Mary McGonigal
@marymcgonigal.bsky.social
I’m not a Botticelli Venus just a wee person in Scotland who thinks that each of us has to choose unity and peace in our own life.
I’m choosing to focus on beauty, truth and joy because I believe that only an open loving heart can heal us and our Earth 🌎.
I’m choosing to focus on beauty, truth and joy because I believe that only an open loving heart can heal us and our Earth 🌎.
November 15, 2025 at 6:48 PM
“Everyday I see more and more beautiful things. It’s enough to drive one mad. I have such a desire to do everything, my head is bursting with it.”
- Claude Monet
#art
#beauty
#creativity
- Claude Monet
#art
#beauty
#creativity
November 14, 2025 at 9:48 PM
“Everyday I see more and more beautiful things. It’s enough to drive one mad. I have such a desire to do everything, my head is bursting with it.”
- Claude Monet
#art
#beauty
#creativity
- Claude Monet
#art
#beauty
#creativity
Read all about the creative life and work of French painter -
one of the finest of the
modern period
Claude Monet
[born 14 November 1840
died 5 December 1926]
- his visit to England and
his gardens at Giverny
#art
#Monet
#Giverny
#impressionism
#history
claudemonetgallery.org/biography.html
one of the finest of the
modern period
Claude Monet
[born 14 November 1840
died 5 December 1926]
- his visit to England and
his gardens at Giverny
#art
#Monet
#Giverny
#impressionism
#history
claudemonetgallery.org/biography.html
November 14, 2025 at 9:36 PM
Read all about the creative life and work of French painter -
one of the finest of the
modern period
Claude Monet
[born 14 November 1840
died 5 December 1926]
- his visit to England and
his gardens at Giverny
#art
#Monet
#Giverny
#impressionism
#history
claudemonetgallery.org/biography.html
one of the finest of the
modern period
Claude Monet
[born 14 November 1840
died 5 December 1926]
- his visit to England and
his gardens at Giverny
#art
#Monet
#Giverny
#impressionism
#history
claudemonetgallery.org/biography.html
Liking books
doesn’t necessarily mean
you don’t like podcasts
Here’s one that might interest you:
JANE AUSTEN’S PAPER TRAIL
#JaneAusten
#books
#podcasts
pod.link/1844385976
doesn’t necessarily mean
you don’t like podcasts
Here’s one that might interest you:
JANE AUSTEN’S PAPER TRAIL
#JaneAusten
#books
#podcasts
pod.link/1844385976
November 10, 2025 at 10:00 AM
Liking books
doesn’t necessarily mean
you don’t like podcasts
Here’s one that might interest you:
JANE AUSTEN’S PAPER TRAIL
#JaneAusten
#books
#podcasts
pod.link/1844385976
doesn’t necessarily mean
you don’t like podcasts
Here’s one that might interest you:
JANE AUSTEN’S PAPER TRAIL
#JaneAusten
#books
#podcasts
pod.link/1844385976
El Tres De Mayo
by
Francisco Goya (1746-1828)
Spanish rebel being executed by Napoleon’s soldiers 3 May 1808
#art
#war
#imperialism
by
Francisco Goya (1746-1828)
Spanish rebel being executed by Napoleon’s soldiers 3 May 1808
#art
#war
#imperialism
November 8, 2025 at 6:23 PM
El Tres De Mayo
by
Francisco Goya (1746-1828)
Spanish rebel being executed by Napoleon’s soldiers 3 May 1808
#art
#war
#imperialism
by
Francisco Goya (1746-1828)
Spanish rebel being executed by Napoleon’s soldiers 3 May 1808
#art
#war
#imperialism
This motto
or a variation of it
‘Work hard
Be nice’
has become popular
as a school motto
It’s heartening
and good advice
for maturing kids
Compare and contrast it with
the motto of
technocrats/political dictators:
‘Get rich
Be powerful’
(and screw everybody else for all they’re worth)
#equality
or a variation of it
‘Work hard
Be nice’
has become popular
as a school motto
It’s heartening
and good advice
for maturing kids
Compare and contrast it with
the motto of
technocrats/political dictators:
‘Get rich
Be powerful’
(and screw everybody else for all they’re worth)
#equality
November 6, 2025 at 9:27 AM
This motto
or a variation of it
‘Work hard
Be nice’
has become popular
as a school motto
It’s heartening
and good advice
for maturing kids
Compare and contrast it with
the motto of
technocrats/political dictators:
‘Get rich
Be powerful’
(and screw everybody else for all they’re worth)
#equality
or a variation of it
‘Work hard
Be nice’
has become popular
as a school motto
It’s heartening
and good advice
for maturing kids
Compare and contrast it with
the motto of
technocrats/political dictators:
‘Get rich
Be powerful’
(and screw everybody else for all they’re worth)
#equality
