Christmas is over....

..... and it was very lovely and enjoyable - my Mum came over to stay at mine - there was 6 of us staying in this little flat - but it was really, really good - 2 of my boys, Rachel and Lara - attentively looking after Mum - doing crosswords, making lots of cups of tea etc and cherishing her. She was brilliant - loving every second, being appreciative of everything and everybody - my eyes have suddenly welled up with tears as I write this - she is such an amazing, indomitable woman - I don't know how many more Christmas's she will have - but it was a joy to share this one with her - she described it as ' beautiful' - which felt very special to me.

We all went out for a meal on Christmas Eve - Fiona's family, Gilly and the 6 of us - then we all went to Fiona's for Christmas dinner - Ian prepared a feast for us - and Aidan delighted and charmed his big cousins and great grandmother. He is such a special little boy. Then yesterday another family party with Gilly, Evey and Michael and Michael's daughter - lots of laughter, love and as Evey wrote in a text to me this morning - 'What a lovely day we had yesterday - what more could we ask for than spending time with your Mum, family and friends - priceless.' I'm feeling very emotional again - just full of gratitude...... mantra brewing - how lucky am I? It is also so wonderful to be with others who are also so grateful - Mum, Evey, Michael - special, special!!!!

So I am now in my flat - Jimmy and Rachel cooking prawn salad - the two of them cooking companionably together - Jimmy's music playing - just about covering the noise of the washing machine, sorting myself out before tomorrow. Alex and Lara hopefully on a bus somewhere between Madrid and Gijon and Mum back in Abbeyfield - it was lovely when I took her home this morning - she said 'this feels like coming home' as she was greeted on her arrival, un-packing her presents - with only a fairly sketchy idea of which come from who - but holding them all dear.

I go dancing tomorrow in Spain - am really looking forward to switching off and just dancing - I want to use the opportunity to process the last few roller-coaster months and to be clearer what my intentions are for the future year. I will be dancing on a mountain top in the south of Spain - I danced in the new year of 2010 there - and that was the big/all change year for me!  Tomorrow I will be off again on another adventure - with my heart open,  fearless and with no idea what is awaiting me - wonderful!!!!

feelings of change...

.....am at home - Jimmy, Alex, Lara and I flew home from Croatia via Budapest yesterday and got home to tea cooked by Rachel who was waiting for us - she couldn't join us at Robbie's as she still hasn't got her passport back. Funny to be part of a family that needs passports to visit each other!

They've all gone out tonight and I have been knitting - we managed to leave my suitcase at Rob's house - with several of both mine and his Christmas presents in it - bit bonkers - but I think we were all a bit hung-over after his birthday party - well it happened - it was quite funny - got to Budapest airport - about 3 hours from Rob's - opened the boot of the car - and realised!  I had knitted my Mum a sort of shawl/scarf of beautiful soft wool and Rachel a waistcoat of 3 pieces - and one piece of the waistcoat and all of the shawl/scarf are still in a suitcase at Rob's!!! But Lara and I went to the wool shop today and I have made my Mum a cushion for her back and tonight knitted a very quick scarf for Rachel from fancy wool - so I am happy!

Tomorrow I go and pick my Mum up and bring her here for Christmas - 6 of us in a tiny flat - it will be squashed but wonderful - tomorrow night dinner in a restaurant - Christmas day at Fiona's and Boxing day here with Evie, Michael and Gilly. Precious, precious, precious times. I sound like my Mother -  am just so lucky - she says lucky - I say blessed - but I think we mean the same - grateful to be alive and recognising the wonderfulness of that.

Realised that I had titled this blogg - feelings of change - then wrote about knitting...... but I do have a huge feeling of change..... it sort of feels like everything is different - but strangely when we were in Croatia - it just felt so normal to be at Rob's - which on reflection is a bit wierd - but in a few days time Alex and Lara will go to Spain to spend New Year with Lara's family - and none of this feels strange. So much change yet all sort of deliciously normal - people/family - so of course normal - people are people and family is family - love it!

So the change must be in me! Maybe - I do feel like I am living in some accelerated whirlwind - though also knitting - there's a paradox! Feeling in a vortex of change whilst focusing on the minutiae - but the small things are the most important and even though everything is so rapid - we are living in this - the present moment!!!!

