In a recent post I talked about wonderful, nostalgic memories of The Pump House in England where we so much enjoyed the company of Toni and her daughter Caroline.
Since then Caroline has married and has moved to Abergavenny in Wales, the beautiful Black Mountain area, where she has developed her career as a talented artist and writer.
As you can see above , the gallery is showing a new collection of paintings, and over the English Bank Holiday weekend will be serving teas. If you live in the area, it will be well worth a visit. If you wish to linger awhile there is farmhouse accommodation available;
The great thing about our apartment is that even early in the morning, Life is moving into activity. The fishermen are settling on the pier, the joggers are jogging, the cafes are lifting the shutterS,putting up the sun shades, and the day is already taking shape.----always to something of interest. So too this morning!
Struggling down the hill came the red anorak,-a heavily padded one at that. With heavy backpack,heavy bags,the man seemed so weighed down, as if on his way to an Arctic expedition. Nothing really strange in this except that we were all set for a very hot Spring day 28 degrees celsius, and all other passers -by were in sun hats and sleeveless vests, or similar.One concession was that he was sporting a sun visor under his hood!-----I wonder where he was off to?
Maybe just idle curiosity, maybe I'm easy to please, but little moments like this add simple colour to my day. They say variety is the spice of life.I know we are all different, my body thermostat is certainly strange, and quite erratic, maybe this person's is even better than mine! I hope anyway that he enjoyed his day. Maureen.
I think it's almost impossible to imagine a world without flowers, for me they are so much bound to Life itself. The beauty, the fragility yet the strength, the myriad colours, the fragrance that haunts the senses, the whole captivating , often nostalgic magic that belongs with them.
This morning flowers were strewn along the sidewalk like a rainbow, lifting the spirits, and enhancing the glorious blue sky and sea.
Beautiful Spring-----the time of newness, freshness, rebirth.
Maureen.
P.S.The John Denver video has driven me crazy with frustration.--- Not sure if it's the fault of You Tube, Blogger, or the computer. Finally, after countless tries I've left it on. I hope that it is listenable!
The weather is becoming hot already here, which makes long walks more difficult. I need to keep up the exercise though, and its not time yet for outdoor swimming.
Yes!- I have the anwer;-----DANCING!- A DANCING WORKOUT! THERE IS NOTHING STRANGE IN THIS,-I love to dance. I feel too that dancing must be one of the most natural, beneficial and enjoyable exercises that we can do. There is an instinctive impulse in everyone that not only wants to dance , but needs to dance. I am sure that when we dance we are entering into a relationshhip with ourselves that allows the whole being to emerge and function in a healthy integrated way;we move in harmony with body, mind and spirit and feel more truly alive.
Physically we are breathing more deeply, the heart is pumping the oxygen more efficiently, the joints are activating the synovial fluid, the muscles are stretching and relaxing in a strengthening movement that is natural and coordinated.
Mentally we are using our concentration and coordinating faculties to stimulate the brain in a way that it responds to with interest., and spiritually we are animated with a rhythmic flow that lets us feel uplifted, inspired, graceful and free. Infact kinesthetics can come into play here ,so that as we visualise this grace, this flexibility, seeing the spine elongate, the neck arch, the limbs sraighten, with enough faith, this is able to actualise.---- I am holding on tight to this belief!---Yes dancing is wonderful!
So I have decided to put aside time every day to pursue this activity and develop it into a simple workout that I accept as part of my daily exercise and my moment of creative, refreshing energising. I believe that the movements should be spontaneous and individual, simply a free, creative expression of how you feel, -no set steps. Latin American music, I enjoy, especially Putamayo I am also a fan of 60's music,--- both need a lot of energy!I am not a professional dancer, far from it;-I am certainly not an athlete;----I simply love to dance, and I know this must be good for me in all ways. Happiness releases endorphins, doesn't it?
Yes,- I am persevering, and better still, I love it! I have built up from two ten minute sessions,(one morning, one evening) to two twenty minute sessions, and I intend to keep on building!
I love the sense of freedom that this gives me,just dancing all alone. We have a small, but long open -plan apartment and it's great dancing along its length. Thank goodness we are not overlooked!
Ofcourse I am happy to work it into the Oasis Activities if there is interest.---Just let me know! Meanwhile,-keep well and happy, and if you love to,- just keep on dancing! Maureen.
There is a stillness here this morning as I rise early; a stillness that hovers in the air touching the very core of me as I flow into it with a feeling of peace.
Golden light, shades of pink, as dawn melts into daylight and a perfect blue tinges the sky, sea silent, calm, in a reflective moment. Yes,- a reflective moment that touches my whole being letting me feel in that moment a sense of oneness and peace.
How can such wonder, such pervasive beauty not lift me into the day with hope? I treasure it, as a lovely gift, and an inspiration to move with deep true feelng that all is as it should be. A mystery beyond my understanding, but somehow a reality that I seem to know I will one day comprehend.
