I am living life in a beautiful state of........(fill in your word).
Today it was I am living life in a beautiful state of resting.
I am living life in a beautiful state of........(fill in your word). Today it was I am living life in a beautiful state of resting.
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In sunshine I can just be. Yesterday morning I set aside my lists and plans and projects and striving and thought today I will just be. It was wonderful (and things did get done!) ..to start the day well, I've thought about how I wake and what I think and see on waking, so what do I hear? What do you hear? Tell me it's not a rmedia compilation of all the terrible things that have happened around the world while you have been asleep! To people you will never know, in places you will never see and whcih you cannot change in any way. The more I think abuot this the more insane I believe it to be. Really. No rational person would do this. Instant stress. We were not designed for this (children especially), and we wonder why there is an epidemic of mental health problems? Not that we shouldn't take an inerest, but first thing on waking? I have woken to the sound of aircraft taking off, a milk float, noisy neighbours leaving for work, a baby crying (mine), a call to prayer, a bellbird in a forest, children arguing, someone else's radio, a noisy wren at 5am, the city cacophony of traffic and sirens and boats on the river and helicopters in the air (London), sheep, peeweets, a kiss, lashing rain.... I waken to quiet now, a little birdsong and I may hear the early bus trundle by, but there isn't another for two hours. Love it and know I am very lucky. The native cranesbill doesn't flower fo very long, but it's lovely and totally undemanding. ..I retreat into nature and my own small world. That's how I am. Others may leap into the fray to try to chage tings and I can admire that. We need good people who do that. Buttercups and orchids and the blackbd's song. Someone has to admire them, and today it is me! ..taste the coffee. Relax. Listen to the balckbird sing. I am having to remind myself not to rush! I will probably never 'catch up' with this ever-wilder garden. Tomorrow is going to be sunny. I may just sit in it, at least while the blackbird is singing his heart out. It would be rude not to. Yesteday I got an urgent email from a garden centre telling me it was my last chance for priority booking for Father Christmas. Sorry. I am only just able to contemplate the end of summer! Having beautiful weather too. Posting this under Simply Chill and Simply Laugh.
..by which I don't mean just lying in the hammock, though I plan to do a fair bit of that! Some periods of lightness and ease (a phrase I still remember from reading The Ya-Ya Sisterhood decades ago). In order to try and get that, at leasst some of thime I will take care not to commit to too many things this month, to leave room for some spontaneity. I may skip the news altogether. If there is something I need to know it will find me. I will try not to exhaust myself gardening as I did yesterday. Light hearted books and beautiful music are not hard to achieve. I have just listened to Bill Paterson's Tales From The Back Green (a world I recognise) which made me laugh out loud, and walking round the garden early yesterday morning listening to a Beethoven cello sonata really loud on my headphones was absolutely thrilling. Both wondrous and joyful. I may have danced a few steps... I woke one morning recently and realised I had no actual appointments, I did not have to be anywhere at a certain time, in fact I had a fairly free day apart from my self imposed to-do lists and I thought How would it be if I just let the day unfold... I can already hear some of you say Hah, chance would be a fine thing! We are so goal-oriented and driven at times, don't you think? Even our 'time off' is often timetabled. So, when did you last just let a day unfold? On holiday? When convalescing? Ever? I gave muself the gift of the whole day. When the sun shone I went out, when it rained I came back in. I ate when I felt like it, I napped, I gardened a little, I cooked a little, I played some music, lit a fire, drank a lot of tea, watched the clouds, did a few light chores, paused every now and then to ask myslef What do I feel like doing now? And listened to my answer. It was so refreshing! Can you gift yourself some time? Time to just be rahter than do? We judge each other all the time. It's what we do, and necessary for survival, but we are often expected to express an opinion when, it seems to me, we are in no position to judge and social media encourages us to be simplistic (thumbs up/thumbs down) on even complex issues. Try, just for a day suspending judgement. Just let things be. Give yourself a break from it, from turning everything into an ethical dilemma for example. Or from judging yourself, perhaps harshly, as well as others. When I tried this I was quite shocked at how many of my thoughts were very judgemental indeed! After a few hours of not judging I felt very free and relaxed, and since my private judgemental thoughts rarely if ever make any diffference in the real world it seemed like a very good idea to try it out more often. What do you think? I got the Christmas box out from under the eaves to retrieve the Advent calendar.. ..if full of care we have noot time to stand and stare (W H Davies scroll down here ).
