Harris, Arthur and mum Jessica, Portobello Beach Promenade

“I love the unpredictability of being a mum. Every day is totally different. We have lots of adventures, and lots of fun. They make you laugh so much. And they make you realise what’s important in life, and what are the necessary things to worry about and what things are just not worth worrying about.

Sometimes it can be quite hard when you see parents on social media who manage, or seem to manage, to do everything. They seem to manage to take their children everywhere, always have a tidy house and fit in work. I think that's where my struggle is, especially with three - just fitting in the chores I need to do in life, and still having lots of time for them and for work. I’m a nurse. That's the juggle.

But I think on social media there's just a side that people show. It's the same if you have visitors to your house, isn’t it? You tidy downstairs, but you don’t tidy upstairs. That’s what I do anyway!”

How do you feel about social media in relation to bringing up children?

“I think it can be quite easy to put everything about your children on there, and we don't necessarily do that. But it's a very useful tool. We don't live close to my family really, so it's useful for sharing pictures of the kids and showing what they've been up to. So that side of it is good.

It's also great for information. We use it quite a lot to find out what's on in our area, what groups and activities and classes are available. You find out a lot of information about schools on social media now. I've also got antenatal groups with whom I’m still in touch a couple of years later. It’s handy in that way.”

How do you feel about your children using the internet later in life?

“A bit anxious. My eldest is seven, and is starting to want to play games online. That gives me quite a lot of anxiety, just knowing about everything that could go wrong and what's out there. You want to shelter them as much as possible.”

How do you think you'd manage that?

“I honestly don't know yet. My husband works in IT so that gives me a bit of comfort. So, everything my eldest son does online he’s got caps on; he can't talk to anybody that's not been approved by my husband. That gives us some comfort just now, but when he gets a smartphone later I'm not sure what we're going to do - try to defer it much as possible!”

Daniel, Bristo Square

“I’m a barista. I’m originally from Brazil, where we just love making coffees. So that’s what I’m doing right now. I just like serving really good coffee and making everyone’s day a little bit better. I like that.

I’m also very happy right now because my Dad has just been cured of cancer. He’s just received a 100% all-clear.”

Alan, Cramond Island causeway

“"I've just read a wonderful book called ‘The Return of the Prodigal Son’, by a Roman Catholic priest called Henri Nouwen. He wrote it after he saw Rembrandt's painting of the prodigal son being welcomed home by his father. He was so moved by the picture that he wrote this wonderful book. I just love that idea of someone who’s gone away being welcomed back again."

Aasia, Drybrough Crescent

“For me, romantic relationships have always showed up as a massive mirror to my own self, a huge reflection of where I was at and where my heart was at, and what narratives my mind was telling me.

I had a particularly difficult romantic experience two and a half years ago.

It was a very bright flame. But of course, what comes with a flame that burns too brightly is lack of longevity, and the way that flame burnt out was quite painful and a difficult experience to move through.

The biggest thing that relationship taught me was just how important it is to stay rooted in deep unconditional love for yourself, and not to overextend yourself trying to convince someone to love you. That already indicates there’s a part of you that doesn't fully believe you are worthy. This is something that I very slowly tuned into; that if you have unconditional love for yourself you're able to extend that to the other person and you can say, ‘OK, this is where you’re at.’ And then you can draw the boundaries that you need to around that place.

What I was doing was experiencing it as something that evidenced me as not being worthy. I was just scatting about and scurrying about and trying to convince myself that I am worthy. That was just a reflection of my subconscious belief that I was not.

So, it's about trying to change that, rather than just sitting with your cell phone, sitting with that inner child who is so upset and holds that belief.”

Do you set aside time specifically for reflection?

“I don't really have a time where I go, ‘OK, now it's time to reflect.’ But I do invest in self-care practises or activities that help me get in touch with myself. So, for quite a while it's been journaling. That's been a good thing to slow down my mind, because I have a very active mind. Just the act of writing things down and reflecting on the day really helps you to slow down, to remember, and to reflect back on it for future reference. Sometimes it piques my curiosity and I'll think, ‘I wonder what Aasia was doing two or three months back?’ Being able to witness yourself on these different timelines is quite beautiful and brings a lot of value.

But more recently it's been about getting in touch with my body. I've taken up yoga which has such massive value to it. It's really brought me back to my body, and I've realised just how much stagnancy there was there.  The biggest thing that yoga has done for me is to help me progress from moving around on ‘automatic’, to being empowered in my actions and remembering that I have a choice. It’s very important not to live in a state of dissociation from your body.”

Who, or what, would you say has been the biggest influencer in your development?

“That's definitely been my community, 100%. So, my closest friends. Most of those I've met at university. I just love my friends so much! I love it because of the way in which we've met. It was just so divine and aligned, so unintentional. One of my friends, whom I've known literally since my first day at university because she was my flatmate, chose a quiet, girls-only flat, an alcohol-free flat, and I didn't choose any of those things. I was all ready to live and to party. But I ended up in a quiet flat anyway and I'm so grateful for that because I met, quite literally, my platonic soulmate, you know.

