Tag: joy

advice · challenges · Changes · inspiration

A Rejuvenated Soul

Joanne2 Comments

When it comes to keeping mementos, I’m up there with the best of them. Those treasured keepsakes, the trinkets of happiness, able to transport the soul to bygone days of warmth, wonder and joy.

But just how much warmth and joy can one soul take? Can the soul cope with possession overload, and still function in its soulful way? Are you a victim of “stifled soul”?

Help is available. “Stifled Soul” is treatable and curable, no drugs or hospitalisation required!

Clothing and shoes are a huge soul stifler. When the disheartened soul is peering at “a wardrobe full of nothing to wear”, that would be a great place to begin. Go through each item in your wardrobe, one by one, asking the same question of each item of clothing and pair of shoes stashed in there; “Have I worn this in the last year?” If the answer is “no”, out it goes!

Next, open the linen closet. Are all of the sets of sheets in there still being used? Are there even beds in the house that still fit the sheets in the closet? And the towels, does your family of four really use the fifty towels you have stashed away in there?

The charity shops will love you, when you arrive at the door, laden with bags of excess “stuff” you no longer have a use for. The health of your soul will be improving as well.

Every room in the house will benefit from a repeat of the above “drug-free prescription”.  Kitchen cupboards and drawers, table tops and coffee tables, display shelving, even clean out the car. The soul sees and feels all.

Next, take a few deep, long, cleansing breaths…in preparation for a good old “paper-shuffle”, in the office, on the desk, or wherever those “important papers” are kept. With recycle bin at hand, go through all of that junk mail, opened envelopes, used shopping lists, in fact any piece of paper no longer required, bin it!

To keep the paper work in check in the future, invest in two or three file trays and some storage boxes. When neatly placed on top of your freshly cleaned desk top, along with a pen holder (a place to keep those elusive pens and pencils that have a knack of vanishing, just when you need them), everything will have its place.

By the time all of these tidy-up and throw out tasks are completed, you’ll feel lighter and freer than you have in years, all due to the fresh air your once stifled soul is now breathing.

To prevent a re-occurance of “stifled soul”, I would recommend repeating the treatment on an annual basis. Your healthy soul will thank you for it!

There’s nothing new about having a good old-fashioned clean out; even our grandmother’s took part in an annual “spring clean”, although the season of spring is not necessarily required for soul therapy to be carried out.

When the cleanout is complete in the home and office, your heart, mind and soul will feel light and refreshed as well, rejuvenated, and awaiting the next chapter of life’s evolving events.

inspiration · music · nostalgia

Time Travelling…With Music

Joanne3 Comments

“If music be the food of love, play on”~ William Shakespeare.

This morning my twenty two year old daughter and I had morning tea together. Being Saturday morning, she had already finished her two hour ballet class, so called in for a visit on her way back to her place.

We shared the last of the Welsh Bara Brith, which I had made a few days ago and each of us had a cup of herbal tea, whilst sitting in my quiet room.

My younger daughter, aged seventeen, completed her exams at school last week and had enjoyed a well deserved sleep-in. She joined us in the quiet room for her “early-morning-but-today-it-was-at-eleven-o’clock” mug of coffee. Tucked under her arm was her lap-top.

“Did you two know that Marilyn Manson is coming to Australia this year”?

“Who’s she?” asked Miss twenty two.

“It’s a he”, I informed her.

It must have been our lucky day. With lap-top at the ready, Miss Seventeen proceeded to play a most charming song for her big sister, feeling sure she would also become a fan of Marilyn Manson. (You are detecting the note of sarcasm in my voice here, aren’t you?)

I will not be offering a link here to MM, nor would I repeat any lyrics to his, um…songs. Needless to say, I invited Miss twenty-two to come into my office with me, as I had a you-tube clip that she would be sure to enjoy!

During the week, Káren at the Calm Space has posted a lovely article “Music to Sooth Your Soul”. A link is included in the article, to the most beautiful version of “Hallelujah” by Il Divo. My daughter knew the song and loved this version, along with the beautiful backdrop of The Coliseum.

Once in the mood for hearing such beautiful harmonious voices, we played more songs, including “The Power of Love”, “The Adagio”, “Unchained Melody” and “Ave Maria”.

Seeing the old Righteous Brothers of “Unchained Melody” there, I had to play that also. I now have an urge to see the movie “Ghost” again!

Il Divo, I have discovered, perform a beautiful version of “All By Myself”. I listened to it, but only as it was being sung in Spanish. The version sung in English, by Eric Carmen, had been my mother’s favourite song and far too emotional for me to listen to. I’m having a happy day and have no desire to cry!

At one stage, my daughter questioned me as to whether the room we were in felt cold, then answered her own question; the goose bumps were due to the music! We both had goose bumps.

Isn’t music amazing? It has the ability to transport your soul to another place and another time, give you goose bumps, can be uplifting (or depressing), it can soothe your soul, as Káren told us and it can even rattle your soul, as displayed by my younger daughter’s music!

Káren asks at the Calm Space “What music do you turn to, when your heart is aching and you’re in need of soothing”? Further to Káren’s question, I would like to ask; what music transports your soul to another place, another time?