..is a strange place!
On the way to the city I listened to Rethink The World Order about the battle between liberal democracies and nationalist, populist autocracies, and a fascinating programme The Amazing Life of Olaudah Equino which was both horrendous and heartening. Serious stuff after which the retail world seemed somewhat vacuous and meanngless. On the way back Sibelius' Fourth Symphony, written when he had been diagnosed with a tumour on his throat, and described by the presenter as Sibelius 'clinging to cliffs and looking out on a landscape riven by despair'. A mild altercation between the bus driver and a passenger ended with 'You are in the wrong, not me'. I went home and watched grown men and women thwacking small balls at speeds of over one hundred miles per hour at each other accompanied by grunts, roars and what I can only describe as whinnying. They get paid thousands of pounds for this. I was riveted. I went to bed feeling exhausted although I had barely exerted myslef, and, surprisingly, slept really well. Bizarre, don't you think? A sunny day (at last!), mowing the paths through the meadows and a snooze in the hammock resotred my equiliibrium, and a British player through to the semi-finals of Wimbledon was cheering news :-) You can always tell a blogger - they photograph their food before they eat it! It's a wonderful and relaxing treat to have such food put down in frnt of you. Leisurely breakfasts and healthy lunches.. Salads and juices with 7, 8, 9 ingredients. A restaurant on the beach as the sun set - torches lit the beach after dark and we waded into the still warm sea. Desserts included the best affogato ever! All making me rethink my cooking at home.. Though maybe chill wasn't the word for temperatures of 31 degrees! In the sense of relaxing and taking it easy, it was perfect. Had a wonderful week in Cannes on the beautiful Cote d'Azur. I hope you hve had a lovely Midsummer Day. ..for five minutes or a fortnight, with a cup of coffee or a glass of wine, in a hammock, playing with a cat or watching wildlife, a bath by candlelight, having a nap...what are your favoutie ways to chill? I have only got part way through reading Simply Chill posts. This one still strikes a chord, and this one. I so enjoyed the comments on both.
I am going to take a little time away from the blog to chill. I hope you might enjoy browsing the archive while I am away! In my gentle reviiew of the ctegories of the blog I will skip Simply Bin It for now and look at Simply Chill. After all, What is this life if full of care, we have no time to stand and stare? And which month if not June is the best time to make time to Simply Chill? Depending on what device you are using, you will find this category on the side bar, or you may have to scroll down a long way... I hope you have time for a browse of this quite large category. Don't miss this one (do watch full screen) It's from a lovely television progranne from a few years ago. Tell me what you think of it! Did you find perfection? (See yesteday's post.) If you can't spot it around you, create it. Listen to the perfect music for this day or this moment, make the perfect lunch or sandwich, find that perfect birthday card or present for someoone. Here is my pocket of perfection for today. I find it helps me keep a balanced view of things and reduce anxiety. What use are we to anyone after all if we are overwhelmed and stressed? ..except that it's only 371 days till next Christmas!
Smile... The damp chilly greenhouse may have been Covid-safe, but I now have a horrible cold.
There are times when it's wise just to give in and retire to bed. Back soon. Take care (especially if eating outside!) ...upon a star, makes no difference who you are. Or so the old song goes. Everything your heart desires will come to you.
I listened to twelve versions of the song and I couldn't find one I liked enough to share. Now I wish I could get it out of my head! I have been humming it, singing it and whistling it for days. So, I will go for the real thing. You know how I like the real thing. I am watching the weather waiting for the first starry night, when I will wrap up warm and sit on the porch with a drink and choose which wondrous star to wish on. But the wish of course, must be secret, or it won't come true.. I |
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July 2024
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