Here we are at campervan morning 1051 and an autumnal suburban Monday morning. There is a sense of shift, which appears to come and go at the moment, but it feels finally more autumnal. One of the downsides of living in such an area is house alarms. This morning, at this early hour, one is piercing through the ether and clawing at my ear drums. A plane passes over head its landing lights illuminating low cloud and an eerie mist. A few house lights begin to twinkle as the working day starts for some. A chill in the air, on fingers and face, the smell of dampness in your nostrils, the ears clogged with a house alarm and a desperate effort to block it out, the touch of damp on metal, leaf and wood. The full experience this morning. A close by robin making itself known, still too dark for the shape of the day. No breeze to speak of, the oak still, starts to emerge from the darkness. I do really love this time of year, the pause in the darkness as the light begins to paint the day, surroundings although known, appearing one by one. Waiting in anticipation of the shape of the sun to cast its early morning magic. The need for layers and hats to greet the day, heralding the shift in seasons. The sense that nature is preparing itself for the oncoming winter. A few crows making themselves known, through the alarm, which is so much white noise. And there’s the Tawny Owl again, just discernible above the noise, out in the woods to the west. Nothing more exciting than the hoot of an owl, well for me anyway. The coffee is disappearing quickly another indication of the seasonal shift. Finally shifted the lurgy and energy returned, which is a blessing for me, not so sure about anyone else. Seems somewhat apt that it returns at the start of the week as well. I am stealing mercilessly from Amin Maalouf this campervan morning and I am grateful to my weekly muse ‘The Marginalian‘ for pointing me in that direction, and particularly Maalouf’s thoughts around a persons identity and how ;
“ We are increasingly pressured to parcel ourselves out in various social contexts, lacerating the parchment of our identity in the process .”
The different parts of the self that appear in different contexts really struck me. Different orientations, different parcels of emotions, conduct, insights and being, dependent on who you are with and where you are at. Really pulling the fabric of who we are apart, to please someone, protect ourselves, or garner praise from others, being but a few of the learned motivations. Lots to think about and with my energy returned lots to do. I will leave you with the thoughts of John O’Donohue taken from his book ‘Eternal Echoes ‘. Lovely days people.
“ There is something within you that no one or nothing else in the world is able to satisfy. When you recognise that such unease is natural, it will free you from getting on the treadmill of chasing ever more temporary and partial satisfactions.”
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