Gratutude | Owls and Orchids

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The Only Choice

Posted in Blessings, Identity, Life, Love, Magic, Philosophy, Poetry, Spirituality, tagged #mystical, #shapeshifters, #SusanJamieson, #TheOnlyChoice, choices, Life, Love, Magic, Poetry, Wolves on March 16, 2015| Leave a Comment »

It was close to dawn

The air frosty with a bite that went to the bone

She had on only a thin cotton dress

The only other had been left at home

Home, what was that but a place to sleep

Somewhere to eat and feel less than wanted

A house that was nothing more than a roof over her head

One she no longer wanted nor cared for.

She knew he would be looking for her soon

The man who was her fleshly husband

Searching quietly through each room

Anger would flare when he found her missing

This, her only chance to flee

Giving her a real choice to be

That which she really was

A noise behind her alerted her to dawn

The search for her had commenced

She could stay no longer

The dress, irrelevant in but a few more moments

The sun began its lukewarm climb over the horizon

Pale crimson and gold fingers pointed over the land

She stood tall and raised her hands to the sky

Towards the power of the winter sun

Taking a deep breath

She drew the energy of the sun into her heart

Shaking loose long auburn hair

Ready to take her part

In the distance she heard a forlorn howl

Her form writhed sinuously

Energy coalesced around her

Blurring the outlines of her human form

Once dissipated there stood a sleek wolf

Her hair a deep auburn colour

Lifting her head she howled joyously

The sound being joined by the other, closing swiftly

As they met, jumping with abandon around each other

They nuzzled each other happily

Shouts behind them from the house

Disturbed their welcome of each other

Bright sherry coloured eyes gazed knowingly

Together they loped off quickly through the forest

Her prison shattered for the last time.

Blessings, Susan ♥

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I am…..You are

Posted in Blessings, Gratitude, Life, Love, Philosophy, Spirituality, tagged #Desiderata, #IamYouare, #MeaningofLife, BEing present, Inner-peace, Life, Living from the heart, Love, Mindfulness, Spirituality, Susan Jamieson, unconditional love on March 10, 2015| 6 Comments »

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Thought, Word and Deed

Posted in Blessings, Challenges, Family, Life, Love, tagged #createmagic, #familylife, #lifelessons, #PrenticeMulford, #SusanJamieson, #thoughtsarethings, #ThoughtWordandDeed, #worklife, Love on February 1, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Image courtesy of http://www.josephinewallart.com

“When you say to yourself, ‘I am going to have a pleasant visit or a pleasant journey,’ you are literally sending elements and forces ahead of your body that will arrange things to make your visit or journey pleasant….Our thoughts, or in other words, our state of mind, is ever at work ‘fixing up’ things good or bad in advance.”
― Prentice Mulford, Thoughts Are Things & the Real and the Unreal: The Collected New Thought Wisdom of Prentice Mulford and Charles Fillmore

It is amazing that we can become so hung up on what has been said or done, without stopping for a moment to consider what thought has gone into that very same word or deed. We, in our constant state of rush and overwhelm, barely stop to consider that each thought we have can have many consequences.

Take, for example, the father, trying to get ready for a day at work, also trying to spend a few minutes with his family before they leave to start their day at kindy, school or day-care. The thought slips into his head that there is a big job to do today, and he will be more than lucky if he finishes before dark. He may not see his children before they have to go to bed. His toddler appears beside him, half crying to be picked up and cuddled. Before he has a chance to consider his actions, he snaps “I haven’t time to molly coddle spoiled little brats, go see your mother!” He gets up, stomps out of the house slamming the door behind him.

In one brief second, a thought about a possibly long job at work has spoilt a special moment with his little child and not only made her cry but also made him feel like a ‘bad Dad’ and set a train of events in motion which could very well ensure that the thought of the job which started all this, turning into a huge nightmare as everything seems to go wrong.

His one thought had disastrous consequences for his words to his child (and possibly her mother) and probably caused a string of events which make his day a veritable nightmare.

