Less Ordinary

I graduated on the 25th of June with my doctoral degree - thanks to all those who cheered me on the finishing line!

PS You can view a clip of me collecting my degree here!

It’s been quite a long while since my last post here - feel like I’ve lost my way with my blogging recently.  Also, the effort that it has taken to get through the final stages of my phd has been far more draining than I could ever have anticipated.

However, over the last couple of weeks, I have started writing for myself again.  So far, my writing has been mostly confined to private notebooks, but I have shared one piece online, which you can find here: Waves of Kindness.  In fact it was through writing this piece that I became inspired to pick up my pen and start engaging again with my words and with my photography, and so I’m looking forward to writing more for The Calm Space.

I’ve also been reading a lot of poetry recently, and I have been greatly enjoying Sage Cohen’s Writing the Life Poetic: An Invitation to Read and Write Poetry.  I have added this book to my Amazon bookshop (in the category Creativity) and I thoroughly recommend you get yourself a copy!

While I’ve always blogged quite a lot about poetry, I think you’re going to see a renewed interest in the topic here.  Maybe it’s because I’m enjoying drawing upon the energy of the poet archtype

Anyway, I’m looking forward to getting back into the habit of blogging here at Less Ordinary and I look forward to building back up the fabulous community that graces the Less Ordinary comments!

PS If you want to keep up with my professional life, check out my other blog, AmyPalko.

Most Tuesdays I pay my grandparents a visit, and while I’m there I tend to take quite a few pics in my grandad’s garden.  When I was there last week, as well as taking lots more photos of the beautiful flowers growing in the borders, pots and window boxes, I also took some shots in the greenhouse:

Wonder what photos I’ll take when I visit there today…

My heart that was rapt away by the wild cherry blossoms - will it return to my body when they scatter?  ~Kotomichi

Have been up to the north of Scotland on holiday, and thought I’d share some of my photos:

This trip provided me and my family with a much needed break - fresh air, wide open spaces, and the rugged beauty of wild, rural, remote Scotland. If you want to see more, you can check out this Flickr set.