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“The more aware you are that you are going to die, the better you live.”

Chris Bullzini is the UK’s most esteemed Funambulist [tightrope walker], who has travelled the world performing in circuses and festivals, and famously taught Peter Crouch how to walk the rope in under 24 hours.

Chris’ training requires him to develop heightened awareness, self-control, and focus which are not only fundamental to his profession, but also to his journey toward accepting the ultimate truth, namely our own inevitable mortality.

In this talk, Chris reflected on his practice to explore the universal themes of the human experience within the extraordinary context of walking the high wire, such as courage, fear, connection, separation, and balance.

To Chris, each wire walk is a meditation that takes him to a profound, transcendental state; one that impacts the audience on a deep level; touched by the miracle of life in the simple yet profound image of a man walking through the sky.

We also had poetry from Louise Stewart Daisy, or ‘Pure LSD’, dedicated to delivering messages of hope, inspiration, motivation, elevation and wild imagination.

Insecurities, worries, fears.. we all have them and – across the globe – seem to be at a loss as to the best way to manage them.

Officer Enema [Danni Emery], co -founder of ‘The Insecurity Guards’ was here to help – with a deep dive into the world of insecurities and an exploration of how different cultures have often found similar ways of eradicating them.

We also had the troupe of Guards on hand to help! Alongside resident Insecurity Guard poet, Cheryl Roberts who graced us with some spoken word.

The ‘Insecurity Guards’ are a global troupe of feel-good performers who travel festivals to rid people of their worldly woes, using immersive theatre and character play to tackle serious topics, such as mental health, in a light-hearted, fun and engaging way.

Scarhach, Cerridwen, Gwendoline, Coventina…our islands’ folklore is full of powerful women who brought the world enchantment and inspiration, warriorship and healing. And yet, we don’t know them.

Kim Willis is a writer and storyteller out to changed that. Her talk took us through her research into the ancient warrior women of the British Isles, and how they can provide us with a powerful new story for womanhood.

We also had some poetry from performance artist, Victoria Melody. Inspired by ethnography, she immerses herself in different communities and ‘becomes an active participant in their rituals as research for her work.’

Love is in the Air for our Sunday Assembly Valentine’s Special! To help us celebrate this most passionate of occasions, we welcome real-life husband and wife duo, Lonan Jenkins and Jodie Powell to delight us with tales of love steeped in ancient mythology.

A far cry from the ‘Disney-fied’ ‘Happily ever after’ narrative, mythological tales of love and eroticism are often steeped in grief and tragedy. In most of Greek mythology, love is the driving force behind a character’s action, and is there to teach us about trust, devotion and forgiveness, and how to navigate the grand themes of life and loss.

Lonan is a professional story-teller and independent celebrant, specialising in weddings, whilst Jodie is a multi-talented artist, poet, singer and performer. Together they run, ‘Rooted Revelry’, a pop -up event, offering intimate storytelling, performance poetry, live art, live music and workshops that honour the changing seasons.

Around a third of the UK population claim to have had some kind of paranormal experience, with around 40% having directly experienced a ghost or haunting. Chris French, Professor of anomalistic psychology at Goldsmith’s University, has a specialism in non- paranormal explanations for ostensibly paranormal experiences as well as the psychology of belief in conspiracy theories. He joins us today to explain what might be going on when we become spooked, from a rational, science-based perspective.

Drawing from his forthcoming new book, The Science of Weird Shit: Why Our Brains Conjure the Paranormal – covering everything from alien abduction to ghosts, psychic powers to visions of the Virgin Mary appearing in a cheese sandwich – Chris explores how far psychology can go to explain these kinds of beliefs and what underlies them.

We are also thrilled to be joined by spoken-word artist Rick Dove, who uses his background in psychology to unite the perspectives of artists and scientists through the medium of poetry.

‘Losing’, ‘failing’, ‘being dumped’- these are all experiences of rejection that can hit us hard and make us feel dejected, de-motivated and at worst, cripple our self esteem.

Rejection, however, can also be a fundamental element for growth, and even something to get excited by!

Guest speaker: Neil Morbey

Neil Morbey is a Mindfulness Coach and Counsellor at Positively-Mindful – helping people to find inner peace through learning skills of meditation, mindfulness and compassionate self enquiry. He believes that the unavoidable human experience of rejection can be reframed to help us, across dating, relationships, work and business.

When we hear a ‘no’ we can learn to respond with gratitude, curiosity and challenge – a process reflecting a growing awareness of ‘Rejection Therapy’. Learning to embrace hearing someone’s honest answer, even if it is not what we thought we wanted to hear, promises to help desensitize us from pain, learn to negotiate under pressure, open up new life opportunities and gain a positive attitude toward ourselves and humanity – plus, apparently, it’s tons of fun!

Watch the recording

This time of year can be one full of joy and festive plans, but alongside the good cheer of the season is a rising concern for the increasing number of people experiencing homelessness or housing precarity.

The multi-award winning Museum of Homelessness – created and run by people with direct experience of homelessness – has been doing incredible work for the past 13 years: building the first national collection for homelessness, taking practical action, fighting injustice with research and campaigning, and educating on homelessness through groundbreaking art exhibitions and events.

Having been a ‘homeless’ museum since their establishment in 2010, they have recently been given their own museum space in Finsbury Park. Co-Founders Matt and Jess Turtle join us today at Sunday Assembly to share some of their incredible journey and plans for the museum’s public programme in 2024.

As usual, our magnificent in-house band will be leading us in song and there will be tea, biscuits and a good old natter afterwards. This time, we’ll also be showcasing our community’s crafting talents at a very special winter market – so do bring some cash!