“In the spiritual life every person is his or her own discoverer, and you need not grieve if your discoveries are not believed in by others. It is your business to push on find more and increase individual happiness”

― Prentice Mulford, Thoughts Are Things

Now take a look at a harassed mother, trying to get her children ready for school, kindy, before she has to dash off to work. The little one is fractious and just wants to be held and she hasn’t the time if she is to reach work on schedule. She takes a deep breath and pacifies the toddler, distracting him with his teething rusk and she dashes off to get their lunches ready. Her phone beeps, and there is the reminder that she has a client arriving as soon as she reaches work. With the traffic as bad as it has been she is never going to make that appointment on time. She hates to be late for appointments. She feels annoyed that she always has to get the children ready. Her husband starts later than her, yet here she is every day, trying so hard to make such a tight schedule. It’s simply not fair!

There is a frustrated wail from the playpen and as she dashes in she sees the family dog slinking out of the room, rusk clamped firmly between his teeth, tail between his legs. Picking up the baby she is thinking that she will never get to work on time, only to see two rusk begrimed hands clamped onto her freshly ironed blouse. “Dammit” she cries, now I have to change, I’m going to run late all day!”

The blouse she chooses pops a button at work, the clients are feisty because she seems distracted, her boss is grumpy because the client are unhappy and she feels worse by the moment. She begins to wonder if the Australian dream is just a dream.

Her one thought at the beginning of the day, that it was unfair that she had the child rearing hassles followed by “I’m going to be running late all day” set her up for exactly that kind of day.

Stressed mother courtesy
http://www.sheknows.com

“But no one experience should be followed and dwelt in forever. Life in its more perfected state will be full of alterations–not a rut, into which if you are once set you must continually travel.”
― Prentice Mulford, Thoughts Are Things

What so many of us forget, or have not yet found out, is that “Thoughts are things” and everything we put our energy into, with our thoughts, we have the ability to make manifest in our daily lives. With a small amount of energy used on positive affirmations we can make the day great from start to finish. It has been shown to do just that. Those problems we have been inundated with in the past, simply slide on by and we have an amazingly peaceful day.

With the choice of the right affirmation, and there are hundreds to choose from, we can turn our days into blissful ones. We can manifest wonderful things for ourselves and our loved ones. We can send loving thoughts to ill relatives, our sick planet and see our loved ones well and the planet regain its vigour and blossom again.

“Thoughts are things” and we need to remember that with each thought, each word and every single action we take because everything we do creates a reverberation around the planet. We can create miracles. Prentice Mulford, whose quotes I’ve deliberately chosen knows this. Check out her book, it is truly incredible.

image from http://www.josephinewallart.co.uk

“to say a thing ‘must be’, is the very power that makes it”
― Prentice Mulford, Thoughts Are Things

Life can be a bed of roses – if you would like it that way.

Blessings, Susan ♥

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The Answer

Posted in Blessings, Love, Poetry, Soul Growth, Spirituality, Uncategorized, tagged #spiritual awakening, #The Answer, Angelic guardians, comfort, Love, Oneness on March 30, 2014| 1 Comment »

image from http://www.desertsunlimitedatonement.com

As I sat in silent contemplation

Seeking a Oneness with the World

Inside my mind

Or was it my Spirit

It seemed a dark cavern opened

Amidst birdsong and rain

A multitude rode forth

Steeds of white, pure and majestic

Their riders adorned in brilliant white

Silver glittered from their mail

They galloped forth

Into the light

The light of my Oneness

Oneness with the World

They spread far and wide

But formed a line

Far into the distance

Large in the centre of the line

He stopped, strong and sure

Compassion radiated forth

A brilliant line of love

For all I saw within my world

All a part of my Oneness

A deep and loving voice I heard

“Be at Peace child;

Your time is nigh

We stand guard as always

Ever in your heart

Be at Peace, Dear One

All Will be Well”

And of a sudden my heart was filled

With a Peace I’d rarely known

I knew that Spirit had shown me love

My Oneness connected to all

My life a battlefield no more

I was a child of the Universe

I was at One with all

I had finally heard their call.

