Today is all we have

A close shave..
when something happens and you just don't know how it's going to turn out..
yet somehow it turns out ok..
when people can sleep soundly in their beds
and raise a glass knowing it's going to be ok..

makes me wonder how many close shaves we get..
but then I don't really want to know

Today really is all we have...can't recall where I heard that recently but it's true...

If our lives are limited - like cats are supposed to be... then I'm fast running out.. do we get more for our kids too or are they all bundled together - can we buy one get one free or is it not up for discussion, perhaps trading is allowed or gambling.. or maybe not.... ?

lets hope it doesn't work like that!

living for today knowing it's all we know we have... sounds fair enough but isn't always easy to do..

Space and time

So we're home ~ some photos from what was a gloriously sunny and beautiful week.
Space and time..




time to discover an almost deserted beach - only us and two others - at the end of a magical path of bracken and brambles and heather, with the most gorgeous sand dunes, where we could listen to the puffins and soak in solitude.



Time to relax in the mornings, reading and planning and taking silly pictures of feet which I happen to love.




Time to hang back and watch my family from a distance - butterflies all around me yet I didn't manage to catch one on camera at all...



time for contemplation and talking and sharing...




and for standing as the place is bathed in pinks and yellows as dusk falls and wondering as the sky is painted with yet more fantastic sunsets




and amongst all this natural beauty, quite possibly my most favourite image of Jesus, in the small courtyard outside the chapel - weathered and rusty from all the storms that batter the island.

~

There is however always the side that photos don't capture...the sleepless nights, the intense heat, and the flying ants that plagued our small dwelling and for which I am am so relieved to be home in comfort.

Even so, the small hours allowed for thought and reading and ideas, for soul searching and reflection... all important things which I treasure being able to do.

time out was good, but as always it's good to be home too.

Soul soothing

An e mail I received a while ago, much of which I happen to think is fairly true.

In a few hours I will get on a boat and head off to a place that is very special to me for some soul soothing.
I will take books and music, although I am looking forward to the solitude of reading with only the sounds of nature around me.
I have more books than I can possibly read in the time we are there.
I will be without the internet.
I am sure I will miss it at least initially, but I am also looking forward to peaceful ponderings and my notebook.

Last night we were out. It was the end of an era...a lot of goodbyes, and some aurevoirs. People expressing emotion openly and saying things they needed to say that they wouldn't perhaps get another chance to say. Wonderful messages, people letting their normal guarded exteriors dissolve to show real feelings.
Life changes. We all struggle to cope with it as it does - many people last night had found themselves in situations and having to make choices they never wanted to make. Travelling a road they had never dreamt of.
There is much to ponder on.
We stop and acknowledge where we are and hesitate for a moment; before bravely taking the next step forwards into uncertainty armed with our experiences and trusting that somehow all will be well.

All souls need soothing, feeding and nurturing so they can give more freely to others... this has been a hard time for many people.
These holidays are much needed, space and time with friends and family to refresh and revive in preparation for new beginnings in September.

So, I must finish packing and I'll be round to visit when I return - apologies if I have visited and not commented... time has a habit of catching me out!




A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...

enough money within her control to move out and rent a place of her own, even if she never wants to or needs to...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...

something perfect to wear if the employer, or date of her dreams wants to see her in an hour...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE .

a youth she's content to leave behind....

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...

a past juicy enough that she's looking forward to retelling it in her old age....

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE .....

a set of screwdrivers, a cordless drill, and a black lace bra...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ....

one friend who always makes her laugh...
and one who lets her cry...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...

a good piece of furniture not previously owned by anyone else in her family...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...

eight matching plates, wine glasses with stems, and a recipe for a meal, that will make her guests feel honored...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ....

a feeling of control over her destiny....

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

how to fall in love without losing herself..

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

how to quit a job,

break up with a lover,

and confront a friend without ruining the friendship...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

when to try harder...

and WHEN TO WALK AWAY...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

that she can't change the length of her calves,the width of her hips, or the nature of her parents..