How long ago is it?----Yes over twenty years ago,----this was the view from our window.
The spire of the village church, nestling between trees, deep in the heart of The Golden Valley.Through the window, beyond the garden, sheep grazed in the field,and the lazy drone of tractors filled the distance.
One beautiful morning with blue cloudless skies, not long after we arrived in Peterchurch, we drove along the valley, breathing in that unmistakeable Spring air. As we rounded the bend we caught our breath. There ,at the edge of the road stood The Pump House, a picturesque,18th century cottage ,surrounded by a golden haze of daffodils and birdsong.
Once inside there was tea and scones in the smiling company of Toni and her daughter Caroline. How I remember that day, the warmth of the welcome,and a friendship that has lasted over the years.
Later, in summer, there was tea in the garden, strawberry jam on the scones,and butterflies flitting between fragrant summer flowers.
Today, twenty years on I look through the window, and---- how different the scene!
ST PAUL'S BAY-MALTA
Now the colour green predominates no longer;here sky and sea merge into a never ending blueness, and a coastline strewn with stately palms replaces sunlit leafy lanes.Peterchurch spire vanishes to become the red roof of the village chapel dedicated to St Paul and the famous shipwreck that brought Christianity to Malta.
Summer brings the scarlet hibiscus and fragile oleander, no scented English roses.Dusk passes quickly here, -no longer lazy summer evenings on the lawn,- birds revelling in a last graceful flight,- here dark comes more suddenly often just after glorious sunsets.
Morning tea at the Pump House becomes cappucino at Silvio's the little cafe in the village piazza.
So unbelievably the years have passed,---and Life moves on! Different scenes, different faces, different worlds and present melts into past in one continuous flow.No ---- not different worlds,-just one beautiful,wonderful world that I am truly thankful for each day.
The nature of Life is, I feel, bound so deeply to energy, because without energy we are really misassociating the nature of Life from its sense of being alive.Really we are not living in a full way when we allow our energy to dissipate. This is a hard lesson, because we tend to think that we can use our life productively in a lethargic approach that actually minimises what we are able to achieve.
It becomes difficult to relate to our ability to energise ourselves in a realistic way, and sometimes we fob off a reason to do so by cultivating an attitude that accepts food and exercise as the panacea combined with rest and sleep. It seems to me such a pity that we fail so often to simply draw on the very source of our energy -that impulse that actually allows us to be, and gives us life and energy in a quantum supply if we use it productively for good. This I believe to be the natural acceptance of life in its purest form, and we can use this life as a force in our daily life if we accept it as fundamental to our needs
and our very existence.
So often though, we deprive ourselves of our birthright through a simple misunderstanding of its availability and its whole raison d'etre; -we become miserable and depleted in the very energy we wish for.---- Such is our state of unenlightened appreciation of why we are here.
So I try to accept this as a basis for my own daily living and I try too to think of ways that can help those around me to feel that life can be happy, peaceful and free if we offer each other a controlled atmosphere of positivism.
The CD New Dynamics is an introduction to this approach to life and incorporates a very simple meditation that leads into a deep sense of stillness. It is short and straightforward ( approx. 17 mins.)although deep in its meaning.
Maureen.
If you would like a CD,please use Paypal button on the side bar, or go to my website to view a wider range.
A strange thing happened to me today----it really did. I woke as usual, dressed as usual, looked at the clock as usual, and saw that time was standing still.
I looked outside to see the day breaking, the sun shining, - people full of every colourful show of lightness and brightness. They were floating around in this colour, drenching themselves with it, drenching each other with it, looking like rainbows in a beautiful scene of light.
And I was with them, moving with them, dancing with them, feeling such joy,- they gave me such warmth and love and peace; perfection that dazzled me,-showed me Heaven, just for a moment.
A strange thing, but I think it really happened. Maureen.
So the Resurrection has happened, Easter is over and yet we are still waiting. This seems to be a relevant time to talk of how I feel at this moment. I know that my heart believes in this happening, I know that it gives me hope in a New World where this resurrected state is offered to everyone, and I know that we need this world now.
So I move with this hope and I understand too , maybe with an enlightened perception, that time in terms of this world is really an illusion; in fact we can exist in it now, if we allow ourselves to enter a dimension that really sees the existence of life as an energetic impulse, driving us constantly with a force that is mighty, because it is the Spirit of Life flowing through the universe. We are able to melt into this flow in a harmony that lets us enter a new reality ,where we exist in love and light, and perceive this with perfect clarity. Here we are in ecstasy with God and each other, and we experience a peace that is total and fulfilling.
I try to believe this vision, and I know that if I can move each day with this deep desire to actualise it, it must happen, and so I will understand the whole story of God's Easter Promise. Maureen.