image from pims.ucoz.net –

Blessings, Susan ♥

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A new Dimension

Posted in Abundance, Blessings, Love, Poetry, Spiritual, Things Metaphysical, Uncategorized, tagged #A New Dimension, #Koh Samui, #massage, expanding the mind, loving your body, nourishing the spirit, pampering the spirit, Poetry, relaxation, sensory delights on March 23, 2014| 9 Comments »

image from apps.rhs.org.uk Lost to the scents of the fragrant garden

A New Dimension

The flickering candlelight

Lit the room with a warm and friendly glow

The scent of jasmine and lotus

Rose with every movement of the air

There were thick white towels everywhere

But the room was warm, perfectly comfortable

I lay down listening to the soft music

Lulling me to sleep

The warmth, the fragrances and the music

Was a lullaby in the dimly lit room

Sensing movement to my side I sighed

As warm scented oil was gently flowed onto my skin

The warm room redolent of fragrances of an exotic garden

Made my senses slip into a hypnotic state

As strong yet gentle hands circled and then slid down

Moving over muscle and around bones

Easing the tightness

Loosening the tension

Until my body was floating in another place

A dimension of scents, warmth and touch

A heavy languorous feeling enveloped me

Strong hands helped me to move onto my back

As fresh oil redolent of the tropics

Once more were gently massaged into my skin

The room disappeared

The table ceased to exist

I floated in a cocoon of fragrant blooms

Flickering starlight played at the corner of my eyes

As feather light touch tickled my senses

All too soon I drifted deeper into another dimension

Where nothing existed but warmth and scents

From candle and flowers,

The silken touch redolent of tropical blooms

Melted thought until only feelings existed

Sensations seeped into my mind

Floating away to some far off place

Where I remained lost to sensuous delights

Who knows how long I stayed there

Time had no meaning, no reference

Whilst the cocoon of delights beckoned

I should return eventually

When the senses are fully sated

Yet how long that will take

My ministering fragrant angel

Alone can tell.

image from http://www.colourbox.com – Off to another dimension

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Suray Fig Jam

Posted in Blessings, Love, Recipes, Uncategorized, tagged #cream, #Figs, #scones, #Surayfigjam #jam #recipe #afternoon tea on March 10, 2014| 15 Comments »

Delicious scones with fig jam and cream. Yummy!

This is a beautiful fig jam. It is so delicious it was difficult to put the spoon down and get the jam in the jars. What makes it even more delicious is the fact that it it is so simple to make. It is really a no fuss jam.

INGREDIENTS

3kg figs, skinned and chopped – we just sliced ours since the skins were so soft and edible

3 kg Sugar

1 1/2 cups water

1 1/2 cups white vinegar

1 apple, peeled and sliced thinly

Ginger (optional – add to taste)

METHOD

Put sugar, water and vinegar into saucepan and bring to boil Boil for 10 minutesSugar and liquids

I used apple cider vinegar (since I had run out of white vinegar)

Whilst the syrup is boiling top and tail the figs and chop or slice.

Figs sliced

When the syrup has become clear (10 minutes at rolling boil) add the fruit mix – carefully.

Sugar syrup at Boil

Add figs, apple & ginger (if using) and boil until tender for approx 30-40 minutes, I left out the ginger and it tasted beautiful. If you love ginger add here.

Add fruit to sugar mix

until setting point is reached – it took the full 40 minutes to reach. I made a half batch of this recipe and it made 11 half pint jars.

Suray Fig Jam

Pour into sterilised jars & seal. It makes a dark, rich and smooth jam. Perfect for scones, toast or biscuits.

Suray Fig Jam

Refrigerate

Keeps for approximately 12 months (unless eaten sooner).

Scone, Suray fig jam and cream Afternoon tea

Afternoon tea delight

We have only had lovely comments about the jam so try some and let me know.

Enjoy.

Blessings, Susan ♥

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Desperate Measures

Posted in Blessings, Coping Skills, Creativity, Depression, Gratitude, Health, Identity, Life, Love, Photography, Uncategorized, tagged #being Susan Jamieson, #deperate measures, #dog beach, #helpul people, #independence, #living life to the full, #normal life, #patient, Chronic pain, exercise, health, Ideas, sunrise on February 3, 2014| 14 Comments »

image from http://www.josephinewallart.co.uk

“I did the only thing I knew how to do: I built my own walls of silence to disguise my desperation and what later came to be recognized and diagnosed as depression.”
― Sharon E. Rainey, Making a Pearl from the Grit of Life

A strange thing happens when I sit or recline to write. Either I’m eager as a beaver because I feel I have a stunner of an idea, I sit and look at a blank screen and finally something surfaces like a safety line thrown to a drowning person, or I languish forlornly staring at the accusing emptiness and suddenly words will flow and something is on the page. Ideas like bubbles blowing in the breeze wash over me in a magical haze and words appear in front of me.