OK - so I will continue knitting - then go to bed very grateful in having 2 sons and their amazing partners staying in my flat - having just been visiting my third son - to be picking my Mum up tomorrow and then to be having a family Christmas - then dancing in Spain - lucky/blessed - just grateful............

back home and changed....

I wrote the title of this blog a couple of days ago but never wrote anything after that - I think I probably fell asleep!   I got back Monday evening and it is now Friday, the days just go by so quickly and I have been very tired!

It’s been a strange week and yes I do feel changed after the last weekend of my course.  I have become more public about being a Sound Healer, telling some people at work, doing a treatment with my mother – that was lovely, she became very blissful. I have noticed that people are becoming more open to discuss consciousness, energy, spirituality – or maybe it is just me and my journey.  I don’t think so though - as when I have talked about it with others - they too have said that people are becoming more open with them as well.  I am being more open about the spiritual side of my life, to my family and friends and now some colleagues!

I am excited about doing sound healing treatments for individuals and sound journeys for groups, I just love it, but it’s also something that I am actually very good at - as it is something that enables my natural gifts to come out.  This sounds a strange thing to write and I don’t mean it arrogantly - it is just that the sound healing is my vehicle, it is the way for me to do what I am very good at. It was certainly something that I hadn’t planned, and actually could not have foreseen occurring. I have never thought that healing was my gift, and I never thought that sound and my voice would be something I would use as a practice/type of work.

I have been thinking about my future and I can see that this part of my life will run parallel with the other part of my life for a while, and then I can see the two joining in some way.  Not quite certain how this will happen or even when it will happen but it just feels very right to me that it will happen.

I was talking to someone last night on Skype, and we haven’t seen each other for a while although we have talked on the phone and she commented that I looked different.  I think I might look a bit different, and I certainly feel a bit different, in some ways more self assured, more at peace.

Exciting things are happening in my life, and I am being open to them when they occur which is such good fun.  Living without fear is really the most important thing to do, being fearless – love it!

Go away again on Sunday to meet my boys -  Alex, Lara and Jimmy in Budapest – and then we will all drive to Varazdin to stay with Robbie.  It feels like the family home has now moved to Croatia – how exciting is that. Cheltenham Avenue is having solar panels put on the roof this week - it just seemed the right thing to do and I’m glad that I’ve done it, although it did end up to be a very complicated process. So the family home has moved to Croatia although it temporarily abides in Travellers Court – we come back on the 22^nd and then my mum will join us for Christmas.  It will be a bit of a squash - six of us in that tiny flat – but it will be cosy - I am looking forward to it.

So the end of 2012 is approaching, changes are occurring across the globe.  I am ready for 2013, a different person to the one that started 2012 – a Sound Healer – how did that happen!!! I feel very blessed and I feel very happy and I know the two are totally connected.

feeling expectant.......

Early morning tomorrow I will be on way to Belgium again - for the last weekend of my course.

Have felt very 'strange' all week - not certain why - and I don't know if it is physical, mental, emotional or  spiritual - but I suppose it is a mixture   - the physical has involved me being tired - not unexpected after last week - but I have also had this sort of physical expectancy feeling - a sort of undetermined excitement - with the heart racing etc - not certain why - but a real feeling of restlessness.

The mental has involved a lot of processing of last week - ideas still buzzing around - great thinking - but again 'expectant' rather than concretely identified - but really feeling that I am so close to a big bang in my thinking - buzzing rather than landing! Wrote stuff today which was a really good step,

Emotionally feel pretty cool at that the moment!

I know the spiritual aspect of my life is beautifully enriched by the Sound Healing course and I think much of my expectancy is a feeling of excitement of where I will go during the next few days. Funnily I also feel this physically - tonight my hands and feet are just burning up.

Bufff - consciousness - mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually - the keys lie in our heart - time to reconnect them!!! Anything is becoming possible - way to go!

Things the same - yet things so different!

Well I'm back home - after another marathon - Sweden, Netherlands, Portugal.......

Feels like I am still landing - which is not surprising as I went directly from two very early flights, after about one hour's sleep, driving straight from the airport to my sister Jenny's for lunch with the family - which was lovely.... then home via the supermarket - and then somewhat ambitiously I made a Christmas Pudding!

