His destiny was dinner until he won the lobster lottery. — Even by YouTube viral animal rescue tale standards, this is the most unlikely of successes. Yet the heart-warming story of how filmmaker Brady Brandwood bought a live lobster from his local grocery store and then cared for it rather than cooked it has racked up tens of millions of views…

Everyone does it. We all have to stop. — When you are a Brit in Italy the temptation to use stereotypes is almost overwhelming. I can’t tell you how many expats, usually English, I have met who spend a disproportionate amount of time telling you what “the Italians” are like, what they do, how they behave, and how much…

How to tweak your morning habit and reap the benefits. — Do you reach for your phone or tablet as soon as you wake up? Then this is for you. Because it’s a terrible habit that’s hard to stop. Like the laudanum addicts of the 19th century, we crave our fix of infinite information as we sit in our modern-day opium…

Yes, yes, yes! We all have “those songs”- the ones that stir your soul and quicken your heartbeat. Here are mine… You’re welcome. — Unless you have been living in a cave you will have heard of ASMR — known colloquially as a brain orgasm. …

I got an honorable mention. But for 13 days the big prize was dangling above my head… — On the evening of our fourth wedding anniversary on 30th September, I was quickly checking my emails when a subject line caused a sudden rush of blood to my head. “Medium Writers Challenge. Signature Requested on: “Please read. Potential Winner- Request for Signing Affadavit of Eligibility for Medium Writers Challenge…

-that’s pretty much everyone — So, you think you have nothing to say? That you are a small, insignificant voice in a world of shouty people. That you will never fit the mold because there is nothing special about you and no-one could possibly want to read about your thoughts and feelings, hopes and fears. …

Need a creative boost? Paint your space the color of a poet’s inkwell or a witch’s hat. I dare you. — When I was 13 years old in the 1970s, my dad said I could paint my bedroom whatever color I wanted. Being a strange girl, fascinated by the supernatural, death and darkness, I chose deep brown walls and deeper brown paintwork. To his credit, and the horror of my conservative…

How liminal space theory and a dash of Renaissance wisdom can help when your life is between acts. — Throbbing with life 24/7, Piazza Santo Spirito, in Florence’s achingly cool Oltrarno district, has been a meeting place since medieval times. Edged with gasp-inducing 15th and 16th-century buildings (including Palazzo Guadagni, on whose chilly candlelit balcony my chaplain husband, wearing army dress uniform, proposed) it is dominated by a Renaissance…

Grabbing grief by the balls. — In a dazzle of moves the funeral director closed the program on his computer, fiddled with his fly and leapt to his feet. We hovered at the doorway, not quite believing what we had seen. “Signore, ladies, good afternoon. Please, take a seat.” I shot a glance at Judith. Yet…