About Tia

Hi, I’m Tia.

I chose my name at about sixteen, kept it inside me for thirteen years, began to live inside it in 1993, and clothed myself in it officially in 1996.

I needed to become, then felt myself becoming, firm and strong. I am still becoming…

tia
1. strike, hit, beat
2. be/become strong/firm
tia dihlaya: look for something to eat
tia kgati: skip
tia nkôkwane: strike the nail on the head
tiya = tia

Sesotho sa Leboa (Northern Sotho) – English Dictionary

I am many other things too: still a “Scottish Jew with an Irish face” as I described myself in a youthful poem (The Ageless Call, 1978),

I am most definitely still the child of my mother and of my father, who named me and saw me differently; also, an ex-Christian (or ex-charismaniac, a term I prefer, or apostate, a term some others doubtless prefer) and sometimes a hopeful heretic.

My interests

I’m interested in poetry, yoga, tango, process work, rank dynamics, Shakespeare, science fiction, bagpipes, poverty, horses, ethics, philosophy, the enneagram, the aesthetics of public spaces, folk songs, older people, expressive arts therapy, Pablo Neruda, theories of everything, mysticism, Scottish country dancing, the menstrual taboo, the nature of the universe, John Keats, writing, web design, art, mountains, alternative education, vegetables, French, the nature of love, googling, Gerard Manley Hopkins, the history of ideas, unusual flavours, and big black cats, amongst one or seven other things.

As to expertise, I’m a dilettante, but I love to engage. A heartfelt comment on my blog is all I want (well, maybe not all I want, but it goes a long way to making me happy!)