Doing my blogg now - which I love to do - finding the space to start to reflect on what I feel tonight..... Well - I can clearly see that I am still as high as a kite from the experiences of the last two weeks!!!! And understandably!!!! But that in itself is good to know - recognising that I need to spend time focusing on landing.

OK - levels - work was great - very hard at times, very focused, lots of demands on my time, energy and abilities - and pretty constant, full on - days and evenings - breakfast conversation merging in full days of meetings which merged into dinners and very late nights - all interspersed with walks through the beautiful city of Porto - lots of good work being done whilst going up and down those steep hills between our hotel and the University rectorate building where we were based - special conversations.......

Wonderful work, and I can see so much more clearly after this last week - really starting to see what the SiS Catalyst legacy will look like, specifically, globally and also for me - this was a huge development in my thinking.

But there are other levels - deep, deep connections with others who understand - what a joy - what a joy - what a joy!!!!! As a consequence I did three sound healing sessions - which were all so different and yet each one was very well received - and they also gave me an amazing feeling of 'rightness' - I love doing them and it was a big jump between my worlds. The three sessions came naturally out of conversations - and it was good to have the chance to talk deep with others - not with everyone but with a growing number of people. Bufffffffffff!

The word which has been dancing around my thoughts all this week – and it is a word that has been around in my head for quite a while - certainly several months now – anyway the word is 'consciously'.

It was my intention when in the valley this summer - to be able to see more consciously - and suddenly I can see that really beginning to appear not just for me - but also for others.

OK what do I mean by 'seeing more consciously' – for example I had a beautiful conversation with my Mum at Jenny's today - we were talking about war/peace. She was born in 1920 - a peace baby 'Irene' - after the first world war – and was then the generation of young people caught up in the second world war - and my Mum said - the young people of today - they are more conscious - they travel, they use computers - they are more connected - this enables them to be more 'conscious of each other'.

I personally feel 'more conscious' of how I am living my life – consciously being happy for example. The shift I saw in myself this last week or so - has been to 'see' this change in consciousness - both within myself and crucially also within my work - for example working with global partners and witnessing their shared recognition of their similarities in their very different cultural, geographical etc etc localities.

Mmmmmm – lots and lots to think about, to reflect on – but now the call of a hot bath, a mug of camomile tea and bed with a hot water bottle in it – has just become too strong for me to resist!!!!!

Thank you blogg reader – my mind is just buzzing and it's lovely to get some of it down!

Sweden.....

Am currently in Lulea - right in the north of Sweden. It's been a pretty hectic few days - loads of things to do before I left Liverpool with work, my Mum falling on Sunday, Rachel 'representing' Jim on a Macclesfield hospital mission, enjoying to get to know her better.

Then travelling to Sweden and participating in a completely different network. Key Note speaking - to an audience that 'knows their onions' as Chris's Mum used to say... and they did and I feel very happy after today - it was really special and I learnt so much - love it!!!!!!!!!!! Just really, really love it when so many things make sense to me - and today has been one of those - 'falling into place' sort of days - great stuff.

Heard yesterday from Jenny that Mum had had the plastic surgery operation on her hand - she fell on Sunday on her way to church - and managed to completely skin the back of her right hand - 3 skin grafts worth - it was horrible - like a piece of meat. She was amazing - recognised how lucky she was not to have broken anything - and having four daughters - all of us being able to take a stint in the process - and yes she is lucky to have that - but her appreciation and gratitude is truly awesome.

Next week is another SiS conference in Porto, Portugal - it seems only like 2 minutes from Zagreb - yet so much has been done - so much happened - but all in a blink of an eye - life does seem to be whirling by, accelerated time!

Working and living life also seems so very blurred now - the two aspects of me - Tricia and Alegra - separate but becoming closer - today has been a real Tricia day - but I have ended up making the most amazing Alegra connections - and sitting in the audience of the final plenary session - recognising the language; co-creation, transformation, connection, focusing energy -all Alegra language in a Tricia context - pretty amazing stuff!

It's also very good to talk and to be more open - about the stuff that I do - the vision for the future that I have -and then to get such affirmation - felt very wonderful.

Didn't see the northern lights - but knew they were there - just above the rain clouds - but then I hadn't charged my battery properly in my camera - so I wouldn’t have been able to capture them! Off to Amsterdam to see Jimmy in Leiden - that's good - and Alex has been offered two jobs, one in Grenoble and one in Paris - so looks like they'll be staying in France!