Middleland
Dispatches FromThe Borders
by
Rory Stewart
Articles about the impressive and beautiful area of Cumbria
in north-west England
#Booksky
#nonfictionNovember
#UK
Dispatches FromThe Borders
by
Rory Stewart
Articles about the impressive and beautiful area of Cumbria
in north-west England
#Booksky
#nonfictionNovember
#UK
November 1, 2025 at 11:43 AM
Middleland
Dispatches FromThe Borders
by
Rory Stewart
Articles about the impressive and beautiful area of Cumbria
in north-west England
#Booksky
#nonfictionNovember
#UK
Dispatches FromThe Borders
by
Rory Stewart
Articles about the impressive and beautiful area of Cumbria
in north-west England
#Booksky
#nonfictionNovember
#UK
A kind friend passed on
this Michael Connelly hardback
‘Nightshade’
to me
which I’ve just started reading
I’ve been a fan for years
of his writing
and I agree
with all the extraordinary recommendations
on the back cover
- most especially Lee Child’s
“A superb natural storyteller”
#Booksky
this Michael Connelly hardback
‘Nightshade’
to me
which I’ve just started reading
I’ve been a fan for years
of his writing
and I agree
with all the extraordinary recommendations
on the back cover
- most especially Lee Child’s
“A superb natural storyteller”
#Booksky
October 30, 2025 at 9:57 PM
A kind friend passed on
this Michael Connelly hardback
‘Nightshade’
to me
which I’ve just started reading
I’ve been a fan for years
of his writing
and I agree
with all the extraordinary recommendations
on the back cover
- most especially Lee Child’s
“A superb natural storyteller”
#Booksky
this Michael Connelly hardback
‘Nightshade’
to me
which I’ve just started reading
I’ve been a fan for years
of his writing
and I agree
with all the extraordinary recommendations
on the back cover
- most especially Lee Child’s
“A superb natural storyteller”
#Booksky
2/2
Mothers made toffee apples - ordinary eating
apples dipped in a hard toffee and pierced with a stick to make them easier to hold
Sometimes they also made ‘tablet’ a sweet consisting of mainly sugar and butter
‘Dookin’ meant placing small apples in basins of water and trying to bite into them
Mothers made toffee apples - ordinary eating
apples dipped in a hard toffee and pierced with a stick to make them easier to hold
Sometimes they also made ‘tablet’ a sweet consisting of mainly sugar and butter
‘Dookin’ meant placing small apples in basins of water and trying to bite into them
October 30, 2025 at 9:38 PM
2/2
Mothers made toffee apples - ordinary eating
apples dipped in a hard toffee and pierced with a stick to make them easier to hold
Sometimes they also made ‘tablet’ a sweet consisting of mainly sugar and butter
‘Dookin’ meant placing small apples in basins of water and trying to bite into them
Mothers made toffee apples - ordinary eating
apples dipped in a hard toffee and pierced with a stick to make them easier to hold
Sometimes they also made ‘tablet’ a sweet consisting of mainly sugar and butter
‘Dookin’ meant placing small apples in basins of water and trying to bite into them
1/2
There was nothing commercial about celebrating Hallowe’en when I was a child in the 1950s
Our lanterns were made from swedes - ‘tumshies’ or ‘neeps’ -in Scots
We went ‘guising’ from door to door dressed up in whatever could improvise and were given fruit nuts or sweets
We ‘dooked’ for apples
There was nothing commercial about celebrating Hallowe’en when I was a child in the 1950s
Our lanterns were made from swedes - ‘tumshies’ or ‘neeps’ -in Scots
We went ‘guising’ from door to door dressed up in whatever could improvise and were given fruit nuts or sweets
We ‘dooked’ for apples
October 30, 2025 at 9:31 PM
1/2
There was nothing commercial about celebrating Hallowe’en when I was a child in the 1950s
Our lanterns were made from swedes - ‘tumshies’ or ‘neeps’ -in Scots
We went ‘guising’ from door to door dressed up in whatever could improvise and were given fruit nuts or sweets
We ‘dooked’ for apples
There was nothing commercial about celebrating Hallowe’en when I was a child in the 1950s
Our lanterns were made from swedes - ‘tumshies’ or ‘neeps’ -in Scots
We went ‘guising’ from door to door dressed up in whatever could improvise and were given fruit nuts or sweets
We ‘dooked’ for apples
“Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness “
Self-evident truths
Based on *equality*
of human beings
Based on inalienable rights
endowed by the Creator
What majestic words!
