I have always been fascinated by mandalas. The mandala is our connection to our true selves, our collective unconscious and to everything: nature, the world and the universe . According to Jung, the mandala is the ultimate archetype. The ultimate universal symbolic pattern to explain the nature of the world and life. Regardless of the meaning human-kind has placed upon the mandala, and our use of this archetype, nature has been creating mandalas since the beginning of time. This is a celebration of mandalas and everything they have to teach us.

Sharing my journey of falling for ‘The Jerk’. No matter how I have resisted he has got me! He has won me over. And look out, if you haven’t fallen for him already, you will find his laugh adorable, his elf-like features appealing, his ideas and words life changing. It is absurd to call him a jerk, but I have.

Dostoevsky wrote: ‘The mystery of human existence lies not in just staying alive, but in finding something to live for.’ I realise there is no point in arguing with the great philosophers and psychologists of our time, research studies, medical experts and survivors. To have purpose is to have life.

Writing more freely is about detaching from your writing. That does not mean being cold and distant from it, but truly loving it. Write in a way that embraces the four Buddhists noble truths of love. Maitri, Karuna, Mudita and Upeksha: loving-kindness, compassion, joy and equanimity.

Nietzsche is described as loving Lou Andreas-Salomé. He loved her with all his heart. But Lou was not the only love affair to define him. Another had a significant influence on his work. Nietzsche was in love with the ancient mysticism of Eastern Philosophy. A love he was true to, in his writings.

Inspired by someone I know who has recently discovered the beauty of philosophy I started to read Birth of Tragedy again to see if after 27 years Nietzsche would still sing to me, and he did. What a serenade!