This woman has been my dearest, bestest friend, who has really played an integral role in witnessing me and listening to me and holding faith for me. I do the same for her. Yeah, we have very similar mindsets, but it's not just that. I think it's more like our hearts are oriented to the same place and there is this deep understanding that we're all divine beings and experiencing a divine timeline with such perfection and alignment. It's really just a journey of releasing any man-made judgements or narrative through this platonic friendship of unconditional love.

Experiences are amplified when you're able to call in that sort of soul tribe, or soul family, which I'm so grateful to have just begun to do. Everything becomes exponentially amplified. It's just community. We are communal beings.”

Keith, Main St, Davidson's Mains

“I recently bought that cottage across the road to renovate it. I’m digging up the ground at the rear, but if I dig up the old Roman road from Cramond that runs through here then my renovation will be history too!”

Keira, Calton Hill

“This is my spot where I always come. If I'm happy, or if I’m sad, the view will never disappoint me. It never fails.

People come here from all over the world just to see this, and I live right next to it. They will remember later and think, ‘That was such a beautiful place, I wish I could go back.’ But I live here, and I can visit at any time. I'm still learning about this city even though I've been here for my whole life.

There's so much history in Edinburgh, it’s insane. But you just don't think about it very much. When you understand things that happened here in the past and you think, ‘I live just around the corner from where that happened,’ it feels like a major achievement.”

Love Generation, Nicolson Street

Subuddhi, Achilles and Savindi, Davidson’s Mains Park

“There were huge queues for fuel in Sri Lanka. You had to wait in the queue sometimes for three days. It was really tough and we thought, ‘We just don't want to have a child here.’ It could easily happen again.

We both work for the same company, and they gave us this fantastic opportunity to come here, so we decided to go. So, it is like a dream come true. And it’s Savindi’s birthday today, so we decided to come out to the park and have a nice time.”

What are your hopes for the future?

“To make Achilles, our ten-month-old son, into a successful person!”

Pippa and Maria, Hamilton Place, Stockbridge

"It's like we're almost the same person!"

Jim, Pennywell Road

“It happened on a Friday night. I was listening to an evangelist from Ireland called Bill Kennedy. My first wife had nagged me to go to hear him. I can talk but, man, this guy could really talk! He was interesting though, an ex-professional footballer. At the end of the service, he called people to come to the front. I was sitting there with the devil on one shoulder and an angel on another, but he said, ‘Don’t let your conscience hold you back,’ and I went forward. When I met him, he said, “Jim Crawford, I’ve been praying for you.” That blew my mind. I was saved and became a Christian that night.

My second wife and I split up a few years ago. We were arguing a lot, and I ended up in a homeless hostel called Jericho House. I had a TV in my room, a wee fridge and a clean bed. That was it. Communication with my wife had broken down.

One night I posted a selfie of me doing my ironing. I'd deleted my wife from Facebook, but I hadn't deleted her pal, and I knew that if I posted it, it would get back to my wife. The very next day she texted me and said, ‘I'm glad somebody could make you happy.’

I got a wee bit annoyed at that.

I was going to text her back, but I thought, ‘No, I'll go up and see her.’ She wanted to know what I was wanting, but I wasn't there to make up. She said, ‘Do you want a coffee? I'm just going to jump into the shower.’ So, I said. ‘You go and have a shower, and I'll make the coffee.’ That night we made up.

So, we got back together. But she wanted to be courted, and I agreed with that.

For our first date we were going to go to the pictures. We met up the town and I said to her that night, “Do you want to come and see where my accommodation is?” She took one look at it, and said, ‘There's no way you're staying here. Bring your stuff in the morning and come back to the house.’

So, we were back together again after three months apart, and we’ve been together ever since.”

Eleanor and Lofty, St Bernard's Row

“My great-grandparents bred Welsh Terriers and I've always wanted one. I did lots of research to find a good breeder. It took ages but we got there in the end, and Lofty joined us a few weeks ago!”

Paula, The Village Bistro, Davidson’s Mains

“I was a nurse for over 30 years. I absolutely loved it, but after the pandemic I decided to take very early retirement and I started this place.

It's really grown almost organically. We listened to what the community wanted and when I come to work it's like being at a party. As I go around the tables they're all chatting to each other, and there's that sense of belonging. Just a minute ago there was a lady at the checkout who didn't have cash for a gala ticket for this Saturday - we prefer that not to go through the till by card - so the lady behind her gave it to her as a gift. So that's what the heart of this is about. I am virtually not-for-profit. If we have extra, we give it back to the community.”

Baba Shekh, Home Street

"I had a transport business in Iraq. I was earning over three thousand pounds a month easily, running four large trucks. Then in 2014 ISIS came. It was terrible. So, I left Kurdistan and came back to the UK.

Would you like something to drink? You can have anything in the shop you want."

Holly, A Pinch of Salt Coffee, Tollcross

“I love it when people see me as a person, not just as a service, and they start chatting with me.”

The Dog Walkers, Davidson’s Mains Park

On two legs (l-r): Carol, Lesley, Gill

On four legs (l-r): Ceilidh, Teddy, Ruby, Stanley

“The three of us met just through walking our dogs here in the park. Now we have our own WhatsApp group, and we’re in touch with each other regularly.”