Stories from July, August & September 2017JulyGordie Jackson·Follow12 min read·Apr 11, 2023--ListenShare1. How big are our fears really?This Gabby Bernstein seems to be following me. I really have enough reading material and I don’t need to pick up…gordiejackson.medium.com2. Whatever our politics let’s meet in a field and be people togetherIt has been a hectic day here. It is 02 05 hours UK time.gordiejackson.medium.com3. Do you have a Martha?Each weekday morning I pull the car over just before I reach my destination. I open the glove compartment and read a…gordiejackson.medium.com4. Happy 4th July evening!It is the 4th of July, Happy Independence Day. The fourth of July, like US culture, is embedded in the minds of most of…gordiejackson.medium.com5. Without a vision, the people perishWriting is such a powerful force as it brings to the surface what lay dormant, hidden for years. Each evening as I come…gordiejackson.medium.com6. Why are we more afraid of our light than our darkness?Tonight I attended an event in St James, Piccadilly at which Marianne Williamson was speaking. For those who are not…gordiejackson.medium.com7. What does a discarded coffee cup say?I am running behind myself as usually I have written before midnight and submitted to Hope and Dreams. My body knocked…gordiejackson.medium.com8. How to keep the lights on when the meter runs outI was up in time this morning to be one of Starbuck’s first customers. I was late with yesterday’s story and I wanted…gordiejackson.medium.com9. Should I stay or should I go?I entered the meeting this morning quite unsettled. I think it had been prompted by an old school class photo taken…gordiejackson.medium.com10. What faces you in the dentist’s chair?Today was the day for my 6 monthly dental check. I was running late and the internal critic was having a field day…gordiejackson.medium.com11. The boys who built the bonfireThere are some dates or times of year that are indelibly printed in the psyche like Christmas. The eleventh night, the…gordiejackson.medium.com12. The Twelfth of July reminds me that I am a Northern Irish Protestant, just in case I forgot…It is not politically correct to be Northern Irish Protestant and Unionist so it is probably not best to write about it…gordiejackson.medium.com13. It is in the unknown places that we discover who we areThe word change has been firmly on my mind. I suppose it was prompted by all my reminiscences of my childhood / teenage…gordiejackson.medium.com14. Change is not always good, the day I decided to toughen upThe idea of change is hanging around me so it seems I have not written of everything it still wants to say.gordiejackson.medium.com15. Whatever I said it was her response I rememberI have spent tonight looking for a photo that has taken me an hour to find, but I did find it, it is the display photo.gordiejackson.medium.com16. Openness difficult as it can be is a precursor to changeWell, it seems change is here to stay. Of course it is though I hadn’t anticipated that it would stay in my thoughts…gordiejackson.medium.com17. What shows up in the mirror of a close relationship?I am sure most of us whose parents have separated and later divorced experience varying degrees of fear about marriage…medium.com18. The birth of a child can lead to our own rebirthA sequence of events seems to follow change, you finish education, you get a job, you get married and then you have…gordiejackson.medium.com19. Think hard and find that unassuming character who changed how you see the world!Isn’t it strange how we often quote famous figures when asked who inspires us most? Yet I have this hunch that if we…gordiejackson.medium.com20. Seeking until I fallI am in freefall. I have been for over 8 years now.gordiejackson.medium.com21. How was your day? Let me tell ya.A couple of weeks in and Ciara now drives to school. The thing is when I say “Stop” or “Wait” sometimes she does and…gordiejackson.medium.com22. How do you respond to, “Let’s go shopping?”We are driving to Ciara’s last piano lesson of the school year when she asks, “Can we go into London today to shop?”…gordiejackson.medium.com23. A moment of beauty can open up another worldAt about 9 o’clock this morning I was driving Cee back after a night out with her friends. My mind has my emotions in…gordiejackson.medium.com24. A candle for Charlie will bring to light the plight of other babiesYou know sometimes your life gets interrupted when a news story becomes so big that you hear it. I was aware of the…gordiejackson.medium.com25. Standoff in Oxford between city’s cleansing team and the Pavement PoetI was in Oxford yesterday, Cee had a physics taster day at one of the colleges which left me to occupy myself for the…gordiejackson.medium.com26. Has my life changed due to Facebook? Has yours?I looked at my Facebook page this morning and saw this video informing me that I joined 10 years ago.gordiejackson.medium.com27. Can a book reflect your cultural traits?The book group chose Sebastian Barry’s book ‘Days without end’. I struggled to finish it getting bored somewhere…gordiejackson.medium.com28. She has her vodka, I have my broken biscuitsEarly thirties, dual heritage and a little big. I had sat down to type and noticed her as she was in my gaze.gordiejackson.medium.com29. How you tip may tell more about you than the service!I had my haircut today and it prompted me to write about tipping. I am not sure that I would tip as often as I do if I…gordiejackson.medium.com30. Breaking Good!Two worlds collide and a child is conceived and nine months later into this world the baby is born.gordiejackson.medium.com31. A life has begun, a shadow is cast now what’s the story?In Harry Potter there is a scene in which Harry looks in a mirror