‘For every decision you make now’,

our friend told me in the hospital waiting room,

‘ask yourself one simple question, “Will this help him to survive?”’

I stood by that guiding principle. For dear life (yes, literally), I clung to my new mantra.

But now, as I watch him slowly dying… still, I begin to care a little less. Or so I tell myself.

I wonder whether I’ll still love him when I’m strong enough to help again. Will he last that long?

Am I dragging out my own recovery — because, I suppose, that’s what this is — and…

An unusual name. Not one I’ve heard before.

When I say it out loud, your voice lifts. ‘You’re the first English person who said it right first time!’

Surely not… the first English person in… 52 years (not 50 like your profile on the dating app states — do lies come so easily?)

Your name means ‘light’.

So does mine.

It must be a sign.

You tell me you’re an actor.

‘Probably waits tables,’ my friend jokes, ‘between jobs…’

So I look you up. ‘On the market’ after a 20-year relationship. It’s new to me to be able to check…

How is your attitude of gratitude?

This was the question I was asked by my writer friend and creative entrepreneur, Sam Kimberle. I’d just been telling her about rediscovering some old artwork from school.

Planning an escape from your joy-sucking, spirit-crushing job? Here’s a model to adapt as you like.

Subject: Resignation
Reference: Staff Number 12345

Dear Mr. Big Boss Man,

Per Article 5.4.3.2.1 of the Staff Regulations, I now tender my resignation from The Grey Sheep Mind-Control Corporation effective from today’s date because:

Here you may pause for a second, but no longer than a second. Take a deep breath.

Now, stop thinking. Just let your fingers fly back and forth across the keyboard as if it were a scorching hot piano (or your pen flit across the page as if you had a flight to catch and a life to live ).

I am more than just a number. I am a woman (or____)…

POETRY

It’s hot inside
We’re cramped, heat stifles
The kids need out
Mountains from trifles

I’ve loads to do
In overwhelm
I just need out
escape the helm

I flick a switch
radio on
The Beach Boys sing
that catchy song

Of waves and sea
happy Cali
Of course they’re right
it’s time to flee

We grab our towels
and deck our slides
And jog on to the beach
to ride

The waves a crashing
We’re a splashing
Laughter, fun and those
Good Vibes!

© Eilidh Horder

This poem is in response to Neha Sandhir S’s prompt, Good Vibes, from her…

She was so tiny she fitted under the garage door when it was closed. Fair enough, the door was at a wonky angle. But still.

There were clues an animal was using the garage. Fluff on an old pillowcase stashed among the paint tins and brushes. And of course, the garage was her toilet.

I began to leave water and cat food out in the evenings. Not a scrap left by morning.

The first time I saw her, I was carrying food into the garage. She spotted me at the same instant. A tiny little tabby and white feline, trotting…

I’ve always felt the benefits of a bit of yoga. And I’ve practiced for a variety of reasons.

Yoga is a way of getting to know a fascinating person: yourself.

Nina Anais Klein

I used to do it to lose weight and become that perfect 10 (before the days of size ‘0’). A close relative was to shift cellulite. Yoga was just one card in my extensive hand of lose-weight/get-fit obsessions, slotted somewhere in between Jane Fonda Workouts (yep… a long time ago) and the Cindy Crawford Shape Your Body program (it hurt a lot!).

I enjoyed yoga because it…