The Six Arts of Confucius: Lessons for Later Life

Earlier this week I wrote about attending the Confucius Festival. It was a fascinating experience, but for me it didn’t feel quite enough. Later, looking back at one of the photographs I’d taken, a poster listing the Six Arts of Confucius, I realised I wanted to know more. Some of the arts made sense straight […]

Finding Calm at the Confucius Festival

This week I found myself at the Confucius Festival in Gloucester. I hadn’t planned to write about it, but the experience stayed with me. There was food, conversation, drumming, even a puzzle involving numbers – yet what lingered most were the lessons about community and responsibility between generations. I thought I’d share a little of […]

A Birthday in the Wood: Stories, Memories, and What We Hold Close

This year, I chose to spend my birthday at my wood. It felt right, a return to what I did on my 65th, when I marked the day with reflection, looking back at the year gone by and forward to what might come. I’d already had a week of holding space for a Vision Quest, […]

How Do You Begin Your Day?

A Woodland Reflection on Morning Practices This morning, as I stepped out of my car and into the quiet embrace of the woodland, I paused, breathed in deeply, and noticed the subtle shifts that signalled my arrival. The scent of the earth, the birdsong, the stillness. This small act, this moment of presence, is part […]

A New Start, at Any Time

A woodland reflection by Dr. Denise Taylor This time I filmed from a different part of my woodland, my base camp, where logs are stacked and thoughts are often stirred. What emerged today was this: we can choose a new start any time we like. Not just at New Year, not just when life forces […]

A Field Guide to Being Human: Reflections on Flying Lead Change

I’ve just finished reading Flying Lead Change by Kelly Wendorf, and though it centres around work with horses, the heart of the book is much broader. It’s a field guide for being human, especially for those of us seeking to live and lead from a deeper place. The book weaves together nature-based intelligence, indigenous knowledge, […]

🧠 Learn to Talk to AI – Like a Real Human

Get your free PDF copy of How to Talk to AI: A Prompting Guide for Real People , and join a thoughtful community exploring work, ageing, and meaning in the AI era. Whether you’re curious, cautious, or just getting started with AI, this guide will show you how to use it wisely, without needing to […]

🌿 On Thriving, Freedom, and Finding Our Way Back to Ourselves

There comes a point in later life when we say something like: I can’t live like this anymore. We’ve tried to fit in for too long.We’ve adapted to workplace cultures.We’ve hidden our true selves to meet expectations. But when we finally listen to that quiet voice, the one that says enough, it’s not a crisis. […]

Life’s a Juggle – But You Don’t Have to Catch Every Ball

Juggling the Demands of Life Life can often feel like a constant juggling act. Between work commitments, personal responsibilities, family obligations, and the unexpected curveballs that get thrown our way, it can be overwhelming trying to keep all the balls in the air. But the reality is, we’re not superheroes – we’re only human. And […]

Adapting, Growing, and Thriving: Lessons from the Woodland

The Changing Seasons at Blue Bell Wood The sun is shining, and for the first time in months, I’ve shed my usual woolly hat, a small but delightful sign of the changing seasons here at Blue Bell Wood. The primroses are blooming, and I’m eagerly anticipating the arrival of the bluebells in the coming months. […]