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

that her childhood may not have been perfect...
but it's over...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

what she would and wouldn't do for love or more...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

how to live alone... even if she doesn't like it...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW....

whom she can trust,whom she can't,

and why she shouldn't take it personally...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

where to go...

be it to her best friend's kitchen table...

or a charming inn in the woods...

when her soul needs soothing...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

what she can and can't accomplish in a day...

a month...

and a year...

A moment of inspiration!

I know few men who like to shop
but there comes a point where everyone needs clothes unless we are intent on causing a stir and that wasn't the kind of outrageous I was thinking of in my earlier post!

And so it came to pass that R junior was in desperate need of new clothes...
but clothes are no longer merely practical, and each of my children is developing their own unique style.... meaning that I can no longer zip into town and pick up a few items in their size feeling confident they will like them.

I have failed previously both on my own, and with R in tow, and so I was full of high hopes when I sent both boys in together to shop..
how wrong I was!
They returned with one white t shirt between them...!!

So today I decided to try again and fell upon a moment of inspiration in the surf shop...

enough to say that where parents fail, young friendly female shop assistants in tight hot pants are sure to succeed...

I am graciously thankful and I have one happy boy...

never underestimate the power of a girl in hot pants... :)

Children grow up to be the love they have known

Once a week an e mail drops into my inbox from Henri Nouwen with a weekly reflection, and often it is both appropriate, and incredibly timely.

Yesterdays was exceedingly reassuring, especially as life has picked up a pace or two recently on the being a parent front!


On the Journey to Becoming an Authentic Parent
written by JOE VORSTERMANS
At some point early on in our journey of raising four children, a friend gave Stephanie and me a sign, which ended up on our fridge door. It read, "Children Grow Up to Be the Love They Have Known." I used to read that sign often, but I did not really understand what it was calling me to until the children were all grown up!

While the kids were at home, it was a daily challenge to keep up with the physical and emotional demands of parenting, and I often got lost in the practicalities of family life and trying to do the right thing. So often, doing the right thing from my perspective was doing the wrong thing from my kids' perspective! We read parenting books, tried to do things differently from our parents, made conscious choices to do this or not buy that, but nonetheless there were the typical family arguments, breakages, hurts and pains.

Now that our children are no longer at home and are finding their own way in the world, I realize that all the details that seemed so important at the time, that caused worry and dissension, are finally not so important. What the kids remember most, what shaped their lives most profoundly, were the family moments when they felt loved and safe and the apples of our eyes. Now when we play the game "Remember when . . . ," the things the kids talk about are the small but intimate times when we were a family, the times they knew they were loved.

Things I think about too...

For today.. a link ~ sometimes other people just express things better than I can ever hope to do... I think about those things too.

Have been reading round various blog archives...and am pleased I did, thank you Jen

Much for the soul to feast on, and to wonder and to marvel at the mystery of life every time I visit. If you don't already, she comes highly recommended.

"The world is as delicate and
as complicated as a spider's web.
If you touch one thread you send shudders running through all the other threads.
We're not just touching the web
we're tearing great holes in it..."
Gerald Durrell

unpacked some bits from Jersey Zoo from earlier in the year and came across this quote.
I went in search of a spiders web but didn't find any that were condusive to being photographed but became aware that the garden looks like it briefly awoke from winter and now is going back to sleep..
It is wild and untamed in parts.. too many parts perhaps...
but the bees are busy and the roses have buds and flowers and fallen flowers too....

I have neglected it all for a few weeks and both the house and the garden are showing obvious signs of being uncared for.

When one thing takes over another thing gives... the end of school and the start of a new job for me have taken up much of my time and energy.
Today I woke up to the reality that there are no fairies who come and 'do' while I am preoccupied.. I am my own cleaning / maintenance fairy...or something like that!!

I love the image of a spiders web.. love the way it is strong and flexible and yet so fragile too.
The same with so many things of life - our web of relationships and friendships too

while I have been preoccupied, life and nature has carried on living and growing and creating dust!!

I have neglected the balance of my own life.. I think that's fine now and again ... people are more important than things, and more important than gardens and houses.. but then again
everything deserves attention...