Amazingly, the latter are the best of all, so I need to tap into my well spring of creativity or, do more prep work because I love writing and love seeing the finished item as I hit that publish button. I was told many months ago that writing for the acclaim of others was a waste of time. If I didn’t like writing for myself it was a lost cause and I should simply stop right then. Incredible as it sounds, that advice was true then and is still true now.

Having said that, it certainly is wonderful having people enjoy what I write and comments are always appreciated because they give me a chance to learn more, about myself and this craft of writing. Yet this is not what I wanted to talk about.

I am a terrible ‘patient’. Terrible doesn’t cover it. Abysmal is closer to it really. I hate the whole illness, can’t do things, must take pills by schedule, do this, do that, everything ordered by someone other than myself. This is not independence. I am, or rather was a fiercely independent person. No – I still am. I haven’t changed, I simply have had to accommodate some changes that irritate but I have to accept as a necessary evil! Temporarily!

For three days I’ve been incredibly emotional after a ~~unpleasant~~ , horrific dream. Even though it turns out the dream is not as bad as it felt, it left me emotional. I hate emotional. It is a loss of control, it is an undermining of the little independence I have left and it leaves me tired, in pain, unimaginably so, and with a burning desire to do something, anything to make me feel, even for a short time that I am ‘normal’ once more.

Ocean Shores 4.30am

Normal, what a stupid word to use. What is normal? Well, for me it is being able to do what I want, when I want without needing any assistance, even that given freely and with love. Independence. It is a heady draught and having it taken away is dis-empowering. Yes, everything revolves around empowering ourselves. Illness removes that empowerment in the cruelest way.

So, after another sleepless night and emotional day before it, I lashed out. I secreted my clothes and sand shoes in the laundry before ‘officially’ going to bed. At 4am I decided my husband was deeply enough asleep I could afford to get up. He is used to me getting up and down during the night now anyway. Quick trip to the bathroom and a little makeup, just in case someone should see me and I crept out to the laundry where a light wouldn’t disturb anyone.

Yes, I sneaked out of the house like a teenager breaking curfew! I even had the forethought to grab a water bottle and my phone. I haven’t walked to the beach where I live and I’ve been here a year. I haven’t sat on the beach and seen the sunrise (at the beach) for a year either. I used to do both regularly when I was alone, independent, before I was engaged or married. I was like a drunken sailor, or a drugged up lunatic, weaving and staggering down this hill. I thought the beach was at the bottom of the road. A kilometre later I reached the sandy access to the beach.

All I could hear was the pounding of the waves. I wished I’d brought my camera but I don’t think I would have made it to the beach if I had. My whole body trembled from the exertion and I staggered down onto the hard sand to sit down. Thankfully seeing someone staggering in the soft sand doesn’t raise eyebrows. I was there and I wasn’t going to be able to move. But I was THERE!

Sunrise at Ocean Shores Beach 5am

I watched the sun rise above the horizon and the clouds.

It was beautiful. It wasn’t hot – I can’t take the heat and the meds had made me burn easily. I could feel the calm wash over me with every wave breaking along the shore line and the rays of the sun peeking over the horizon. I hadn’t known it was a dog beach. A dog. OMG – how much I want a puppy, a miniature fox terrier and all my own. It’s like an ache, never ending. The dogs began appearing with their owners and I was truly happy when they came over to say hello. To pat them, scratch behind their ears and look into those kindly brown eyes, was blissful. Strange how little it can take.

My photos are grainy – even the lauded iPhone can only do so much. But I will be returning with my camera,and soon. By 7am I was beginning to feel more than a little uncomfortable. Couldn’t move my legs properly and turning around brought a sharp twinge. A few more canine cuddles and I knew I couldn’t wait, it was time to start the trek UP the hill to get home. The sun was now a blazing ball in the sky but it was still cool.

Sunrise Ocean Shores 6am

I hit my first hurdle. I couldn’t stand up, couldn’t twist around and couldn’t bend my legs enough to kneel up. Just a little problem. Soft sand….. I finally managed to flop around like a beached whale until I I got one knee pulled under me enough to lever myself onto hands and knees. Humpf! This is what emotional independence gets you. Somehow I made it upright only to fall flat on my face – almost, hands and knees again. After my third staggering attempt and fall someone noticed it wasn’t quite normal and offered to help.

