I hadn't planned this episode - it seems to be the way, these days - it arrived instead, out of a small, quite ordinary battle with a piece of technology that simply wouldn't cooperate - and the frustration that came with it.

As today's episode unfolded, there were three threads that appeared:

• What happens when something feels hard - not the BIG moments but those small things that thwart us - frustrating, annoying, irritating - and the choices we might forget we have
• How trying to enforce 'unenforceable rules' can lead us to 'pushing on through', when perhaps something else might serve the situation better
• And I share my new book, everyday compassion (365 days of ordinary kindness), is published on 22 September. Pre-orders are open now, and I would love to inscribe a copy for you, or for someone you love.

Henny x

Resources & Ways of Connecting

• To order everyday compassion... https://www.hennyflynn.co.uk/everyday-compassion
• To discover The Field... https://www.hennyflynn.co.uk/enter-the-field
• Share where you go... when things feel like they're thwarting you, I'd love to hear https://www.hennyflynn.co.uk/contact

The response to last week's episode about fairy tales and voice notes has been extraordinary - so many of you shared your own stories with me, and I wanted to spend this episode reflecting on what came through, and inviting you a little deeper into mine.

There are three threads running through today's conversation:

• I share the fuller story behind my own fairy tale - Little Red Riding Hood - including a sculpture that changed how I related to a part of myself I used to call anger, and how that part has since transformed from a black dog into a grey wolf who watches over me from the hillside.
• I reflect on some of the fairy tales you shared with me - Rapunzel, The Happy Prince, Parsifal, the Magic Porridge Pot and more - and what might be sitting underneath each one.
• And I share a little about the Weekend of No-Requirements, the retreat I'm running with Adam Lind this October - a space where nothing is required of you at all.

Henny x

Resources & Ways of Connecting

• Discover the Weekend of No-Requirements... with Adam Lind, 16-19 October
• On animal parts work... if this resonates, Charlie Mackesy's The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse and Richard Schwartz's Internal Family Systems (IFS) are both beautiful places to go deeper
• Explore Paul Smith's sculptures
• Missed the fairy tale question... listen to last week's episode S21E1
• Share the Animal Parts who show up for you... by email, on YouTube, or through the contact form

After our pause, I'm returning to a new season - literal and metaphorical. It's lovely to be back and to feel into what is asking to be shared. As I opened the channel for today's conversation, two themes began flowing through this episode.

I reflect on connection - between writer and reader, speaker and listener, self and self - and I ask a question I'd love you to sit with: what fairy tale from your childhood has stayed with you, and what might it be reflecting back?

I also share a new way I've been thinking about voice notes: the way they allow us to communicate - to connect - even more freely with each other. Inspired by a friend... who was in her turn inspired by another beautiful human.

Lastly I share a little about Season Two of The Field. If you're curious about intentional change, grounded in compassionate self-enquiry, then perhaps it's a space that calls to something within you. You would be so welcome there.

Henny x

Resources & Ways of Connecting

• On voice memos... from Andrea Gibson and Megan Falley - Can I send you a voice memo - with gratitude for the inspiration
• To discover more about The Field... the gate closes for Season Two on 9 September
• Share the fairytale that speaks to you... I would love to share the reflections that might arise