This evening I spent time with my Dad who has given up most of his day putting fences round trees which have been eaten around - almost totally by rabbits - not sure if they will live or die.. we think they will probably die.. it's the biggest strongest tree which is worst affected... so much of my childhood was walking round tending trees with him... after we planted them, together. It holds such memories.. 30 year old trees are quite something to behold... the colours and impact is amazing.. and still he plants more.. the kids have a tree each planted from seed when they were born... a horse chestnut and a sweet chestnut... their garden is my garden somehow... so full of memories and friendships and fun.. hay making and cows grazing, freesia growing and greenhouses too...and a wonderful friend who always told me the fairies wouldn't do it... a friend my Dad resuscitated too who went onto survive..many many years - don't let anyone tell you it doesn't work - it does!!

Where on earth is this post going..?

I guess it's all interlinked and inter related.. us, the land, trees, the balance... we concentrate on one area and another suffers,
memories, reality - the here and now - somehow it all links together , we are all important - it is all important... and somehow we all fit together...
it is the most amazing spiders web...

not sure I'll ever find the centre though!

Four seasons in one day...

Blogging from bed on a Sunday morning...
the boys are out on a cycle ride round the island.
I'm far more comfortable sitting here with a cup of tea and the early morning sun filtering through the curtains...I'm still hiding from the day, lingering in the half light listening to life outside.

I love the different seasons, I love sitting with the sun bathing the room in different warm colours and I also love sitting here listening to the pelt of rain and the howling wind

Am also thinking that life is nothing if not real.
And real is where we've been, where we are.

Yesterday I was reading 'The Secret life of Bees' and she says that "The world will give you that once in a while, a brief time out; the boxing bell rings and you go to your corner, where somebody dabs mercy on your beat-up life"

I like that.

Now the truth is my life is far from beat-up at the moment, but it doesn't always feel like that.

Life just is real...

It is tougher than we are ever told, which is good because we'd all be scared to death of life if we knew in advance what lay ahead.
But we also cope with it as it comes to us, and perhaps we should be told that in advance.
In essence my life is good right now, but I've been struggling, we have been struggling together.
It's not that sense of responsibility and the frightening permanence of parenthood, it's not the letting go, it's not being scared of the future, or drugs or violence or any of the big issues I worry about..
there has been more than enough to worry about in the here and now.

None of us come with guide books, instruction manuals - sure people write things that seem to aim to fill that purpose and I guess they do help to a degree - I have some here that have been helpful at times, along with my friends and other parents, and the odd bottle of wine or two over the years!
When children are small there are definite developmental stages and for the most part we are guided through. School helps too, they more or less do the same things around about the same time.

Now though, we seem to have hit a divide - the rule book, for what it is worth has been thrown away, washed downstream (gone to be recycled with the wine bottles no doubt!), everyone is developing at their own rate, there is no planning, the vast open space of independence is beckoning and looks very enticing.
Yearnings, desires, feelings and emotions, learning not to react, reacting anyway, confusion, wanting security but wanting to exert independence and push the freedom boundaries all the same!

wanting boundaries, but not wanting to be controlled, or told, or guided even...

We are out of the estuary and lost at sea without a compass... learning to use the stars and seeking reassurance from them... but we're all alone in this boat and the best we can do is shout to others for encouragement... all of a sudden we're all at different points.
We scratch around for what might be of some practical help, relevant and useful...

we have had some really stormy times lately and then some days when we seem to have cracked it.. but it only lasts for that day - or that moment in a day - there is no time for complacency. We are kept on our toes!

I think we're doing ok - spoke to some other crew from a similar ship recently as we watched to sun go over the yardarm.. ok, we had dinner together over a few drinks and compared notes!!

I have seriously questioned the wisdom of some of our earlier choices but we live with them and their consequences in this reality, and who knows in another time, another place, if we could go back and do it all differently perhaps we would...or maybe not!

add to that family and financial matters, and it's easy to feel as if life has beaten me up and left me in need of dabs of mercy or grace...

thats what the sun feels like this morning... grace in my corner.

which is wonderful when the winds can change at any time and frequently do - and we can end up with four seasons in one day...


and as it's in my head... the lyrics!