Help! I had to acknowledge I needed help to get up that soft sandy dune and she was a nice and concerned lady. So we managed to get to the seat at the edge of the dune so she could stretch after her walk and I could regroup after hiking up the sand dune! I was determined to walk up that darned hill. I stood up and walked to the footpath with my new found friend. My body, not one part of it, wanted any part of moving in a co-ordinated fashion. I staggered like a drunken sailor with palsy until I finally reneged on my independence and accepted a lift to the top of the hill. So much for being independent. After showering and changing I’ve been sequestered in bed, complaining body reminding me of my foolhardy outing at every turn. Yet desperate circumstances require desperate measures to be taken.

A mini foxie friend at Ocean Shores

I may have paid for my intemperate haste to be independent, but I have my doggie pics and a few hours of remembering what it felt like to be able to go where I wanted, when I wanted to with impunity. For a while I forgot I was this person with an illness. I was Susan all over again and it felt wonderful. One day, one day soon, I will be that person again… come hell or high water I will be.

Blessings, Susan x

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Which way Now?

Posted in Abundance, Blessings, Creativity, Identity, Philosophy, Self Development, Soul Growth, Spirituality, Things Metaphysical, Uncategorized, tagged #Life lessons, #progress, #Spirit, #the future, Healing, imagination, spiritual beings, Spirituality, Susan Jamieson on January 31, 2014| 6 Comments »

Celtic Goddess Epona… Facebook.com

“Finding oneself and one’s path is like waking up on a foggy day. Be patient, and presently the fog will clear and that which has always been there can be seen. The path is already there to follow”
― Rasheed Ogunlaru, Soul Trader: Putting the Heart Back into Your Business

“Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it, Do not believe simply because it has been handed down for many generations. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumoured by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is written in the Holy Scriptures. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of teachers, elders , or wise men. Believe only after careful observation and analysis, when you find that it agrees with reason, and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all. Then accept it and live up to it.”

Buddha

There comes a time, in everyone’s life, when the questions far outweigh the answers. This is the time when we need to look to other than the traditional fields for our answers. In many cases it may be that the answer lies in the most unimaginable places, within ourselves. Even then, they may be found not in our logical and rational mind.

We reach a time when we have to relinquish the hold on all that is safe and known and take a leap into the great unknown in search of these answers. It is only the “great unknown” because we have turned our back on the unknown, the vastness of our existence for all that is safe and comfortable. It may be we have no wish to stretch our minds into areas we are unfamiliar with.

Yet, it is within these unfamiliar landscapes that our minds and hearts open. Our souls flower and the heady scent we perceive is the beauty and grandeur of our Spiritual legacy. It is the place where colours have a more vibrant hue, the scents have a more delightful aroma and the images we see are not only more ‘fantastical’ they are also more familiar than anything we may dream in our everyday lives.

What has happened is that our incredible minds have opened to wonders we once had and which we have forgotten but are now returning. If we are open to the idea that we can be more than we are now, we can be all that it is possible for us to be. We can become limitless instead of limited!

Within the limitless abilities we can find are the abilities to cure the ills of the world, if we are willing to accept them. These are strange ideas but ones I feel comfortable and happy to accept as my birthright as a Spirit living in a physical body. The ills we are plagued with are manifestations within the physical body. Therefore, accepting and learning to use the abilities given on the Spiritual plane, we are able to ‘cure’ or eradicate these ailments, if our Spirit and purpose are in alignment.

These may be strange thoughts, alien thoughts, but I hope they may resonate within you. I hope that they may find a home in your consciousness and allow us all to move forward, enlightened and lightened of the heaviness of this physical plane.

Image from http://www.josephinewallart.co.uk

“Don’t ask what the world needs – ask yourself what makes you come alive, and then go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”

Harold Thurman Whitman

Blessings, Susan x

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Imperfectly Perfect

Posted in Blessings, Creativity, Gratitude, Health, Life, Love, Lyme Disease, Philosophy, Photography, Psychology, Spirituality, tagged acceptance, BEing present, coping skills, Gratitude, health, Life, Love, Lyme disease, Mindfulness, pain, Photography, self acceptance, Spirituality, Susan Jamieson on January 16, 2014| 23 Comments »

Heavy orchid spray I love my orchids

Imperfectly Perfect

“Excellence is the Result of Caring more than others think is Wise, Risking more than others think is Safe, Dreaming more than others think is Practical, and Expecting more than others think is Possible.”

