Wednesday 17 October 2012

What do we really need?

Hello

I fell out of a tree yesterday! It was very exciting, I was out walking with my partner at Cadbury Castle in Somerset and we were talking about life and how as I have got older I have lost my sense of adventure in many ways; indeed I have become afraid of doing things which might be fun in case I get hurt. 
It seems like a sensible course of action, I am after all thirty seven and with three children I am in a position of responsibility, indeed I have a duty to take care of myself, do I not? I should be sensible, prudent, rational, sober, boring.........

Life is there to be lived, I don't think my children would be proud of me for avoiding anything which could be fun on the grounds that I might end up a bit hurt! Perhaps having responsibilities is just a convenient excuse anyway, "Oh no I can't possibly climb that tree, I have children you know....." 
Having children doesn't stop me from getting in a car and driving about in a metal box on wheels, or from climbing ladders to change light bulbs. There are rather a lot of accidents (statistically speaking) from falling in this country! 
No! my mind selects things for doing and not doing in a seemingly rational way, after all I need to drive the car, and I do not need to climb trees. Or do I? 

I need to have fun, I need to enjoy my life, I need to feel exhilarated  I need to feel like I am alive! I am here for a physical experience after all, otherwise surely I would not have a body! 

Ipso facto I need to climb trees! Ha! 

So there we were and my partner said "climb that tree, it's perfect for climbing." It was a rather beautiful oak tree with many rather conveniently placed limbs for climbing. I got about seven feet up before the world started to swim around me, my belly tingled in an alarming way and I panicked! I hugged the tree tight, I clung to it for safety for a few minutes and then when nothing happened I started to relax! 
If I was to climb this tree every day I would probably figure out the best way of doing it, it would become second nature, I would not need to be scared. I relaxed some more and realised it was fun! I decided to climb higher, I looked up and down and started to reach up to some higher branches, I felt excited and brave. I climbed a couple of feet higher and then realised that to get any further I was going to have to boost myself up from one foot while pulling my body with my arms.
That was when it happened! I boosted and the branch chose that exact moment to crumble beneath me! What a surprise! Luckily for me my partner was very close to me and he slowed my fall by pushing me bodily into the tree trunk, so it was in fact more of a slide than a fall! 

I landed silently in the nettles! I was rather shocked! I had not been expecting to fall. It was all very very exciting and very exhilarating! I loved it. 
Who knew that falling out of a tree could be a good life enhancing experience? Who knew that climbing and falling were missing from my life?

I am definitely gong to climb more trees, I probably would have tried again yesterday if I had not been quite so sore! I learned a very valuable lesson: always check the branches before you put all your weight on them! After all it's not actually that easy to fall from a tree, something has to go wrong, one would never simply let go and fall off! 

Live life! Live Life ! Live Life! 

This may be the only one you get! This is my life and I'm going to have fun.......




Today I have Loving Gratitude for Trees! 
I have Loving Gratitude for the aches and pains today which remind me of the fun I had yesterday!
I have Loving Gratitude for heavy rain
I have Loving Gratitude for herbal medicine
I have Loving Gratitude for books
I have Loving Gratitude for my house which shelters me from the storm
I have Loving Gratitude for my cosy bed where I sleep and recouperate
I have Loving Gratitude for my children
I have Loving Gratitude for wild food
I have Loving Gratitude for the bravery I found for climbing trees!

love Klara. 

Monday 15 October 2012

Saying Thank You Feels Wonderful!

Hello

There is so much to be thankful for! 

I have been finding it rather difficult lately to stay focused on that which makes me feel good. Summer really felt rather mediocre this year, and really I am specifically talking about the weather! When autumn arrived this year it was almost indistinguishable from the summer, dull days and plenty of rain all round. I fought autumn for a while but I have to admit that it is really here now, the days are getting shorter and darker and the leaves are falling from the trees......

Autumn really is one of my favourite times of year! From my kitchen window I can see a very large sycamore tree, two large patches of its leaves have already turned to a beautiful mixture of reds, yellows and browns; the tree is adorned in glorious technicolour! 

Autumn is a magical show! While falling leaves dance in the wind, those still attached to their trees display a myriad of hues, and those upon the ground crunch beneath my feet in a truly satisfying way! The evenings are drawing in, it is time to put on jumpers and start the heating up, to make big warming stews and dumplings, and bake delicious cakes to munch in the late afternoons.......

Indeed there is much to celebrate in the autumn. 

So here I am again, choosing between different mindsets, I know that I can choose, I have done it so many times before, all the evidence is here in front of my eyes in the form of around one hundred and seventy-five blog posts all about what I have done each day and each moment to motivate my mind into a positive productive way of thinking! 
I know that feeling good is a choice, but I am experiencing a stubbornness, a kind of deliberate refusal to do those things which support my good mental health! Indeed, I am feeling rather cynical! 

The part of my blogs that I find the most uplifting and the most helpful is (rather unsurprisingly) the Gratitude List at the end! I am reading through each and every blog I have written so far, and when I get to the gratitude lists I imagine each thing as I read it, and for a moment and sometimes for quite a long time I feel really very happy, joyful, passionate, excited, sublime!  I smile and laugh, I am moved by the glory of the world.........

There in black and white at the bottom of the page are ten of the things which I love about being alive, ten things which I feel grateful for. It's all in the focus, focus, focus, focus! Shine a light on the glory, shine a light on the love! We are supposed to have fun! 

Shine a light on the beauty of each moment, here is the beauty of autumn, it is only here for three short months every year, it is my joy and my job to notice everything wonderful about the autumn........
So today I feel thankful for thankfulness! 
I feel thankful for the first frosted spider webs in the early autumn sunshine
I feel thankful for tea and cake by a cosy fire
I feel thankful for when the penny finally drops and I understand
I feel thankful for creativity 
I feel thankful for wood polished smooth
I feel thankful for stone polished smooth and shiny by peoples bottoms sliding down it!
I feel thankful for rainbows in my house from sunlight through the fish tank
I feel thankful for the purr of my cats
I feel thankful for my ability to keep trying even when I feel cynical

love Klara.