La Befana

Befana7-3 — Card by the charity: EMBRACE the Middle East

Happy Epiphany!

So today we celebrate the Three Wise Men visiting Jesus as a small child. Our little one has also had his own visitor: a very old lady with broken shoes and poor clothes who traveled in the night on her broomstick to leave some small and delicious presents. It turned out that I was the only mischievous child in our house as I was the only one who found onion and garlic in my stocking while my men were indulging in glorious Panettone (paneton in the Milanese language)!

The card with the Wise Men encourages us to remember the Middle East and the whole image evokes thoughts of humble respect and prudence. The three scholars bowed in respect before something much bigger than themselves, God Almighty. Then, they received a gift of prudence to go back to their own countries choosing a path that would make them avoid Herod. This is a story about guidance, respect and prudence. May we all embrace them this year.

Happy Epiphany!

This year I will be posting towards the end of each month. With my very best wishes in this New Year. x Alicja

Photography makes a difference

Lily-Lou & Oscar too

Most photographers would tell you that they actually like photographing their own friends and family most and I am no exception to this. Above are photographs that I took of people who are very dear to me and have been part of my life for sometime. Some of the photographs I also took as part of my PhotoFundraising Project (here) that involved swapping my photographing skills for funds to Doctors Without Borders. It was a wonderful project to carry out as it made many people happy and also helped me develop my own photographing skills. The beautiful bespoke children garments featured are hand-made by Claire at Lily-Lou & Oscar too (here). It was the first time I photographed clothing and it was great to have this opportunity.

All in all, through your support and thanks to the beautiful people who asked me to snap a photo of them, I managed to raise £480 (here) and I have one more job lined up in the next month which will further contribute to the fund. It has been a pleasure to take every single one of the photographs above and a big thank you to all of you who have agreed for your photographs to be taken, placed and posted here.

Thank you all of you who contributed to the PhotoFundraising Project. Together we make a difference.

“Never believe that a few caring people can’t change the world. For indeed that’s all who ever have. ” Margaret Mead

Have a wonderful year!

Thankful Tuesday (Poland)

We didn’t have much time for sight-seeing in Poland but seeing my family was actually what I mainly wanted out of our short visit there. Everything else was an additional treat. So today I am grateful for my family in Poland and all the places of heart-warming indulgence that I like to visit there. :)

Polish sweets_2 — Cukiernia Śródmiejska, Piła

Produkty benedyktynskie — Produkty Benedyktyńskie, Piła

Polish sweets — Cukiernia Śródmiejska, Piła

Why do we do what we do?

I’ve been thinking many times this year about quitting blogging or quitting photography or quitting my research or one of the three languages that we speak at home – this one was initiated by someone’s suggestion rather than personal doubt – but anyhow…

This year has been a struggle – a continuous ping-pong of rejecting and accepting of who I am and what I do. When I tried to quit any of the things above, I felt terribly unsettled, I felt that I was betraying someone and this someone was me. Fortunately, what I was rejecting was coming back – so now I am wiser and I’ve accepted that if what we reject somehow comes back and it brings joy, it’s a signal that this is who we are and that perhaps – Could this be true? – that we have found ourselves. So this is who I am and this is what I do and there is no further story to it. Just acceptance of it all.

I think it’s the joy that makes it ours – it’s this quiet emotion that puts a spring in our steps, the emotion that should not go unnoticed.

If you feel joyful about something, it’s yours. If you feel joyful about returning to something, it’s yours. If you feel joyful about commencing something, it’s yours.

Never underestimate the power of joy for joy is what you are meant to be.

Be gentle with your thoughts

Imagine how differently our life would feel if we accepted that the destiny of our evening thoughts is to give us the necessary ointment for our minds. That our evening thoughts are there to give a massage to our troubled and over-exerted neurons. That their evening flow is supposed to clear our tensions, dissolve our doubts and heal what’s limping or fatigued. That rest starts even before we go to sleep. How contented would we be falling asleep?

What do you do to make sure that your thoughts are gentle to your mind?

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“Never believe that a few caring people can’t change the world. For indeed that’s all who ever have. ” Margaret Mead

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