Letting Go continues Our Next Event – an online reading with Sandra IrelandTuesday 7th April 2026, 7.00- 8.30 pm, free. Full details including how to book here.

Image credit: ‘The Jump’ by Louise Humphrey
 

On Wednesday 24th June there will be a Letting Go Symposium in Stirling – live and on zoom. Details and booking will be in the March Autumn Voices newsletter. AV will publish an anthology featuring a new writing by each of the On-line Writers in Residence, and texts by workshop participants. The project concludes on 24th June 2026 with a public, hybrid Round Table event in Stirling, with the four OWRs and other speakers reflecting on the project, and considering older people’s creativity.

Linda France‘s Writing Hours Friday 17th April 4 to 5pm

I find the New Moon Writing Hour with Linda on zoom a boost to my commitment to free-write everyday. . I also recommend Linda’s Startlings, which are rich with ideas, books, and reflections on her life as a writer. She reaches out to other writers and readers inviting comments and seeking mutual inspiration. Her most recent Startling is called “Writing . . . Unraveling” which includes several short prose pieces and this quote from Zen Master Dōgen:

To study the buddha way is to study the self

To study the self is to forget the self.

To forget the self is to be actualized by myriad things.

When actualized by myriad things, your body and mind as well as the bodies and minds of others drop away.

No trace of realisation remains, and this no-trace continues endlessly.

“This is where I come to forget the self and, on a good day, wake up to the world’s myriad things. There is plenty here to ponder.”

The Poet’s Way Saturday 11th April 5:15 to 9pm

Lapidus Scotland AGM Wednesday 22 April, 17.00–18.00.

The Annual General Meeting of Lapidus Scotland for 2026 will take place online on Wednesday 22 April, 17.00–18.00.

It will be followed at 18.30 by presentations from Geri Chavis, Valerie Gillies, Hester Parr & Rhiannon Bull.

You can book here for the AGM, and here for the presentations. Both events are free, but if you wish to make a donation to Lapidus Scotland you can do so.

active hope for humanity

12 June, 2026 – 19 June, 2026 Led by: Smritiratna, Sukhema, Candradhi, Amayaraja

Alchemy in Conversation with Ratnadevi Kristin MacKenzie-Janson, Fay Adams, and Annick Nevejan

Are you curious about the magic that can emerge when we meet each other with openness and radical presence?In a world where conversations often skim the surface, Alchemy in Conversation invites you into a different kind of meeting: one rooted in embodied awareness and the extraordinary potential of human connection. Over six weeks, we’ll delve into how presence transforms relationships. We’ll explore how listening inwards and then outwards leads to more satisfying experiences of connection, and how listening beyond our usual boundaries opens doors to mutual flourishing.

Course Dates:Thursdays on Zoom – 23 & 30 April, 21 & 28 May, 11 & 18 June 6.30–8.30pm (BST) 7.30–9.30pm (CEST) with a little break halfway through. For people with some previous experience: min of an 8 wk mindfulness course or equivalent. Suitable for CPD

White Crane Spreads Wings is fully booked with a waiting list

tai chi, writing and meditation 18 September, 2026 – 25 September, 2026
A residential retreat in Dhanakosa Led by: Sukhema & Jayaraja & Shubhalila

A retreat expanding our horizons through language: opening to the wisdom of the body and integrating our head and heart. Tai chi, writing and meditation have much in common: form, structure, sensitivity and a striving towards wholeness.

Each move in tai chi is a metaphor and the structured forms of the practice provide an inspiring backdrop for the creation of rhythmic patterns with words. Clouds like thoughts come and go; inspired by the surrounding mountains, water and sky, we will combine writing with movement and mindfulness for our own well-being and for all living beings everywhere.

This retreat will trace our intimate relation to each other and our earth. Whatever arises from our practice we will use to play with the reality of our inter-connectedness – write about it and share our stories.

This retreat is suitable for complete beginners to meditation and tai chi as well as being an ideal refresher for those who already have some experience. For more information, read the retreat information sheet.

You are warmly invited to read my never ending story and add your own story and comments. You can subscribe free for monthly chapters.

Poem of the month

at the end of my newsletter, I would like to publish a poem or flash fiction related in some way to writing for well-being. Please send me your writing. . . . Here’s one for starters by Emily Dickinson:

I’m Nobody! Who are you?

I’m Nobody! Who are you?
Are you – Nobody – too?
Then there’s a pair of us!
Don’t tell! they’d advertise – you know!

How dreary – to be – Somebody!
How public – like a Frog –
To tell one’s name – the livelong June –
To an admiring Bog!

Emily Dickinson, 1830 – 1886

The writer I publish can choose a free copy of one of PlaySpace Publications