Four seasons in one day
Lying in the depths of your imagination
Worlds above and worlds below
The sun shines on the black clouds hanging over the domain

Even when youre feeling warm
The temperature could drop away
Like four seasons in one day

Smiling as the shit comes down
You can tell a man from what he has to say
Everything gets turned around
And I will risk my neck again, again

You can take me where you will
Up the creek and through the mill
All the things you cant explain
Four seasons in one day

Blood dries up
Like rain, like rain
Fills my cup
Like four seasons in one day

It doesnt pay to make predictions
Sleeping on an unmade bed
Finding out wherever there is comfort there is pain
Only one step away
Like four seasons in one day

Blood dries up
Like rain, like rain
Fills my cup
Like four seasons in one day

Hot Bubbles...

It's in and when you're in it you can't see the mess that is left to sort around it!
Last night was our first chance to try it out...

the views are better than the photos - they are just gorgeous and it is so peaceful and calm



later we need to try it in the dark - we have lights in it too... and some floating ones I bought a while back!
we meant to last night but were so relaxed we fell asleep ~ I think I'm going to like it :) In fact I already do!!

If being good isn't working, try being outrageous!

My thought for today, from a photo montage, put together for S from her wonderful teacher...
Words of wisdom perhaps, or has she seen the other side to my daughter?

We all need to be outrageous now and again...break the mould, run wild and free...do things that surprise us and others

rebel even...revitalise and connect with a new zest, feel the wind in our hair and inhale the scent of adventure in the breeze...

no-one likes to feel trapped or suffocated, we need air and space to grow and develop and become..


my list of outrageous possibilities is growing...


and as an aside, I would love to see some people's faces if I dared do some of them... ;)

Rewards

Coffee mornings when the children were small nurtured an aversion in me to people bragging about their children. I figured that we were all proud of our children as individuals, and that somehow, as long as we knew, and they knew, how proud we were of them, then the 'one up man ship' was unnecessary. That's not to say achievements shouldn't be celebrated and rewarded... but being intrinsically who you are should be and is good enough...
we always try to ensure both children know without a shadow of a doubt that we are proud of who they are...

Which is why I always sit through speech day in two minds...

In the past, as a pupil, I have both sat while everyone else seemed to receive prizes and have also, on occasion, received more than my fair share of prizes.

It always runs to the same formula, and yesterday was no exception...
Starting with the school hymn.. "He who would valiant be, 'gainst all disaster"
It still stirs me singing it today...years of association...

As a parent I admit to always sitting there hoping that someone somehow will acknowledge something of the effort I know my child has put in. The most we have had has been something in assembly the next day for progress or effort... not one of the big ones you have to go on stage for...

Which is why there was such a surge of emotion and delight and filling of pride when it was announced that S had won not just the form prize but the maths prize and the history prize too... they don't tell them in advance and it was just as much a surprise for her as it was for me.
She has worked quietly and efficiently... I don't have to badger her over her work and she has taken such a pride in everything recently.. so perhaps I shouldn't have been surprised..as she trotted across the stage five times in total.. another twice for being a librarian and to accept her leaving gift.
Such big changes...

and when I congratulated her afterwards, she looked at me and said... "what for?"....
a girl taking it all in her stride - a stride that is getting ever longer...

later we talked and she told me how good it felt to be rewarded for her efforts...I can almost see her confidence growing day to day...and that is good too.




Tonight was her leaving evening at school - entertainment from the girls and a party to say good bye...
a spectacular evening seeing them close up and just how they have grown and developed into their own individual characters, a wonderful puppet show, again featuring their amazing soft puppets from earlier in the term, and then a compilation of memories set to music that left, as they say, not a dry eye in the house...
Blessed with amazing memories. This school has been so good for S, but what struck me yesterday so strongly as she walked across the stage, head held high, very rightly so...was that it was noone but her who really achieved that. We can help and encourage, we can try and set the right environment for learning, we can guide and cajole even... but in the end the only person who could do the work and who could decide to work as hard as she did was her...
This school and these teachers have given her the confidence to continue to strive and as she started to flourish they have fed her and nurtured her, letting her develop at her own pace.

