Christine Poole

Scientist. Writer. Facilitator. Artist. Curious about what helps us grow.

Reflection

  • Searching for the Stillness 🌻

    Yesterday, my second poem was published in Flare Issue 32. It’s called Searching for the Stillness. When I wrote it, I was searching for something. I was asking myself, what is my purpose? I spent a lot of time in my head, thinking about life and meaning, sometimes so caught up in the questions that… Read more

  • 💡What I Learned by Becoming the Reader

    On 23 August, I wrote a blog called The Practice of Stepping Away. I had finished the first draft of my research paper. It was 38 pages long and, in my words at the time, a warm, stinky turd. 💩🤣 I knew I needed to step away from it. What I didn’t realise was how… Read more

  • 🐌 Boredom Is Good for Creativity

    Last week I was bored. Not a little bit bored. Properly bored. And apparently, this is excellent news for my creativity. Because when I have nothing to do, I write.  In the boredom, my mind has time to run free and, as a result, I wrote two new poems. One of them came from looking… Read more

  • 🌊The Lightness of a Break

    Last Sunday, we went for a cliff walk in Wicklow. We walked along the coast, enjoyed the views, and saw two lovely seals in the water. We also saw a jellyfish, ate golden pear and picked blackberries. It was one of those simple days that makes you feel light. There was something about that moment… Read more

  • The Practice of Staying ♥️

    21 years together.14 years married.Still here. This is one of my favourite photos of me and Eddie. It’s not the most glamorous or flattering, but it’s the story behind it that I love. The photo was taken in Kuching, Malaysia, on what was supposed to be a romantic evening boat cruise. Except there was a… Read more

  • 🌀The Work Moves Beneath You

    Through these recent posts I’ve been trying to capture my creative journey, but the metaphor I found to describe this part of the process surprised even me. Sometimes writing feels a bit like dancing on a bouncy castle. You start with an idea. You think you know where you’re going. You put one foot down… Read more

  • 🦋  The Courage to Finish

    For a long time, I thought my challenge was starting. I had ideas. Lots of them. Projects, notes, drafts, possibilities. My mind was constantly connecting things, noticing patterns, imagining what something could become. But recently I discovered something more uncomfortable. My challenge was not starting – my challenge was finishing. Because there is a strange… Read more

  • 🌙 The Work That Happens After the Work

    After writing about my Creative Operating System (COS) on Monday, I found myself thinking about something I had overlooked. We often focus on the work of creating — but what happens after the work is finished? I used to think finishing a project meant asking one question: What’s next? As soon as something was complete,… Read more

  • 🌱 The Things We Bring to Life

    Reflections on Motherhood and Writing Today is my son’s 9th birthday, and it feels like a fitting day to reflect. There’s something incredible about watching a child grow—knowing that someone so full of personality, curiosity, and possibility began as something so small. A seed, in a way, needing time, care, patience, and love. A few… Read more