Posts Tagged ‘nature’

The Calathea

Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010

I have a calathea on the window sill in my front room.

I’m not particulary green-fingered so I keep forgetting that it needs to be fed.

A few days ago, I noticed that the cool stripey leaves had become crisp and were drooping (oops); and, in an attempt to save it from shrivelling away, I whisked the baby bio and watering-can out.

Today, when I got home from work and the sun was streaming through the window, I noticed that the leaves were unfurled and blooming; and the plant is radiant, once again.

This is the second time I’ve had to provide my calathea with a little emergency TLC. You would have thought that the first near miss – and then incredible revival – would have stopped me from letting it wilt again….

Some lessons need to be learned a few times and some miracles take a while to sink in.

I know it’s not as easy as a jug of water and some baby bio –

But feed a person properly and they, too, can come back to life.

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Calling A Truce

Sunday, May 23rd, 2010

Today, I am not fighting.

Tomorrow – or maybe the next day – I’ll pick up whatever weapons I appear to be holding, for whatever battle is reigning that day, and the defences will be up, once again. But today, I am taking a step back – and a big shrug of my shoulders – and going with, rather than against, the flow.

That’s it.

No resistance to what will be.

No shoulds and woulds and musts; expectations, obligations, arguments, internal or otherwise –

Just a little break, in recognition of the beautiful weather; and an overdue – and unscheduled – truce.

So, I am ignoring the voice that is gabbling away in the background, creating chaos in a futile attempt to make sense. And, I have pressed pause on the need to know, and achieve, and justify every tick-tocking second and exactly how each minute has been spent. I have granted guilt – and fear – and control – a public holiday –

Because I am tired, at the moment, of fighting –

And would rather be enjoying the sun.

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Posted in Self Care | 4 Comments »

Spring

Friday, March 19th, 2010

I know that England’s got into the habit of snowing in March and there is still a chill in the air, but it is starting to feel like spring.

Winter always seems to last an eternity; but, as the days grow longer and the warmth slowly creeps back in, something starts to lift and it all begins to seem a bit brighter.

It has reminded me, this unthawing, of a bus journey that I took, several years ago. It was September, so it must have been nearing Autumn; but, because it felt like an awakening, or the dewy freshness of a new beginning, the memory has become intrinsically associated with spring.

Life is full of these stops – and starts – I think. Wintery deaths and then the ridiculously unexpected arrival of spring.
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The Snow Perspective

Wednesday, January 6th, 2010

When you notice the flakes, sparkling in the lamplights, and watch the snow, gradually lighting up the night sky; there seems to be a sudden shift of perspective –

Because as the landscape is tinsel-touched and transformed, and the trees become silvery across a whitewashed skyline; it is impossible to deny that nature is far greater than we are –
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Snow

Sunday, December 20th, 2009

If I hadn’t ignored my head then I wouldn’t have seen the snow, shimmering and sparkling in the early morning sunlight.

And if I had, as it commanded, stuck to the weekly regime and gone swimming; then I would have missed being the first to walk through the unmarked snowfall, spraying glitter in my wake and leaving a dance of footprints behind me.

If I had given in to the demand to justify and earn every mouthful, then I would have been lapping up and down an empty pool while the sun was working its magic over the snowswept fields; and, against the diamond white backdrop, the colours and shadows became breathtaking.

And, if I had listened to my often overpowering head – rather than my often overpowered heart; then I might not have noticed how beautiful the world can be, and how much fun there is in the smallest pleasures –

Like a twirling whirling flake of snow.

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