Why I Called It Strands of Life

Perhaps I should explain why I called this blog 'Strands of Life'.

It seems to me that most of us have several strands to our lives. For me, that means work, which provides the means to allow all the other strands to exist, given that pretty much everything we do to enrich our lives costs money!

Then, for me, there are several networks, or strands, of friends. I have a group of people all over the world who are like a substitute family - my ex-Exclusive Brethren friends. Some of us have an email list that we use to keep in daily contact with each other and there is also a website. Further to that, we have an annual 'gathering' and often a small group of us will meet up for drinks and a meal, usually when there is a visitor from overseas.

There is also a small walking group that I have belonged to in Peterborough for the past ten years. We go for a four or five mile walk in the country most Sundays, go for a meal together three or four times a year, and occasionally some of us will go away for a weekend in the countryside.

In the last few years I have become more and more involved with Toastmasters International. Toastmasters is one of those rare large groups of people that doesn't, for me, have any negatives. There is no politics or religion involved at all. I know some members are Christians, Muslims and I'm quite sure that other religions and pretty much all shades of politics are represented in Toastmasters membership. None of this matters, however, because we all go along to develop ourselves and to support others in their development.

So that's some of my Strands of Life, hastily typed on a beautiful Sunday morning before going off to the gym. Then it'll be The Archers while doing the ironing, then a walk in the country this afternoon.