Thomasina Unsworth

Yesterday my watch told me to stand up. I was already standing. So, I sat down and stood up again. It was only later, when I thought about it, that it struck me in any way as odd. My urge to be obedient to my watch is a strong one. I don’t want it to be cross with me....

"Life is short. Eat dessert first." This little soundbite was on a bumper sticker in a car. And it made me smile. But then it made me think. I get the sentiment entirely. It goes against all those dictates that tell us to stay on the treadmill of tasks, hard work,...

The brilliant poet Maya Angelou experienced acute anxiety every time she gave a reading of her work. Her advice for conquering the kind of fear she endured when sharing her work was, “Accept it. Don’t fight it.” How many times do we fight with ourselves, pummelling...

  The only creatures that should rattle are a certain type of snake. And they rattle with purpose. They rattle as a warning. Some other words for rattle are clatter, clack, jangle, vibrate, jar, jolt… There is no peace in these words. In moments when a situation...

I know a woman who gave pieces of herself away in tiny incremental moments. She didn’t literally carve off bits of flesh to hand out. She didn’t donate her vital organs. Her body remained intact. It was a quiet shedding of self. So quiet, so gradual, that it took...

I could post 27 pictures very like the one above. A picture for each year we have been coming to this spot and asking a passer by to take a snap of us. Marking the moment. Always in winter.  Always in the wind.  Always the last moment to capture before the long drive...

"If I hadn't forgotten who I am I would have come with you." My mother said this to my daughter when she told her about moving to Australia. And it has really resonated with me. In fact it is the inspiration for a new book that I have just started writing. More of...

"For last year's words belong to last year's language And next year's words await another voice. And to make an end is to make a beginning" (T.S.Elliot) I love this quote. What was your language of last year? What words did you use to drive your narrative and tell...

You know the story of Sisyphus? The one where the poor man is doomed to push a boulder up a hill only to find the next day that it has rolled down. And he has to start all over again? Ok, that is a pretty dreadful fate. You could see his perpetual struggle as being...