― Ronnie Oldham

~

Doing anything half-heartedly gains you very little except dissatisfaction with life, and the reason is very simple; it is because you are settling for second best. There are hundreds, if not thousands of quotations, some by the rich and famous and some who would like to be. What they all have in common is to tell you what you should do to reach the top, whatever the top happens to be for you.

It seems difficult for me to acknowledge that today is Friday, that the ‘end’ of the week is almost here. When I sat down to type I suddenly wondered where the week had flown and what I had achieved during that time to make it appear to have vanished. An entire five days vanished almost without me being aware of it.

image from anndr.deviantart.com In your imagination anything is possible

Of course I could make excuses and blame something or nothing for the ‘loss of time’, yet the sad fact is, I don’t have a good reason. What I think may be of even more concern, is the fact that I don’t feel that I’m on my own with this. Would you say I was being “Mindful” or that I was “Being present” in everything I had done?

Strangely enough the answer is yes. I complete my Gratitude Journal every morning, refresh my Affirmations and send my healing to those I know and those I don’t. I complete my Life Change 90 program each day, all reminders of times passing and making the best use of it for myself and others. And of course, I write. When I have completed my morning ritual I think about writing and I write, whatever it is that has made an impact on me or whatever ‘comes’ to me.

image from aniisah.wordpress.com – Time where does it go?

Today, time was concerning me. The fact that I felt I was losing time… great chunks of time which I couldn’t really account for. Was my mind taking a siesta? Were my subconscious busy planning things for me to do in the future? I’m not sure and that lack of surety has made me feel uncomfortable. Have I been losing time that I haven’t been aware of? That is a truly scary thought.

Thoughts of Alzheimer’s, blackouts, seizures, or other malady which have no name, just visceral fears, ran amok through my mind. The fear of losing one’s faculties is a great one since there is usually little chance of coming back from such a problem. “Accepting what is”, as I have read previously, would simply not be something I could comfortably acquiesce to.

image from http://www.josephinewallart.co.uk Bubbles of time floating away

I have to add this little incident which occurred moments ago. My husband told me he had a rather unpleasant headache, something which is unusual for him. However he is off in his little den with computer, doing heaven only knows what. Since there was silence in the house I called out to him – and since he is concerned about my welfare he came to see that I was alright. Checking on his ‘timetable’ to the days close I asked him if he had taken his little blue headache tablets. He replied in the negative. He had become caught up in whatever he was doing and his headache was still thumping away, something I can validate only too easily. In a mock stern voice I said, “Well, you’d better take some immediately, and I mean that with the utmost infection!” Infection? The moment the word escaped my lips I knew it was wrong and he fell into gales of laughter. Charming! It is said that laughter is the best medicine, but take it from one who had some dreadful headaches, laughing with a headache is to be avoided. At least for me it is.

Pre Lyme meds

Taking the humour from the situation, I ask myself where my mind was. What was I thinking about? Was I thinking? Was I being courteous, mindful and present with my husband? I was thinking about him, his headache, and his little pills and hoping he would be finished soon, so he could rest. So what caused the slip?

Truthfully, it is a little unnerving, a little frightening, and preys on my mind. I can blame ill-health, the brain fog, the medication, but is it? Is that the cause of these slip ups and loss of time? I believe there is nothing serious wrong, but it remains an unanswered question.

I question whether I have the right diagnosis since I feel no better after nine months of treatment than before, in fact I feel worse, much worse. New horrors are affecting my mind, my stability, feeling as though my spine will fall apart like a domino stack at any moment, cracks and creaks and severe muscle and joint aches. All these should surely be getting better by now – or at least some of them?

image from gardeningwithconfidence.com Because beauty hides the pain

Today I looked at some photos taken just two years ago, just after we became engaged. Happy days! I have some photos taken just a couple of weeks before my Lyme diagnosis and all the medication I began taking. In both instances I looked happy, full of life and energy, and slim and smart. I know people say being slim is not a benchmark for how your life is and “If you’re fat, you’re fat – accept it”. No way! Not this little black duck. If I had been overweight previously I could say it was a fair comment. The only difference is the medication and my worsening physical state.

