In Fermanagh where I grew up, a real soft day was a day in which it was sort of raining – it was not altogether clear whether the rain was going up or day. It just sort of hangs about a bit.
So I have had a day in which I have tried to keep my feminine side on top – soft power all round. All E Mails carefully screened for any sign of incipient episcopal authoritarian tendencies. Much use of, ‘I know you will already have thought of ….’ and ‘I wonder how you feel about …. ‘ What one learns, of course, is that much of the way in which we communicate today is not at all conducive to the use of soft power. E Mail, text and, to a lesser extent, the telephone are all dangerously one-dimensional. One constantly has to read back, open out the cryptic, soften the conclusion …. and learn to be touchy-feely in a virtual world.