Janus: looking back, looking forward…….. Janus_coin Janus January seems to be a time for looking back to last year, and looking forward into this one. Janus, the Roman god depicted with two faces looking in opposite directions, symbolises this as we move through his namesake month. He’s also the god of transitions and links past […]
Author Archives: Kate Thompson
Spring Landscapes
Spring Landscapes I’m just back from speaking at theCenter for Journal Therapy symposium,Passion to Profit, and the National Association of Poetry Therapy annual conference in Arizona. The temperatures contrasted (96°F in Arizona, 33°F in Colorado), as did the landscapes. It’s always wonderful to connect with your community and these meetings were particularly stimulating and full of creative energy. Mary […]
Why Read?
Why Read? I’ve just finished writing a piece for the journal of The Society of Existential Analysis. Formally it was a review of two books about what books or literature can tell us about the stages of life. In practice it made me think about the wider questions: Why Read? Why do we read? Jean-Paul Sartre entitled his […]
February is the shortest month……….
I notice that a year ago I wrote about Wind….and Snow…..in my February posts. What is it about February in the northern hemisphere that provokes a concentration on climate conditions? The paradox of February is perhaps that the extreme weather we get (2 feet of snow here after a dry winter, for example) is in contrast with […]
Notes & marginalia…..
Taos is very beautiful, infused with an ancient Indian heritage and the spirits of 20th century writers & artists. In an Anglo-centric literary fashion it was always DH Lawrence who drew me there. On my recent visit I was therefore staying at the Mabel Dodge Luhan House………. Mabel Dodge Luhan committed huge amounts of time to […]
Eclipses and other phenomena…..
These late eclipses in the sun and moon portend no good to us: though the wisdom of nature can reason it thus and thus, yet nature finds itself scourged by the sequent effects: King Lear , Act 1, Scene 1 The Elizabethans may have thought that eclipses foretold chaos and the overturning of the natural […]
Jiro Dreams of Sushi….what do you dream of?
This week I went to see the film Jiro Dreams of Sushi. Jiro is an 85 year old Tokyo sushi chef who has devoted his life to sushi (practically since leaving home at the age of 9) and to improving his skills, to seeking the perfect sushi. He works every day, from sunrise to late in […]
May Day, music & marmot……
May 1st always feels like the beginning of summer, of many colours green, of music and sunlight and magic. As I drove down the mountain this morning I saw a marmot running up the rocks by the side of the road. I switched on KGNU, the local radio station, and found myself in the middle of passionate […]
Writing in the wild………..
At the weekend Mary Reynolds Thompson and I facilitated our Wild Places Lost & Found writing workshops. On Saturday the participants came up the winding road to the top of Flagstaff, to the views of the Continental Divide, to sit and write in forest and mountain. On Sunday, people found places under trees, in sunshine, on grass. […]