So I’m left with a conundrum and many questions. Perhaps that is the reason for the slip. I hope if any of my ‘fellow Lyme sufferers” or the “Fibromites”, or fellow bloggers I have come to know, have any insights, suggestions, or anything to calm overwrought nerves, I would be more than simply grateful. In fact, if anyone has any words of advice to offer I would listen since I know that solutions come from many strange and otherwise discounted places.

Orchids, always Perfect

I know I am “Imperfectly Perfect”. I might also be “Perfectly Imperfect” and that is how it should be. I am who and what I am. I care, for the people I have come to know, their hopes, their dreams, their problems and hurts. You, my readers, have become dear friends and I trust my dear friends to tell me the truth, their truth as they see it. From there it is my responsibility to find my truth.

That, to me is what a community is all about. It is, I hope, what our WordPress community has become. I have been welcomed, in my idiosyncrasies and that is a great gift, one I willingly reciprocate because friendship is a great gift.

I can live with “Imperfectly Perfect” since I accept I am a “work in progress. We all are.

My Dancing Lady Orchid.

“When science discovers the center of the universe, a lot of people will be disappointed to find they are not it.” ~Bernard Baily

When the world seems full of imperfections, and answers are hard to find, there is a perfection in Orchids which soothes my heart, my mind and my soul.

Blessings, Susan x

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2014 – A New Beginning.

Posted in Abundance, Blessings, Creativity, Gratitude, Love, Magic, Moon, Philosophy, Self Development, Uncategorized, tagged 2014, a great year, A New Beginning, celebrations, Ceremonies, Goodbye to 2013, Language of Letting Go, New Moon, New Year Eve, Setting up 2014 on December 31, 2013| 19 Comments »

Happy New Year courtesy Facebook.com

“Make New Year’s goals. Dig within, and discover what you would like to have happen in your life this year. This helps you do your part. It is an affirmation that you’re interested in fully living life in the year to come.

Goals give us direction. They put a powerful force into play on a universal, conscious, and subconscious level. Goals give our life direction.

What would you like to have happen in your life this year? What would you like to do, to accomplish? What good would you like to attract into your life? What particular areas of growth would you like to have happen to you? What blocks, or character defects, would you like to have removed?

What would you like to attain? Little things and big things? Where would you like to go? What would you like to have happen in friendship and love? What would you like to have happen in your family life?

What problems would you like to see solved? What decisions would you like to make? What would you like to happen in your career?

Write it down. Take a piece of paper, a few hours of your time, and write it all down – as an affirmation of you, your life, and your ability to choose. Then let it go.

The new year stands before us, like a chapter in a book, waiting to be written. We can help write that story by setting goals.”
― Melody Beattie, The Language of Letting Go: Hazelden Meditation Series

Today, January 1st 2014, is a New Beginning for everyone.

I don’t usually go in for really long quotes but I think it’s all been said here. It encapsulated what we’ve done over the past month getting ready for the new year to arrive, getting our plan made for 2014 to be a great year and also reflecting on what we did in 2013. After all, if something worked really well you don’t toss it out just because you turned a page. A New beginning is like that.

This year is a special year. We have already had the great New Year’s Eve celebrations, which we watched from home since I can’t drink – not a single drop! Truthfully, after the past several years I’m not missing it at all. I used to feel slightly left out at parties, but it’s been so long now that I don’t miss it any longer. At least I can remember what I did the night before and I don’t have to worry about spiked drinks. In fact, the only spiking I was likely to see was if I stabbed myself with a toothpick from the fruit in my drink! A dangerous life but a New Beginning.

So this year we have followed the same pattern as the previous few which has been our own New Beginning. We have our own celebration, a releasing of the old energies and a welcoming in of the new; wishes for the coming year for both ourselves and for the world. It’s a quieter night, but there is a huge amount of peaceful gratitude when we have finished.

This year is even brighter with a New Moon falling tomorrow night. We have another ceremony planned, with the powerful energies from the heavens to boost the ceremony of tonight. If you want to talk about being on a high, well we’re certainly feeling that. Surrounded by fireworks as we concluded our ceremony earlier and in the right head space for the next ceremony, it is a beautiful feeling to begin the year.

Australia greets the New Year before anywhere else so, I’ll wish everyone else a wonderful New Year’s Eve and a great New Year’s Day. If you’re having a New Moon ceremony, I wish you as wonderful a ceremony as we have planned. Let 2014 be a year of peace, laughter, fun and harmony, and “The Messenger” will bring the beauty in.