On the top of yesterday’s agenda were photographs of an octopus. My daughter is doing GCSE art and has decided that this tentacled sea creature will be her final piece. She insisted that by the end of the weekend, she absolutely had to have pictures of an octopus on her iPhone.

I was due to visit my dad at the hospital in Brighton where they also have a Sea Life centre, so suggested that my 16-year-old journeyed with me to the coast where we could kill two birds with one pebble.

My daughter spat ‘ What do you know, you were born in the 1800s’ just before we left and I was worried that the day wouldn’t go well. I also knew that if there was no octopus at Sea Life it would be all my fault.

So, I asked the force that created all that is to help me. I’ve gone from not believing in this cosmic energy that Marion calls Grace, to communing with it on a daily basis and asking for guidance wherever needed. Things have certainly changed around here.

Having found my inner-Prozac during periods of prolonged silence and being invigorated by the spirit of a earth/water plant on Monday, which apparently balanced my feminine energies, I can no longer pretend that there is nothing more to this life than the material world we inhabit. I KNOW there is an unseen benevolent force behind all of this, because I’ve felt it. In fact, now that I have accepted its existence, I can connect with it more often. Don’t get me wrong, there are still many moments of frustration, but it is rare for a day to go past now without me dropping into the stillness within for at least a few seconds.

I am no longer afraid of death and I wonder if I can use this new found belief to comfort my father who thinks that all this God/universe stuff is utter nonsense. He believes that once you’ve gone, that’s it, lights out, nada.

Anyway, my prayers were answered as yesterday went like a dream. Yes, it took two hours to get there by train thanks to engineering works, but that meant my daughter could do her revision and I got half way through Michael Newton’s Journey of Souls. It’s a fascinating book. Newton is a hypnotherapist who has apparently got patients to tell him stories from between lives – he believes his clients have lived many lifetimes and asks them to describe the spirit world. If it is an elaborate hoax, it’s very clever, if true, it’s mind blowing.

When we got to Brighton the sun was shining, the fish and chips were divine and we found a fabulous octopus. My daughter couldn’t get the right shot on her phone, so I took one randomly and it was just what she’d hoped for. I was delighted as I am not the world’s greatest photographer.

My dad was in good spirits and my daughter appeared to enjoy my company, which is rare. So, thank-you universe for such a heavenly day.