It's emotional and will continue to be - last day is tomorrow...

These days are precious.
In some way we have been working towards this...
it's amazing and beautiful, and we're only part way through the story. It is like finishing a chapter and taking a breath before starting the next...

Each of their lives a novel or a play waiting to be discovered...and us, privileged not only to be witnessing it, but to be an integral part and involved directly in it...all with our parts to play.

For some it continues at boarding school and the girls don't know when they will see each other again, but most of them will meet up again later this year if not before...but surely the curtain is closing on one part of their childhood and they are stepping out on another stage...

I sincerely wish I wasn't working tomorrow morning, am exhausted physically and emotionally... roll on the summer holidays :)

Their last song...

Days of devils, kings and clowns
Angel songs and birthday tunes
Valentines and wishing wells
Magic stairways, moons, and Junes
Silly rhymes and monkeyshines
Pictures on a stage
Round and round the records go
Time to turn the page

This will be our last song together
Words will only make us cry
This will be our last song together
There´s no other way we can say good-bye

Misty faces, far off places
Came and danced across the stage
Sha la la´s and Doo be down´s
The sounds that chased away the blues
Yesterday is yesterday
The past is dead and gone
Nostalgia just gets in the way
Let´s stop hanging on

This will be our last song together
Words will only make us cry
This will be our last song together
There´s no other way we can say good-bye

Now we go our separate ways
And leave the world we used to know
Scratchy worn out 45´s
An echo on the radio
The tra la days are over
Those days of me and you
And now we know that breaking up is
Really hard to do

This will be our last song together
Words will only make us cry
This will be our last song together
There´s no other way we can say good-bye

There´s no other way we can say good-bye...

Warming whirlwinds

Caught in a wonderful whirl wind of moments...if only I could stay awake long enough at the computer to blog...

amongst it all, a word... I think I only ever hear it once a year and it makes me smile every time..



'Quintessentially'...

Quintessential...




what a wonderful word, which, in essence, conjures up all kinds of feelings :)

Beekeeping ,day one, was really quite a pleasant surprise!

The proximity of the beach to the hive didn't dawn on me until I dropped R off.
There was no time to achieve anything of real value before I had to collect him, so I spent a most welcome hour soaking up the sun and the gentle sounds of the wind and waves and birds and absorbing the glorious colours of the ocean.
I love the patterns in the rocks and the battered boat resting close to shore.
Time to muse... a problem shared with the right person certainly makes a difference and it was a much more relaxed me that contemplated life and my small family as I sat waiting for his return.

So far noone has been stung, and we are looking forward to tomorrow.
I have the map of where to go and have worked out the nearest beach, just in case the weather is favourable and there is nothing else pressing to do...

The final countdown...

All the school books are now home, desks emptied, we've had the introduction evening for the new school and each day there are more good bye activities... more endings, while the light of new beginnings glimmers brightly beckoning in the wings...
today is the talent show..
The talk is of who will be in whose class, which teachers they will have...and of the holiday looming ahead.
This week we promised ears pierced too... not quite a rite of passage but something akin to it I guess!!

Meantime R is on activity week.... and I hold my breath as I say... beekeeping.... I hold my breath and we wait to see... I do trust the school know exactly what they are doing ~ it's him and not me thankfully - you wouldn't get me in one of those white hooded suits messing with bees for anything...!!

It's time for slow calm breathing...

perhaps we'll get some honey out of it...?? :)

Oh, and in update, apologies, but please bear with me - I have enabled comment moderation - I don't want to put any of you off from leaving comments but it was something I felt I had to do - for now at least...x

The next step...

My initial training is over...:)
we have had danger, response, shout for help, airway and breathing till it's second nature...
The material was nothing new to me but it's good to have guidance on it's delivery and to have it drummed into you until it is second nature...

so when reference was made to this I had to look it up....
he always reminds me of when R had had his tonsils out and his were the only funny videos they had on the ward...



How not to do CPR :)

I think I won't be showing this to the children I am teaching later this year...

'Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen.'

Quite a long time ago I remember reading children's thoughts on God.
Here apparently are some children's thoughts on love that arrived in my inbox earlier..

