To acknowledge the worth of things/ Uznać wartość rzeczy


We were driving to the church this morning; I was sitting at the back, next to my daughter, chatting to her. She took a little vaseline lip balm tin out of her pocket. She put some on her lips and then asked me if I would like some for myself. She handed me the round tin, I took some of it and I put it on my lips saying that I love the vanilla smell. She was thrilled, her eyes sparked, she grasped my hand satisfied and said: ‘I love you, Mummy. I love you so much’. She was thrilled.

Often, this is exactly what our children want us to do: to acknowledge the worth of what they like, to give to us what they love and to see that we are capable of appreciating it too. This creates the union, communion and connection.

Have you recently had a similar experience?

Jechaliśmy dziś rano do kościoła; siedziałam z tyłu, obok mojej córki, rozmawiając z nią. Wyjęła z kieszeni puszeczkę z wazeliną do ust. Nałożyła trochę na swoje usta, a potem zapytała mnie, czy chciałabym trochę dla siebie. Podała mi okrągłą puszkę, wzięłam trochę jej balsamu do ust i nałożyłam, mówiąc, że uwielbiam zapach wanilii. Była zachwycona, jej oczy błyszczały, chwyciła moją dłoń zadowolona i powiedziała: „Kocham cię, mamusiu. Tak bardzo cię kocham”. Była wręcz zachwycona.

Często właśnie tego chcą od nas nasze dzieci: abyśmy uznali wartość tego, co one lubią; one dają nam to, co kochają byśmy pokazali, że my również potrafimy to docenić. To tworzy jedność, komunię i połączenie.

Czy doświadczyliście czegoś podobnego ostatnio?

What are photographs for?

Do you remember the song by Ed Sheeran called Photograph? The official music video consists of photographs and video cuts. These are from his early childhood and his early music career. I love the simplicity of it all and the sheer joy of watching a growing child, his first steps, his running around and the shrieks of a toddler finding his voice. It is so moving. The decor of his family’s house that is sealed in time. The hands of the family members that carefully assist him in making his first steps, in music or drawing, busking and then all the Happy Birthday’s sung together to celebrate the child. Call me sentimental, but that song makes me cry. It is all moving and all beautiful. I am very inspired by the song and the video. It inspires me to rediscover my own family archive. These are the good times.

Photos taken in Derby (UK), in Poland and in Derby Museum and Art Gallery.

Link to Ed Sheeran’s Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSDgHBxUbVQ

All images: Alicja Pyszka-Franceschini. All rights reserved.

Take me beyond forgiveness / Zabierz mnie poza przebaczenie (bilingual English-Polish post)

Take me beyond forgiveness
.

POEM

Take me beyond forgiveness
Where love ends all quarrels
And gratitude replenishes hands
Tired of work
For nothing
So it seems…

Take me beyond forgiveness
Where I understand the concept
of a nutrient
without doubting its worth or value
and I clean
and I eat
wisdom for breakfast
and love for dinner.
With you.

QUESTION TO PONDER

If you were to take yourself beyond forgiveness, where would you take yourself?

Who is ‘you’ for you?

What would be on your wisdom plate?

Acknowledgment: I first saw poetry combined with questions in the book 21 Spotkań. These questions lead to individual insight. Click here to see. It was written by Maciej Bennewicz and Katarzyna Zaremba. Both psychologists create poetic dialogues and work with metaphors that aid individual growth and self-understanding. The more humble I become, the more I grow in the appreciation of this approach.

May is a mental health awareness month and I would like to strengthen us all using my talents today in a similar manner. I learnt yesterday that a friend of mine died being only 48. She loved travelling and this blog too. I wish I had still a chance to eat a dinner with her. Travel. Keep on living. x

By engaging in this exercise you are practising these mental skills:

  • self-compassion
  • self-awareness
  • inner peace.

So if you were to take yourself beyond forgiveness, where would you take yourself?

Enjoy it.

