Henny Flynn

Hey lovely Reader There's a phrase 'May you live in interesting times' that many attribute to an ancient Chinese curse. I've always liked how it turns the idea of what's 'interesting' on its head, though a brief Google search said it was probably only invented sometime in the 1930's... Either way, this year has been interesting for me. And we're only half-way through. It began filled with the energy of the Fire Horse - full of creative force - and it has held weeks of sorrow and enforced...

Hey lovely Reader I always find it interesting how as summer heightens, I feel the urge to retreat. Not in an argh-I-must-get-away-from-it-all way, more of an oh-this-is-all-so-lovely-I-want-to-savour-it way. And it also holds an edge of wanting to be quiet - this being the time of year when everything is so brightly visible it can get tiring and whatever the season we always need time to rest. It's a different kind of retreat from Wintering... maybe we could coin a new concept, and call it...

Hey lovely Reader This is a quick one. I've just added the themes for Season Three to The Field. These follow the arc we began back in May and are completely standalone. You can see them here. I'm sharing them, so you can see how each season flows into the next one, with every season designed to meet you where we are, when you're ready. If you've been thinking about The Field, and don't want to miss joining us in September, the gate for Season Two is now open. It's gentle and real and you are...

Hey lovely Reader Technically the latest podcast season has ended... and yet I appear to have recorded another episode... It was inspired by a voice note from a girlfriend of mine; sharing an idea that struck a pleasing chord within me. She said that as the season had ended she was going to play podcast roulette and pick an episode at random. I know I enjoy doing that with the podcasts I love - so, I thought we could have a go at a podcast lucky dip here too. You can (of course) listen to the...

Hey lovely Reader Earlier this year something drew me back to the tiny notes of love in the series of everyday compassion emails. 272 messages, requested weekly by over 600 people. I remember being so nervous when I first started sharing them over two years ago - and then so honoured by the love they received. “ I’m loving the everyday compassion. They bring a smile to my face and I look forward to receiving them. I had always imagined they might one day become a book. But I didn’t know what...

Hey lovely Reader Have you ever wondered how resilient you are? Do you hold a belief that you're very resilient and always just 'get on' - ignoring any toll it might take? Or is there a voice inside that whispers you're not resilient 'enough' (whatever enough might be)? Over the past few weeks on the podcast I've been exploring these themes - not with any fixed answers, simply as a way of unpacking what might resonate with each of us, as the individuals we are. This week's episode is the...

Hey lovely Reader I've just listened back to this week's episode and so many things are standing out for me. It's vulnerable, tender, delicate and yet, ultimately, joyful and robust. I'm in conversation with Adam Lind, author of Floating Home. During our exploration of resilience, Adam shares a personal experience involving grief and suicide. We hold this tenderly and I'm flagging this so you can choose whether this episode feels ok for you to listen to. As the conversation evolves, we expand...

Hey lovely Reader This week we're continuing our exploration of resilience, looking more deeply at the role of our Self-Care Bank... the idea being that we all have one. When resilience first became a buzz word around the office corridors of my old corporate life, I found it a deeply unpleasant concept. It seemed to simply be another way to criticise people who were already struggling. Since then I've worked a lot on what it truly means, how we access it and what resources us sufficiently to...

Hey lovely Reader Have you ever wondered how resilient you are? Or felt it being tested and thinking you should be... more, in some way? Research tells us emotional resilience actually improves as we age - we handle things better, bounce back faster, aren't as floored by difficulty. I'm aware of that in myself. And I've noticed something else too. I'm not going to say much more here - it's all in the podcast, and this time it's become a Field Note in the blog too. Simply that this is a...

Hey lovely Reader When you think about the idea of 'beginning again' what comes up? Our experiences in life, our family system, the culture we're born into, they will all inform how this phrase lands within us. We might have learned that we just have to grit our teeth and keep ploughing forward... We might believe that beginning again is a form of weakness - an admission that something has failed. We might sense an uncomfortable vulnerability in adopting the 'Zen beginners mind' And/or......