A group of professional people posed this question to a group of 4 to 8 year-olds, 'What does 'love' mean?'

'When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love.'
Rebecca- age 8

'When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth.'
Billy - age 4

'Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other.'
Karl - age 5

'Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs.'
Chrissy - age 6

'Love is what makes you smile when you're tired.'
Terri - age 4

'Love is when my Mummy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK.'
Danny - age 7

'Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more. My Mummy and Daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss'
Emily - age 8

'Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen.'
Bobby - age 7 (Wow!)

'If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate,' Nikka - age 6
(we need a few million more Nikka's on this planet)

'Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, and then he wears it everyday.'
Noelle - age 7

'Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well.'
Tommy - age 6

'During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn't scared anymore.'
Cindy - age 8

'My Mummy loves me more than anybody. You don't see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night.'
Clare - age 6

'Love is when Mummy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken.'
Elaine-age 5

'Love is when Mummy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford.'
Chris - age 7

'Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day'
Mary Ann - age 4

'I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones.'
Lauren - age 4

'When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you.' (what an image)
Karen - age 7

'Love is when Mummy sees Daddy on the toilet and she doesn't think it's gross.'
Mark - age 6

'You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget.'
Jessica - age 8

And the final one -- Author and lecturer Leo Buscaglia once talked about a contest he was asked to judge. The purpose of the contest was to find the most caring child. The winner was a four year old child whose next door neighbour was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there. When his Mother asked what he had said to the neighbour, the little boy said,
'Nothing, I just helped him cry'

When there is nothing left, that is when you find out that love is all you need.

don't even try to clip their wings....

sometimes I wonder if the whole of this life is about letting go...
letting go of all kinds of things.
Nothing we are given is ever for keeps
thats why we have to appreciate it when we have it

but I have also realised how belligerent I can become when faced with those who try to stop me letting go...
recently there have been a couple of occasions I have witnessed others trying to clip wings of fledglings ready to fly and it hurts so much...
I have realised how cruel it is.
however painful it is for us as parents, we have to do this, and I am amazed at the strength of feeling inside.
I do not want to lose either of them, but I am failing them on a very deep level if I don't let them try out their newly found wings and help them fly alone ~ I can't believe how hard that is ~ but compared to the alternative.. I don't see an alternative ~ not if I am looking at their best interests, and ultimately my own.
We are given them to let them go.

I hope they know their roots are solid.
I hope their cheekiness and cockiness to us in measured amounts and in good humour means they feel secure.

S is away in France this week with school
we hadn't expected to hear from her but she has just called..
said she was encouraged to, although we had been told they wouldn't...
mixed messages...

I worry more about her independence being taken away than her having it.

thats a 'wow moment' of realisation and one I have been preoccupied with lately...

perhaps it should be a reassurance that although we are never ready for these moments when they arrive, in fact we have no choice over them arriving - they find us and so ultimately we shouldn't worry about them. We can relax and enjoy what we have when we have it...



Now helping others to let go when we're struggling with it ourselves is a tough cookie... and such are some of our basic instincts that it can be hard to overcome.
When someone is being mean and nasty to your child it is hard to teach them the right way to deal with it... hard to always see the right way to deal with it...

I learned a lot from karate about discipline and controlling the urge to fight back...about defence and walking away...
walking away is a hard thing to teach.
Letting go is hard when you're young and fired up and hearing things that provoke, that are designed to provoke a reaction....
but if not reacting can be learnt early on then I am sure it prevents problems later on.

years can bring some kind of wisdom I guess but it doesn't stop the primal urge to defend those closest to you... to fight because you know you can, (and in truth it would feel so good to let the frustration out)...so it is important that the head really does rule the heart in some circumstances...

I imagine letting go will be a continuing theme in my thinking...

people only show their true beauty to the world when they are free... and secure and happy in their freedom to be themselves, free to express who they are and be accepted for who they are...

I want my children to be seen to be as uniquely beautiful as I know they are...

Hettie's guide to Nashia

I know, nothing for a while then twice in one day! :)

This morning I took Rocky the rabbit for his injections and while I waited I picked up the most wonderful book
"Hettie's guide to Nashia" by Sean Corlett, beautifully written, and fantastically illustrated.