POLISH TRANSLATION

WIERSZ

Zabierz mnie poza przebaczenie
Gdzie miłość kończy wszelkie kłótnie
A wdzięczność wypełnia dłonie
Zmęczone pracą
Za darmo
Na to wygląda…

Zabierz mnie poza przebaczenie
Gdzie rozumiem pojęcie
składnika odżywczego
nie wątpiąc w jego znaczenie i wartość
I już teraz sprzątam
i jem
Mądrość na śniadanie
i miłość do obiadu.
Z Tobą.

PYTANIE DO ROZWAŻENIA

Gdybyś miał/miała zabrać siebie poza przebaczenie, dokąd zabrałabyś siebie?

Co by było dla Ciebie mądrością na śniadanie?

Z kim jadłabyś obiad?

Podziękowanie: Po raz pierwszy zetknęłam się z poezją połączoną z pytaniami w książce “21 spotkań”. Te pytania prowadzą do wglądu we właną sprawczość. Kliknij tutaj, aby zopoznać się z książką. Autorami tekstu są Maciej Bennewicz i Katarzyna Zaremba. Obaj psychologowie tworzą poetyckie dialogi i pracują z metaforami, które pomagają w indywidualnym rozwoju i zrozumieniu siebie. Bardzo doceniam to podejście.

Maj jest miesiącem zwiększania świadomości na temat zdrowia psychicznego i chciałbym nas wszystkich wzmocnić, używając moich talentów w podobny sposób. Wczoraj dowiedziałem się, że moja przyjaciółka zmarła mając zaledwie 48 lat. Uwielbiała podróże i ten blog. Chciałbym mieć jeszcze szansę zjeść z nią obiad lub kolację. ”Podróżujcie. Żyjcie dalej.” powiedziałaby dziś. x

Angażując się w to ćwiczenie, ćwiczysz poniższe umiejętności:

  • współczucie dla siebie
  • samoświadomość
  • wewnętrzny spokój.

Warto?

Więc: Gdybyś miał/miała zabrać siebie poza przebaczenie, dokąd zabrałabyś siebie?

Thankful

I’ve got an impression that last winter my mother was making this soup every three days for our children. Her grandson was competing with himself to see how many bowls he could comfortably consume. We all looked at him in disbelief, wondering where that quantity was disappearing. Surely, he was not spoon-feeding the dogs under the table. He loved it. Everyone else did too. They gladly returned from the cold and sat in front of a steaming bowl and each bowl came with a piece of popular Polish bread showered with flax seeds. Yummy.

Do you cook? What do you like making?


The knitted cloth that the soup is placed on is actually a scarf made by my aunt. It is so warm, you won’t believe. Shoulders wear it gracefully indebted to my aunt for many hours of her work. I was comforted by the softness of the scarf. The warmth of the soup also brought reassurance. I am grateful that my mum and aunt keep their skills fresh and that they continuously make an effort. It is mesmerizing to see how things emerge in other people’s hands. As if from nowhere…

Creativity blossomed in our house over the weekend. Icy weather gave us many opportunities to refresh and revive our spirit and gave us hope for a good and creative year. I hope you are feeling equally energized.

The photos of the soup were taken last year in Poland. The photo of my children was taken in Melbourne (UK) at Woodhouse Farm. Many thanks to Brian Woodhouse for allowing me to take photos on his farm and fields.

Below is a photo from my parents’ place in Poland.

*Corrected draft.

Thankful Tuesday on Wednesday

I suspect you’ve been extremely busy this week, getting yourself ready for Christmas and making plans for days to come, completing tasks that had to be done.

Life has been hectic for us too in the last few days and Tuesday disappeared under specialist appointments, quick drop-ins to friends, school matters and joint learning.

I have, therefore, only a humble gratitude point to share this week. I am thankful today for good moments that we spontaneously initiate.

The photo below was taken at a farm nearby. I will forever remember my son cheekily running after a pheasant that proudly strolled around the field and my frustration that I couldn’t stop him (my son, not the pheasant). Young, energetic, stubborn. As most of them are at that age, I think.

The photo above was taken during a solo walk around our local woodland, Stanhope Woods, near Trent and Mersey Canal, Stenson, Derbyshire. I thought that I’ll share this with you before winter replaces autumnal decor with its frosty brush strokes.

So today I am thankful for spontaneous ventures that turn into memories captured and revived in photographs.

What is on your gratitude list today?