Thank you so much for the comments on the last thousand, here we are at the start of the next, so let’s see where it takes us. This campervan morning a contrast to the last few days has arrived, wet and dull. Sheltering under the oak from the rain at the moment, but may need to retreat into the van, though having said that it seems to have eased a little. As it eases noticing the shift and the smell of earths damp exhale. The sky a multitude of heavy shades of grey and purple is slowly crawling southwards. A mob of crows sits in the ash. Apparently the term ‘Murder’ for a number of crows dates back only to the 15th century and some people now prefer the term mob. A single blackbird in the oak, which has been a rarity of late, having been my constant companions in the earlier part of the year and of course robin chorus, who seemed to have settled back into the area for a bit. A squirrel leaps through the oak showering with me accumulated droplets of rain, soaking me. The light as attained that kind of damp orangey blueness you get at this time of the morning, when early morning light mixes with air that’s saturated with moisture. Another advantage of the rain is that it narrows the soundscape, dulling far off commuter traffic. There is a sense of freshness and aliveness surrounding me after a few days of heat and sunshine. In Mary Oliver’s beautiful poem ‘Last night the rain spoke to me ‘ ( Check it out ) she writes :
“ and the soft rain— imagine! imagine! the wild and wondrous journeys still to be ours”.
I am not a big poetry person, but most of her work was inspired by her walks in nature and her interactions with it and my reading took me on a journey and thus another door opened to me.
I enjoyed a fabulous walk amongst a field of sunflowers and poppies yesterday to ground myself before drumming later in the day. There was a need to ground and it did the job. Summer projects, festivals, retreats and respites are coming to a close and thoughts of the next part of the year and my journey are on my mind. As my journey continues to develop and shift there has been some difficulty in letting go of some these projects, long term contacts festivals and retreats, but also acknowledging you can’t create space without letting go of something. So there is a hard look and letting go exercise going on in the background. The writer and storyteller Oriah Mountain Dreamer who’s work I came across many years ago, through the books ‘The Invitation’ And ‘The Call’ writes :
“ Sometimes I think there are only two instructions we need to follow to develop and deepen our spiritual life: slow down and let go.”
I don’t happen to think that means just spiritual life, but life in general. The need to slow down is calling once more, accompanied by the acknowledgement to let go, to allow the space to manifest, to create and slow down. Lovely days people.
“ It doesn’t interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dream, for the adventure of being alive.” Oriah Mountain Dreamer.
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