November 2020: The passing of my beloved cat, Tigger

DAY 310

We were far from prepared for the death of

our square, skirted killer clown with perfect stripes,

Tigger; the snotty soul of our house we rescued from

Chestnut Cat Sanctuary, Epping on 12/12/12 at 12 pm.

The knowledge of his passing out of pain

broke, stuck me to the chair.

- from my upcoming collection of poetry, ‘2020: Less Social Media / More Social Distancing’

My intention is to embody Tigger’s spirit of fight and curiosity throughout my remaining days.

I rose above the trauma and fear of a van full of police raiding my next door neighbour’s house for drugs to play my guitar on my driveway that evening, and a mother accompanied by a couple of small children hailed from across the road, “That was lovely.” In turn I lit up others like a flame with this story during a session of Collective Presencing with Ria Baeck at The Stoa. Ria admired how I’m unafraid of the intensity of my creative life force that needs to be expressed.

Having had two of my new poems published here by The Poetry Project in New York was another highlight of my month.

I participated in a host of wonderful webinars and courses over Zoom: ‘Nature-based Solutions for Carbon Storage’ with Earthwatch Europe, Future Thinkers social community calls, Transition Town Ilford AGM, ‘Evaluation and Narrative: How to Identify the Impact of Your Work’ with Artworks Alliance, ‘Build Your Creative Brand to Win Work’ with the Federation of Entertainment Unions, and at The Stoa, ‘What Gets Left Behind in the Hallway of Hallways w/ Nora Bateson’, ‘Strange Times: A Contemplative Perspective w/ Shinzen Young’, ‘Nordic LARP w/ Johanna Kolijonen’ and ‘High Pitch: Conversations in a New Key w/ Nora Bateson, Ria Baeck and others’.

Tigger