Author: Joanne

Australia · Changes · gratitude · happiness · summer · Tweed Valley · vision

Sunrise Through the Misty Morning

Joanne4 Comments
6.30 am

 “In the morning, everything is new.
The day’s blank slate lies before me,
ready for my writing.
May it be words of beauty I write.
May it be deeds of grace I do.
May it be thoughts of joy I think….
As I go through the day,
keep my eyes open wide.
May I not miss beauty.
May I not miss joy.
May I not miss wonder.
Keep me awake and aware of the world.
It is my privilege to perform my morning prayers.
It is my honor to do what should be done.
As I rise with the morning, fog lifting slowly for my mind,
I pray not to forget these truths”.  ~  Ceisiwr Serith

Usually at this time of year the heat of the day is so intense that working, or any chore carried out, even one as simple as walking to the kitchen for a glass of water can be a major task. Beads of sweat drip down the centre of our backs, forming into tiny streams of water which feel for all the world as if a spider is running along our skin.

Night time brings hardly any relief to the heat of the day. Temperatures may drop by a few degrees, but the humidity remains. Sleeping becomes a problem. Our diet usually consists of meat cooked outdoors on the bar-b-que and dishes of tossed salad. And water. Glass after glass of precious, hydrating liquid.

Psychological relief from the rising temperatures can usually be found by imagining time spent in the snow of the northern hemisphere as I lap up image after image of snow-covered roads, trees and buildings. It helps, temporarily.

This summer has been a different story though. Snow photos from friends and family in the northern reaches of the world are few. Feelings of spiders running down my back are even fewer.

Usually, as the days begin to cool by late March or early April, pockets of mist can settle into the valley below us, forming oceans of mist. These “oceans” can appear at any time throughout the cooler weather, depending on how far the temperatures rise during the day.

This year, here it is, early February, and the misty mornings have already begun. What a delight to behold! The misty mornings are eerie, quiet and magical. And good for the soul.

7.30 am

 “When in the fresh mornings I go into my garden before anyone is awake, I go for the time being into perfect happiness.”~ Cecilia Thaxter

Changes · freedom · summer

We are Becoming…..

Joanne4 Comments

“You must constantly ask yourself these questions: Who am I around? What are they doing to me? What have they got me reading? What have they got me saying? Where do they have me going? What do they have me thinking? And most important, what do they have me becoming? Then ask yourself the big question: Is that okay? Your life does not get better by chance, it gets better by change.” ~ Jim Rohn.

The month of January is often a challenge for me, in many ways.

With children home from school for most of the month, it is difficult to find any time to be peaceful, when they have music playing constantly in the house. I look forward to the house becoming quiet for a change, and hearing the sounds of silence yet again.

And there is always the heat issue, including our rainy season in the sub-tropics, which contributes to the humidity. Funnily enough, though, this summer has been unseasonally cool, an unexpected luxury which I am revelling in! While I have expected the heat to arrive I realise, with huge amounts of delight, that with each day of little heat, we move one day closer to autumn, when the weather will become cooler again. Ah…bliss!

None of us has any control over summer school holidays or the weather, so we might as well accept the inevitable and find the pleasure in each moment of every day. We can’t change these things.

It is incredibly easy to find the pleasure behind the noise in the house all day. The noise tells me that my children are still young enough to live at home. I can enjoy their company and they are indeed very good company!

And the warmer days allow myself and the rest of my family the freedom to enjoy our swimming pool, finding relief from the humidity of the days.

What we are becoming, on a personal level, is a matter in which we do have some control over. We have the choice of how we allow the people who we interact with throughout our lives to affect us.

Everyone we meet can, and does, influence our behaviour at the time of our meeting. They may also shape our future thoughts and feelings, unknowingly painting a picture of the person we have become, who we are constantly in the process of becoming.

The month of January has given me the opportunity to ponder the question of who we are becoming, taking my mind off the few days when it has been warm and when I have missed my solitude, and it is with much pleasure that I have written these thoughts in my article at the Calm Space this month, “An Infinite Work of Art ~ You”.

 

 

 

A Sense of Spirit · concepts · realities

Thoughts as I Press My Nose against the Window of Life

Joanne2 Comments

“Every new idea begins with a concept and an imaginary glance into the future. Where our imaginations perceive this idea will take us is crucial to the distance we are prepared to travel with our concept. It’s all in our minds, in our perception of what the future may bring”.

