressive type ...

Reading the Jane Austen’s ‘Pride and Prejudice’ I find that pride is not an esteemed quality in a person. I also remember reading about how pride is a vice and not a virtue in the Buddhist tradition. While Wikipedia for example states both a positive and a negative connotation of pride. What to do about pride then? It has dawned on me the other day, that what we need is to see pride as a spice. Only a smidgen of it will do. What do you think about that? I find it hard to be proud of myself, even a hint of it. I just do not feel any of it. I can well be proud about others, but never of my own...