The Joy of Reflecting and Two Invitations

I don’t want to live in the past, I want to harvest what I can and take the fruit onwards with me.

Hi I’m Debbie, a spiritual director, writer, host and mother based in Glasgow. I offer stories, ponderings and gentle invitations to share a moment with your soul.

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Hiya,

Today I’m sharing some ponderings about reflection, and letting you know about two different online soul spaces I’ll be offering in the coming weeks.

During last year’s Christmas shopping I bought myself a large poster of 2025 with great hopes that I’d fill it in, plan and pace out my work and keep a record. It remains rolled up under my desk, even with its inviting multi-coloured stickers. It turns out I like to allow events to unfold in an organic way, and I may have a mild allergy to planning. It seems a shame to waste it, so I’m planning to fill it in in retrospect, as part of my year-end reflection time. I love to search for patterns, treasures and gleaning learnings as I look back on a season.

I know that some of us are much more comfortable in the future stance, and I’ve wondered what it is that I find so rewarding about looking back. I don’t want to live in the past, I want to harvest what I can and take the fruit onwards with me.

“It is really true what philosophy tells us, that life must be understood backwards. But with this, one forgets the second proposition, that it must be lived forwards.”

Journalled by 19th-century Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard

The pause to look back nourishes me, but I find it hard to claim the time, and I know I’m not alone in this. This is one of the reasons why I love to host soul spaces. Sometimes we’ll spend half of the time not speaking to one another, in our own personal bubbles. But taking that quiet time in company holds us in the space, the experience is enriched when we get to share with one another too. We find depth and comfort as we hear the stories of others.

“Soul cannot thrive in a fast-paced life, because being affected, taking things in and chewing on them, requires time.”
― Thomas Moore, Care of the Soul

Two Invitations

The two online events I have coming up are both for mums, I recently shared about my Tangled Vocations; the way that Soul Space work and Motherhood are intertwined for me.

This first event is a Motherhood Retreat for mothers of any beliefs. I have recently been attending an art group for families with young children born in 2020 & 2021. Rebecca Fraser, community artist and my friend, has been running this with Starcatchers as part of the Scottish Government’s Covid Enquiry, to hear about the impact of the pandemic on young families. Looking back on that time has been tricky and surprising, remembering all that we went through.

Inspired by this work I am offering a Pandemic Parenting retreat evening. We carry the stories of the pandemic with us. This is an opportunity to pause, to reflect back and to extend self-compassion through the years. 

This is for anyone who parented during the pandemic: perhaps you gave birth, or you struggled through home schooling and daily walks. Whatever stage your family were at in those years, you are welcome. On this evening you will be gently led though creative journaling prompts, quiet reflection time and warm discussion. We can't change what happened, but we can gift ourselves the processing space we didn't have, air our memories in understanding company, and offer ourselves compassion. Tickets cost £15/£8 and spaces are limited.

On Wednesday 27th November Jenny Walley and I will host 'A Spacious Gift - Gather with Open Hands' on Zoom. This is a time for mums of faith to pause, receive and consider our own belovedness as we enter the busy giving season. 

We will start the evening with an invitation to slow down and become quiet, we'll reflect on and enter into the grace that precedes our giving, there will be time for quiet personal prayer, and then a chance to share about our experience. 

Our hope is that this time will be a gift for you, a chance for your soul to breathe. We are not charging for this event, but spaces are limited, book in here if you'd like to join us.

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It appreciate that these invitations are quite specific. But if they are not for you, I hope that you can find another Clearing for yourself in the dense forest of your life.

With love,

Debbie