The creation of this website took months, in my mind.

The whole concept took hold easily enough and the content has always been there by the bucket-load, in my mind.

During the last year I must have written over one-hundred articles to publish here, in my mind.

After months of agonising over the question of whether or not starting up this site was a valid concept, a burst of courage finally saw “A Sense of Spirit” hitting the computer air-waves in March last year.

Whatever became of the courage I had within me, back in March 2011, back in the day when I believed in my ideas and knew that the blogging world would accept the theory behind the concept of writing about unproven realities?

In actual fact, that is exactly what “A Sense of Spirit” is all about ~ A Series of Unproven Realities.

Constantly I have asked myself, how many people are there out there, who also, like myself, can see and feel these unproven realities?

Will I be questioned and judged on my stories of what is fact (to me) or questioned harshly on my theories? (I do not wish to have to defend my beliefs, nor do I wish to question those who do not have the same beliefs as me).

Worse still, will I be ridiculed?

Are there even any like-minded people who will read my stories and see them for what they are, accepting the sincerity in which my stories are shared?

Will anyone feel compelled to share their own stories here?

There are too many questions floating around in my head. Don’t you agree?

While my heart tells me “go for it!” the practical reality in my head, (which I am usually loathe to listen to, especially if it precedes the story of my heart, although it doesn’t in this case), is this ~ I already have three, yes three, subscribers to “A Sense of Spirit”!

Not bad at all, if you ask me, when you consider I have added just one post, almost a year ago, and an “about” page! (Thank you to my three subscribers. I hope you are all reading this and will accept my gratitude for your offerings of encouragement).

Who knows, maybe there are some more folk out there who won’t see this site as being complete madness and enjoy what they read. How cool would it be to have even more subscribers?!

In actual fact, using my senses to feel the unseen and also listening to and following my intuition comes as naturally to me as breathing. It always has, as far back as I can remember.

Now I am ready, the time has come for me to stop pressing my nose against the window and become a participant in my own creation. I’m ready to go out and dance in the sunshine and the rain.

I do hope you will join me.

Australia · gratitude · Mount Warning · summer · Tweed Valley

Summer’s Stunning Sunset

Joanne2 Comments
Brilliant Summer Sunset

“Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky.” ~ Rabindranath Tagore.

Summer has made a very late appearance in my part of the world this season. It is only over the last few days the temperatures have risen to the expected thirty degree mark. Not that I’m complaining, mind you. Just noting.

This is the summer in which I have declared that I will appreciate the summer season for what it is and summer has cooperated brilliantly. Firstly with lower temperatures than the usual. Secondly, with this magnificent sunset over Mount Warning last night.

How can I possibly not appreciate such a glorious sky-show?

 

 

friends · gratitude · happiness

Farewell, 2011.

Joanne6 Comments

“Year’s end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instil in us.”  ~ Hal Borland

“We spend January 1 walking through our lives, room by room, drawing up a list of work to be done, cracks to be patched.  Maybe this year, to balance the list, we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives… not looking for flaws, but for potential.”  ~ Ellen Goodman

Three hundred and sixty-five days have passed us by since we waved a cheery good-bye to the old year. We promised ourselves that we would do better next year; improve our diet, exercise more, save more money, show kindness to one and all, learn to play that musical instrument, write that novel, clean out the wardrobes….etc., etc., etc….

How did you go with last year’s New Year’s Resolutions? Hmm…

If you’re anything like me, and probably the majority of the world’s population, the plans you made on New Year’s Day last year went right out the window on January 2nd!

I’ve realised the reason for my plans, or New Year’s Resolutions, all going pear-shaped so quickly ~ I make too many plans, to do too many things! (Message to Self: There are only so many hours in a day, you know!)

A few days ago I came across a quote, which for me says it all. I’d like to share it here, as it may also have the same profound impact on another person as it had on me. This New Year, this quote is my New Year’s Resolution ~

“Learn from the past, set vivid, detailed goals for the future, and live in the only moment of time over which you have any control: now.” ~ Denis Waitley.

Tomorrow is just another day on the calendar, yet a day of new beginnings.

As you begin the New Year of 2012, my friends, I wish you well in everything you wish to achieve in your life, good health, wonderful friends and the love of family.