and as he does he sees his parents. How often have…gordiejackson.medium.comAugust1. A yellow highlightI stop and look up the path I can see a woman in her early seventies pottering around in the truest sense of the word…gordiejackson.medium.com2. I said to my mechanic, “You are like a priest.”It began yesterday evening. I noticed a sound I don’t normally noticed and I did what I normally do pretend I didn’t…gordiejackson.medium.com3. The moment your kid becomes almost your equalIt is a funny thing that writing daily seems occasionally to develop themes. I was writing yesterday about my car and I…gordiejackson.medium.com4. “I want to play Fish and Shark.”It is not without reason that we have sayings such as, “It doesn’t rain that it pours” and “Things come in threes”…gordiejackson.medium.com5. What would your bumper sticker say?I was driving this morning listening more to the sounds of the car than the radio. I was reflecting also on Cee being…gordiejackson.medium.com6. How a gravestone of a child who died in 1869 helps give me a sense of placeI keep an active interest in affairs in Ireland and recently read about the annual yearly meeting of Quakers in…gordiejackson.medium.com7. Life the great storyteller tells us a new story about two men, one called Bolt and the other GatlinI haven’t watched athletics for a while. I don’t watch much TV these days too busy living to write. Yet every so often…gordiejackson.medium.com8. If you can dream it you can do itThe car continues to splutter along so I decided I would give it a rest today and walk the 3 and a bit miles to the…gordiejackson.medium.com9. It’s only a car, is it?You will always know when I am tired and or when I have too much to do as these stories are likely to be shorter and…gordiejackson.medium.com10. Can’t find your heart? Look at what you spend your money onThey say one thing leads to another which probably tells us when we get to the end of life we will see it from…gordiejackson.medium.com11. Delivery room, Airport arrivals; all about birth and rebirthIn the week that Cee was in Greece, I managed to sort a car and today was the day to drive to Gatwick and pick up her…gordiejackson.medium.com12. “You returned a dirty car!” Car Rental with Sixt in Catalunya2 September 2013 at 23:09medium.com13. Wherever you are we are united by the day we are now in!At this time of year, I am usually looking forward to a summer trip. This time last year we were preparing for our trip…gordiejackson.medium.com14. Christmas can wait Mary is still enjoying the summerSo here’s me trying to let the day unfold when I bump into this advert! It happens every year which encourages some of…gordiejackson.medium.com15. Download — Love or Fear — which do you chose?I was pretty much fuming last night though I recognise that fear got the better part of me. I didn’t help that in my…gordiejackson.medium.com16. In the ordinary, the extraordinary can happen…GORDIE JACKSON·SUNDAY, 7 AUGUST 2016medium.com17. Have you lost something?I returned to my old university today with Cee. She wanted to study and as she was picking me up she asked would I join…gordiejackson.medium.com18. Is writing a form of drag that allows us to express our deepest self?One thing I have noticed as I have gotten older is my ability to make friends has lessened.gordiejackson.medium.com19. Was it a coincidence that Joseph’s coat was of many colours?I am sensing from this side of the Atlantic that Charlottesville has become a moment when the US is looking closely at…gordiejackson.medium.com20. Even in difficult situations what you believe has powerI awoke in the morning and felt my nose was doing something different. It was subtle, just noticeable. By lunchtime, I…gordiejackson.medium.com21. What would you get out of bed for?This morning the cold had taken hold and my thoughts were being influenced by it, “Just stay in bed” “Why make the…gordiejackson.medium.com22. I have two chairs, one for you and one for someone who mattered in your lifeI was choosing a card for a friend today when I came across the one above. On spotting it I could see the two of us…gordiejackson.medium.com23. Whatever we do there is a purpose in itAfter a time of attending Quaker meetings, you will hear such phrases as ‘Centring down’ and ‘Finding your centre’…gordiejackson.medium.com24. Hey Cat shed that coat there’s a butterfly waiting to get out!I am determined to write every day. I can’t think the last time I was so determined about something and do ask myself…gordiejackson.medium.com25. Do you ever stop the car to take a photo?I don’t like to have too many things to do in a day unless I am excited about every one of them. Today, like the last…gordiejackson.medium.com26. An unexpected discoveryNow I know one of the reasons it can take me a day or two to get settled in a new place! Staying at accommodation other…gordiejackson.medium.com27. Reading though not as you know it!Summers are different. It has probably something to do with the school holidays. In my native N. Ireland, we had 9…gordiejackson.medium.com28. A crisis can cause a crack that lets us out!I noticed a friend on Facebook posted as if Facebook was around 31 years ago when we got our O Level results. He just…gordiejackson.medium.com29. I am happy to be here!I keep checking myself as if there may be something wrong. It is the last Bank Holiday of the summer and for the best…gordiejackson.medium.com30. Do not speak, unless it improves on silence.Sitting in silence for an hour with others is good ground for not only encountering the divine but also our…gordiejackson.medium.com31. How would you feel if your most embarrassing photos were published on Medium?It is the end of summer Bank holiday here in the UK today which means many