I know I was almost reluctant to have animals because I knew they would die and we would be left with distraught children and at that time I had so much of it at work I didn't really want to have to deal with it at home too. I wondered about the wisdom of just not inviting additional unnecessary grief into our family. However, now, weighed against the benefits we have experienced I am pleased I ignored those protective instincts and the easier path and allowed the children to have their pets.

I know how beneficial books can be for children (and adults) trying to make sense of whats going on and so I was intrigued to find this gem, written about a dog who has died and gone to 'Nashia'. I wish I had had it as part of our library when I worked with bereaved children.

The only problem is it hasn't got an ISBN number and isn't listed anywhere I can find.
The vets were clueless about where it had come from, but it has a local printers label inside so I will try them...

and so I am writing about a beautiful book that deserves to be published properly and widely available...

I would want a copy knowing our pets will die one day in the not too distant future.

Makes me wonder just how many fantastic books are out there lurking, undiscovered, hidden treasures...

Silence...

curiously little to blog...
Many personal reflections, too real to be abstracted for this space, and by the time they can be, they will have passed
and other stories, which much as they impact my life, are not mine to share.
this space has been quiet, but life has been far from it
In some ways I find that strange, as I always imagined this would be somewhere that would reflect what was happening in real life, in my head, without necessarily being a diary...



It has however been glorious weather, which meant that when S was swimming on friday I was naturally drawn outside, finally coming to rest in a patch of sun at the foot of an old tree, slightly down hill and surrounded by the dappled sunlight from the neighbouring trees. The sea was visible through a gap in the foliage and the birds were the only ones chattering amongst themselves in my vicinity.
I breathed deeply and relaxed back, looking at the sky through the trees, watching the clouds moving on their deep blue background changing shapes.
For a while the world was peaceful....I was alone and noone could see me, a haven of tranquility amidst the chaos of friday evening. Even if they could see me I didn't care. Somehow the world makes more sense lying down...and even more sense lying down absorbing nature.
Half an hour later I emerged into the real world feeling like I had just discovered some huge secret, a sanctuary...
I had found a key that fitted, even if only for that day... that moment...

that space, that time, was mine. It was precious and peaceful and perfect.

An escape in the midst of chaos and noise.

looking for the heart of saturday night...

It wasn't forecast to be the easiest of weeks, friends and serious health problems and friends staying who we hadn't seen since the funeral earlier this year...
Fortunately it has been a whole lot easier than I thought it was going to be.
Our friend is going to be ok and the grief although still raw was helped by being able to hold and touch and talk and be together.
Physical presence is so powerful, and vital, a reassurance in the face of death which is just so final.
that's it - he's not going to be here physically ever again, not to hear or feel or touch.
finding ways to cope with the reality of that surely is a challenge...

I don't have any answers - seems I don't have any answers for much at the moment...too many difficult questions...

But it did make me think, because in some ways it's easy to think of ourselves as vulnerable and exposed and fragile, especially when there is so much out there to feel hurt by. It's almost easier to focus on our weakness than it is on our strength...

This photo takes me back to London, to smoky bars, late nights, a special group of friends, Guiness, whiskey and beer, and to Tom Waits, The The, The Pogues and other music which made for some thoughtful, interesting, wonderful evenings. Evenings that somehow helped me get through a couple of very difficult years.... made me realise we are all tougher than we think we are, but that we all need each other to reinforce our ability to put one foot in front of another - to keep on and not to give up... it's hard to believe in yourself if others don't believe in your ability too somehow...

It was good to stop for a while and to remind myself that actually there is a well of strength that can be drawn on when it's needed, it tends to lurk at the bottom whilst our weaknesses float to the top and stop us seeing so deeply... but we do cope when we have to.

In the event I didn't really need to draw from that well... perhaps it was enough to know it was there... and I am thankful for that.

I don't drink whiskey, but I can't get these lyrics out of my head from The Pogues... fond tough memories....


"I am going, I am going
Any which way the wind may be blowing
I am going, I am going
Where streams of whiskey are flowing"...