Hello my friend,

A few months ago I travelled to England where Martina and I went to Jeffrey and Mary Archer’s platinum wedding celebration (he’d been my captain of athletics at Oxford and we’d stayed in touch.) I was saddened by his recent passing, but he got the plot right, just as he gets the plot right in all his books. He timed it well. He’d just finished his last book and he made sure he didn’t linger with any painful disease. He went out bang. I think that’s the best way to go!

Now that he’s no longer with us, people have said all sorts of things about him, not always complimentary, and I’d like to stick up for him.

Yes, he was a controversial figure and many were jealous of his wealth, but he was one of a kind. He was remarkable in many ways and had oodles of life force and chutzpah. He had the courage to always be reinventing himself, to go for things he wanted and to believe fully in himself, and he managed to combine being a man of action as well as having the time to write his many best-selling books.

He also touched hundreds of thousands of people in many different ways. His will was very strong, as was his discipline and I admire that. And such imagination! It takes a hell of a lot of oompf to think up great plots, and Jeffrey has thought up many hundreds of them!

Since our politics didn’t exactly mesh, our main link was through sport. He loved talking about it and so do I. I very much enjoyed his company. And yes, I’ll miss watching the six-nation rugby matches with him which I’ve done for the past seven years! We were very different kinds of people but I think it’s great to be buddies with those totally unlike us. We can learn a lot from them.

Goodbye my old friend. I wish you well in your journeying through the afterlife.

On another matter…

I want to say that it is really great to feel well again, as for the last few months, I had been going about my daily life in a pretty ghost-like way not realising I had pneumonia. It had to come to my hardly being able to move to take myself to hospital, where they told me that if you’re old – and I guess I fit into that category (but don’t tell anyone!) – and you feel unwell, you should go to a hospital at once, not wait until you’re half dead! So, if there’s any other of you old codgers – or codgerettes – out there feeling under the weather, take that advice.

There was, however, a gift in this illness. I had to stop everything. I spent a month just lying there, just letting go – because I couldn’t do anything else except get back to reading beautiful novels – and that felt very healing. I am always telling my clients to remember that they are human beings and not human doings and I need to remind myself of that as well. In my case, I had to get sick to learn the lesson!

But enough blabbering, I want now to talk about the new and wonderful offerings of two other dear friends who I see as being among the wisest people I know.

Steve Taylor, my dear buddy and co-podcaster, is not only the author of 19 books on spirituality and transformation, but he also teaches psychology at Leeds university and is a poet and musician.

Steve has just written a fantastic book, Across the Universe, on the creativity of the Beatles, asking himself what their magic was, and just how they achieved so much in so short a time.

If you look at the podcast of my interviewing Steve on his book, you’ll find out lots of interesting things about the Beatles.

I hope you’ll also enjoy his rendition of several Beatles songs, he starts off this podcast with Here Comes the Sun. I heartily recommend Steve’s thoroughly entertaiing book!

Philip Carr-Gomm is eminent in the field of transpersonal psychology. He is also a prolific author, and for many years he was the head honcho of the Druids in England. He also trained in Psychosynthesis, which was what I trained in, way back when I lived in California.

You can experience the Perfect Inner Companion Practice for Self-Compassion, Philip’s Free online Intro Event, on October 27.

During the hour, you’ll learn how to define your goals and intention, map out exactly what’s obstructing your growth, and discover the psychological and spiritual tools to move beyond it — as you explore your path of service, devotion, and purpose.

You will also learn how you can join Philip for his 18-session transformational journey, Spiritual Psychology – Awakening to Your True Nature, blending psychological and spiritual exploration, that weaves together ancient wisdom, depth psychology, neuroscience and contemplative practices.

If you are interested in these areas, I cannot recommend a wiser teacher, with the added bonus of Steve Taylor being part of his faculty team!

If you’d like to get to know Philip, you can watch him being interviewed by Steve and myself this past June. He was our first guest on our Fierce Grace Podcast!

That’s all for now.
Wishing you well.
With Love,