events and people travelling. Cee was…gordiejackson.medium.com32. As I write a creative force awakens within me and takes me on a journey with wordsPrior to discovering Medium, I wrote a weekly Facebook Note which I would post later on Blogspot. I had used Blogspot…gordiejackson.medium.com33. Stories of hope must be stories of hope for us allOn Saturday my regular newsagent asked me where I had been? I informed him that I drew up a pact with myself that I…gordiejackson.medium.comSeptember1. Are those words speaking to me?Do calendars speak? Do words speak? You are either with me or against me on this one. I am a bit of a believer that…gordiejackson.medium.com2. “Diana, she was a messenger like Jesus.”The newspapers carried stories the TV broadcast documentaries yet it seemed the 20th anniversary of Diana’s death had…gordiejackson.medium.com3. Not going away is saying more than I first thought!It seems ‘this not getting away on holiday’ is playing more on my mind than I acknowledged. I was reading the…gordiejackson.medium.com4. Life says, “ Come on the next day is here!”How is it one day you wake up like yesterday morning and you feel energised? I still had my dream in my head when I…gordiejackson.medium.com5. “I don’t like people touching me”“Between 8 am and 6 pm your service engineer will call.” I hate these messages but I am getting used to them. I…gordiejackson.medium.com6. Tell me the best moments of your life…I found myself in town late this afternoon. I was surrounded by graduating students from the University in caps and…gordiejackson.medium.com7. Tell me a time when you just did it!“I wasn’t thinking if anything I just did it.”gordiejackson.medium.com8. Tell me , what was the playground of your childhood?Every so often a book comes along that speaks to you more powerfully than other books and you may have guessed that…gordiejackson.medium.com9. Tell me a time when you were so surprised that the moment has never left you.“…… deep in the night, he’d leave his camp and walk until the trees abruptly ended and the waters of the pond swayed…gordiejackson.medium.com10. Tell me what you are passionate about?Cee announces yesterday that she needs to go to Leeds University today. In that small announcement, I realise a few…gordiejackson.medium.com11. Let your feet speak!In McDonald’s this morning I wrote in my pad,“I can do but I need rest periods to charge up the mind and whatever…gordiejackson.medium.com12. For as long as conkers fall to the ground the world is as it should beI am aware that most of the people who read my stories live in the US and the rub off from this end is that I take much…gordiejackson.medium.com13. This photo is a quick test on whether you are a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP)I was talking to a chap who has had the label ‘Asperger’ applied to him. Whether he has it or not he described to me…gordiejackson.medium.com14. Value the flowers in your life for one day they will be taken and placed in heaven’s meadowI was in a bit of a mood this morning, less talkative than usual. I could feel a sadness at particular parts of the…gordiejackson.medium.com15. The positive past is always alive to the presentI awoke from my power nap in the car this morning and went to reach for my inspirational reading material when I made…gordiejackson.medium.com16. The pitch is high, the emotion angry and the words nakedI have the laptop open though I am not in a mood for writing yet writing has become so integral to my daily life that I…gordiejackson.medium.com17. The tiger also runs after things“So how are you?” I ask the cashier,gordiejackson.medium.com18. Silence with children or without?There are, at least, two types of silence one in which no children can be heard and the other in which children can be…gordiejackson.medium.com19. The story behind the photoThere was chaos at the station this morning or was there? The machines were taking an age to process tickets. It was…gordiejackson.medium.com20. “Come fly with me!”So I am on the train tonight returning home when this guy sits down and asks, “Did you hear about the farmer who got…gordiejackson.medium.com21. A meal 1976I am not sure when I sleep or whether I am inhabiting some heavenly plane as it seems I am aware and then I am not…gordiejackson.medium.com22. Births, deaths, marriages bring with them stories to be toldThere are two ways of remembering, at least, one is to search the annals of one’s mind the other is revisit a place.gordiejackson.medium.com23. Number 52“Jesus I want to take you to my first home. I am not sure why but I do.”gordiejackson.medium.com24. We are here to be touched and to touchYesterday we met at Jordans Quaker centre for the day during which we considered our spiritual growth. (Note in passing…gordiejackson.medium.com25. The power of a painting“Gordon, if you want to, you can do this alone.”gordiejackson.medium.com26. A touch that never leaves you“You know Jesus I hadn’t this all thought out, I wasn’t sure where we would go though I knew in my heart that there…gordiejackson.medium.com27. I ran to the sound of the drums“You know J, years ago in the Salvation Army Sunday school we used to sing a song about meeting you in the air and here…gordiejackson.medium.com28. Scars tell a story but which one?“J there was a lot of tension in my town and as I grew older I became more aware of it and more involved in it. Let me…gordiejackson.medium.com29. When others share their light when yours is dimming“I am sounding like a child can I take you to my schools?”gordiejackson.medium.com30. Where do you find the still, small voice?It was a 4 30 start this morning as we travelled to Manchester for its University’s Open Day. 5 hours and 200 miles…gordiejackson.medium.comg