I do believe Shakespeare had a point; music is the food of love! 🙂

Australia · nostalgia

A Bouquet Of Keys

Joanne4 Comments

For days on end, the stainless steel laundry tubs reminded me of long forgotten summer days, spent with my uncle on his dairy farm, in the middle of New South Wales.

As wonderful as the memories were, they puzzled me. Reminders of an uncle, whom I hadn’t seen since I was a teenager, every time I did the laundry? Why???

Bottles had been sterilised in a bleach mixture in my laundry tub, in preparation for my son’s latest batch of home brew, leaving a bleachy-metallic odour lingering for days after…Uncle Jim’s bleachy-metallic odour!

What?!  Why did my beloved Uncle remind me of bleach and stainless steel? This question had my mind working overtime…he had a dairy farm…the milking machines were stainless steel…the vats containing the fresh-from-the-cow milk were stainless steel…they must have been sterilised with something…a bleach mixture maybe?

Regardless, Uncle Jim was back, in my mind’s eye, for a few precious days of re-lived moments…

Way too early in the day, long before any self-respecting man or beast should be stirring (I never was a morning person) rumour has it that Uncle Jim could be found, (should anyone care to find him at that ungodly hour!) herding the cows into the milking sheds.

Memories abound of waking each morning to the crisp summer’s air, after the searing heat of the previous day, snuggled into a light feather quilt, the scent of Uncle Jim’s breakfast of eggs, bacon and fried tomatoes wafting into the room, cooking on the huge fire-wood stove in the adjoining country kitchen.

Remembering that this was a holiday, no school, no one knowing where to find me, steeling a few extra minutes under the feather quilts would be allowed.

The grassy, hay, chicken feather smell, whilst collecting eggs from the chicken coup with my granny, and, as the day grew older, the smell of the dry heat mixing with the dust of the barren country roads, combined with the leaves of the eucalyptus trees.

The high-light of each day began around about the middle of the day, when the dry-heat reached its peak, to a point where I would wonder if I would ever take another breath of cool air again. Uncle Jim would bring the old ute around to the front of the farmhouse, after loading the icy-cold vats of fresh milk into the  back tray, and off we would drive, car windows opened wide, wind hitting our faces, driving along the open dusty roads to the cool rooms, where the milk would await its collection.

With the milk safely delivered to its destination point, it was time for my treat…a huge carton of freezing cold, chocolate or strawberry flavoured milk!

The heat of the day disappeared, along with every mouthful of flavoured milk I took, not daring to return before the next day, when it was nearly time to take the next trip along the dusty roads, to the cool-room and my cool-milk.

As each day drew to a close, (a far more respectable time for both man and beast), Uncle Jim would again herd the cattle along the lines of stalls into the milking sheds, this time with my “help”. Not to be left out, the bull would wander into his favoured stall also, right at the end, where he kept a close watch over his harem!

Now, just when I imagine most of my childhood memories are tucked up safe and sound in their own little colourful boxes and stashed away somewhere in the vicinity of the deep-dark-recesses and long-forgotten, out pops the key to open the box, releasing each magical memory back into the present, cunningly disguised as a whiff of bleach or a carton of strawberry milk.

But I’m not complaining, only surprised. I’m happy to bask in the feather quilt again, just for a moment longer. 🙂

The nose knows far more than we give it credit for, having its own personal source of intelligence.

What joy-filled memories of bygone days have your bouquet of keys unlocked for you?

inspiration

With Purpose In Our Lives

JoanneLeave a comment

“As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light in the darkness of mere being”~Carl Gustav Jung.

Today, being Sunday, I am allowing myself the indulgence of not abiding by any schedule. The main purpose to this day is to just relax.

During the month of May, there was much debate on the topic of “Purpose”, as it was the theme of the month on The Calm Space.

I wrote a guest post myself, entitled “Monte Carlo…Or Me?” in which I recalled one particular night, many years ago, when I realised, without a shadow of a doubt, my ultimate purpose for being on this earth.

Being my ultimate realisation, it seemed appropriate to make that my choice for my article, but realising at the same time the importance purpose plays in all of our lives, every single day.

I was surprised, but also enlightened to the fact that some people are concerned, almost afraid, at the idea of having to find purpose in their lives, as if it is a form of obligation. If the trumpets don’t sound at the moment of their revelation, they feel that they have somehow failed in an aspect of their lives!

The pressure of finding their ultimate purpose seemed all too much to bear for some, almost as if the word purpose is over-rated.

Perhaps being an avid reader of Abraham-Hicks books prevented me from feeling intimidated by purpose. As they point out, “You want to know your purpose. You want to feel worthy. You want to feel good about others. And when you feel anything less than any of those things, you’re not being who-you-are”.

And to me, that says it all, in a nut-shell!

As the quote from Carl Gustov Jung points out, we must kindle a light in the darkness of mere being. And if we are feeling worthy and feeling good, we will have purpose. We are being who-we-are. Our light will be kindled.

Purpose is something that I live every day of my life, beginning with the most simplistic of actions; I feed myself food each day, with the purpose of staying healthy. And I choose to eat the food I enjoy. And on it goes.

By allowing your emotions to guide you, everyone has the opportunity to live purpose-filled days, every day of their lives…no fuss, no fanfare, no sounding of trumpets!

I will let Abraham-Hicks have the final say on the subject of purpose ~

“The purpose of life is joy”.

Need I say more? 🙂