Walk with me

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There was a time in my life that nothing could have made me jump out of bed more than the promise of reading a blog that one wonderful woman was writing on the other side of the globe. I have never read or seen anything that would create such a strong reaction in me and was really never as compelled by someone’s writing as much as I was then. The words were cutting right through to the heart and the mind, giving me the education that I needed and reaching me where I was in my life at the time. At times I gasped in awe, and totally puzzled, I stammered in disbelief: How… how on Earth does she know how to meet me there? How on Earth does she know that I need to read what I am reading to transform? At times I was so spooked that I honestly looked around my own room in search of surveillance cameras feeling oddly exposed but at the same time totally understood in someone else’s writing. Have you ever experienced anything similar? Have you ever felt like that? Strangely capable of seeing yourself in other people’s experiences?

When Autumn ends, when the golden colours disappear and the grey and dullness start to seep in, I crave for inspiration, but what is truer is that I crave to be assured that the beauty will return, that the sun will shine strong again – and this is perhaps what inspiration does to our internal landscapes – it’s the sun that lights up our grey surroundings. It’s the sun that lights up the whole of you and it may come from outside but I have now learnt that it may come from within too. It’s almost a decision, or a pact with oneself, that even if there is nothing that inspires me now I will walk in its way… I will walk where the light is.

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The blog that inspired me so much was Inked in Colour. Go and visit the site.

Today

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“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” ~ Albert Einstein

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The universe got it right by giving us the seasons

homeThe wind has started blowing a bit harder and the sun escapes from view much earlier these days. But home feels so cosy and just right for staying in. I like our home. I love the books scattered around the house, the remains of our toddlers’ adventures that need scooping up towards the end of each day, the fruit and vegetables in the baskets in our kitchen, even the sink still filled with pots from today’s cooking episodes. I think the universe got it right by giving us the seasons. The late autumn and winter and the cosiness that we experience of our own homes – doesn’t it support one view? That where we are is home. That where we are now we should be now, at this given moment in time. That everything is as it should be.

I will be using this winter to grow the same level of cosiness in my heart and look for every feeling in me that sends this warmth to the world and back to myself and my family.

What do you do to cultivate warm feelings?

Waiting for change

toddler among apple treesSometimes we look for winter and we find autumn. Forced to take a step back. Forced to revisit what has happened before. Disappointed that the past is actually the present. Disappointed that things do not change quickly enough. But the past is never fruitless.The past can still give more…

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Observing the city, imagining people

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I’ve always had a lot of respect for History and Education and that is why I like visiting Oxford so much. An opportunity came last week for us to go there and so we did. I must admit when I am in Oxford I breathe deeper, my senses are sharper and I walk around the city all happy.

I imagine these brilliant minds committed to their subjects, devouring their books, excited about learning and discoveries, often terribly frustrated about their lack of progress. I imagine great debates and seas of questioning, heavy timetables and a rush to complete the next book chapter or lab work. I imagine all this and I like my thoughts. My soul approves of this daydreaming.

Last week I was walking around the city again, and again I looked up at the buildings and I sighed in awe and admiration. My toddler shouted in contentment too… at a few very attractively deep and murky puddles that he saw on the university ground. ‘Right. Reality check,’ I thought to myself.

Look up and down (and sideways too).

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