What an inspiring vision!
Why does humanity tolerate anything less?
#DeclarationofIndependence
Self-evident truths
Based on *equality*
of human beings
Based on inalienable rights
endowed by the Creator
What majestic words!
What an inspiring vision!
Why does humanity tolerate anything less?
#DeclarationofIndependence
October 28, 2025 at 10:53 AM
“Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness “
Self-evident truths
Based on *equality*
of human beings
Based on inalienable rights
endowed by the Creator
What majestic words!
What an inspiring vision!
Why does humanity tolerate anything less?
#DeclarationofIndependence
Self-evident truths
Based on *equality*
of human beings
Based on inalienable rights
endowed by the Creator
What majestic words!
What an inspiring vision!
Why does humanity tolerate anything less?
#DeclarationofIndependence
La Pietà
by Michelangelo Buonarroti
(1475-1564)
in St Peter’s Basilica in Rome
Pietà means pity or compassion
The marble statue may be seen
as a symbol
of the human response
to
unjust suffering
#art
by Michelangelo Buonarroti
(1475-1564)
in St Peter’s Basilica in Rome
Pietà means pity or compassion
The marble statue may be seen
as a symbol
of the human response
to
unjust suffering
#art
October 23, 2025 at 11:16 AM
La Pietà
by Michelangelo Buonarroti
(1475-1564)
in St Peter’s Basilica in Rome
Pietà means pity or compassion
The marble statue may be seen
as a symbol
of the human response
to
unjust suffering
#art
by Michelangelo Buonarroti
(1475-1564)
in St Peter’s Basilica in Rome
Pietà means pity or compassion
The marble statue may be seen
as a symbol
of the human response
to
unjust suffering
#art
These are my favourite porridge oats - minus the decorative items jazzing up the photo
Simmer with half and half semi-skimmed milk and water
(both Scottish of course) and a little salt
then serve
You can vary it
by adding fruit or nuts
or extra cream or milk
I like it plain and simple
#food
Simmer with half and half semi-skimmed milk and water
(both Scottish of course) and a little salt
then serve
You can vary it
by adding fruit or nuts
or extra cream or milk
I like it plain and simple
#food
October 16, 2025 at 9:31 PM
These are my favourite porridge oats - minus the decorative items jazzing up the photo
Simmer with half and half semi-skimmed milk and water
(both Scottish of course) and a little salt
then serve
You can vary it
by adding fruit or nuts
or extra cream or milk
I like it plain and simple
#food
Simmer with half and half semi-skimmed milk and water
(both Scottish of course) and a little salt
then serve
You can vary it
by adding fruit or nuts
or extra cream or milk
I like it plain and simple
#food
The sycamore is showing
Autumn
I watch it through my ordinary window of an ordinary house
in an ordinary road
and it speaks each day
of infinity
As the Earth turns each day
revolving around
our great sun
the sycamore -
like me -
is one day older
Then a year
Yet its beauty is forever
Autumn
I watch it through my ordinary window of an ordinary house
in an ordinary road
and it speaks each day
of infinity
As the Earth turns each day
revolving around
our great sun
the sycamore -
like me -
is one day older
Then a year
Yet its beauty is forever
October 11, 2025 at 3:18 PM
The sycamore is showing
Autumn
I watch it through my ordinary window of an ordinary house
in an ordinary road
and it speaks each day
of infinity
As the Earth turns each day
revolving around
our great sun
the sycamore -
like me -
is one day older
Then a year
Yet its beauty is forever
Autumn
I watch it through my ordinary window of an ordinary house
in an ordinary road
and it speaks each day
of infinity
As the Earth turns each day
revolving around
our great sun
the sycamore -
like me -
is one day older
Then a year
Yet its beauty is forever
When I studied history at school in Scotland
this 👇 was a concept - I learned -
that citizens fought hard to have respected
It represented an individual’s protection
against being arbitrarily arrested/imprisoned
#law
#society
#habeascorpus
this 👇 was a concept - I learned -
that citizens fought hard to have respected
It represented an individual’s protection
against being arbitrarily arrested/imprisoned
#law
#society
#habeascorpus
October 9, 2025 at 11:26 AM
When I studied history at school in Scotland
this 👇 was a concept - I learned -
that citizens fought hard to have respected
It represented an individual’s protection
against being arbitrarily arrested/imprisoned
#law
#society
#habeascorpus
this 👇 was a concept - I learned -
that citizens fought hard to have respected
It represented an individual’s protection
against being arbitrarily arrested/imprisoned
#law
#society
#habeascorpus