Recognising and appreciating my happiness - lucky, lucky me...........................

 

Busy in Belgium... sort of wierd!

I have been coming and going to Belgium several times over the last two months as I have been doing the course - 4 long weekends over 4 months. It is a course on 'Sound Healing' - and it has been an extraordinary experience for me. I decided to do it - very spontaneously - and very quickly after I had experienced Tuvan singing in the valley - a sort of singing/meditation - it was that which drew me - and I didn't really think about the 'healing' bit at all - and certainly not that I could be a healer. Well strange things have happened and I have been open to them - and though it feels very wierd to write it - I am a healer!!!!!! Of course we all are - but this is MY journey and MY realisation - and I am amazed that I have the confidence to write this. I am not certain what I will do with this yet - but I know I do want to work with people - certainly to continue practising - and see where it goes - there is a beautiful right feeling about all this - I am not musical - not a musician, never been able to play an instrument or have the confidence to sing - but Georgia was amazing - I found my voice - then Vlad's workshop in the valley - and one amazing night of just being open to let the 'sound', 'singing', 'voice' come out of me - but now I have had 3 weekends of 'system/theory' - and practice - all giving me a shape for something very intuative - and something that feels so very right to me. OK - so I am still pretty high after the last weekend - and then yesterday I came back to the extraordinary world that I also live in - speaking in a reception/debate in the European Parliament - it was a small group and over a dinner - I spoke during the soup!!! Today has been full of meetings - I am shaking my head as I write this - I am still so amazed by what I do! So tonight I am in a hotel room - for a change! But with a suitcase which now contains - 2 singing bowls and several tuning forks - writing this on the ipad - no spellcheck or formatting - and just loving being here - becoming a Sound Healer - and not feeling too crazy writing that! And just loving being me!!!!

Back home - briefly..................

... but then everything feels so transitory - rapid changes occurring day by day - never seeming to quite get on top of everything totally - when the next big change occurs......

I suppose this feeling of change is particularly strong because I am constantly moving - got back from Vienna today - and will be in Grobbendonk this time next week - which is worth writing just for the name!!! It's where I stay in Belgium when doing my course - at the amazing home of Jes.

But I am travelling so much - and through the journeying zooming in and focusing on specific things/ideas for a few days - AND really focusing on these things - my course or my work - both amazing and both providing long intensive days of intention and thinking - then up and off again..... to another piece of the jigsaw!

Whirling a bit tonight - but happily so - the amazing stuff  I did on my course - BUFFFFFFFF - a huge biggie that I have not really started to 'process', 'work out','think through' can't even find the words for what I need to do with it - but I think that's the thing - not to think - but just to let it filter through me - like water through sand - taking it's time to move through....... and for me to just accept the changes that it has involved.

And work - WOW - it too is blasting it's way at the moment - love it - seeing things so much more claelry - huge movement and shifts of thinking - like big Icebergs crashing around me.

Sometimes it does feel like I'm standing on a little ship surrounded by so much movement, waves, icebergs, whales, storms, fog, clouds and of course rainbows - but just SO MUCH GOING ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Back to the mantra - how lucky am I?

I dreamt about Chris last night....

... and it was a lovely, sensuous, normal sort of cosy togetherness - and when I was telling someone about the dream today - I had this huge realisation that I dream about Chris a lot........  lovely, normal, conversational, physical dreams - though often I would be saying - "You're not supposed to be here - in this reality!"  In these dreams we are  together - just being together - doing the things that we did together for so many years - decades in fact  - and it came as quite a shock to me today to realise that I was so regularly dreaming of Chris.......  and it was weird - talking about this one dream - and  then to suddenly have this flash of recognition and remembering all these other dreams.

As I type I can recall some details of these other dreams - though like all dreams - they are mercurial - where the impossible is normality - and if you think about something it just sorts of happen..... in that dream like way. But in my dreams of Chris - the ones I can remember - were are doing things together in a happy mixture of  day to dayness - but I also recalled that I sometimes had this sort of reluctant feeling that people wouldn't understand our normality of being together if they knew that he was dead - but also that Chris was  just not bothered about that!

Well that was an unexpected blogg to write!!

OK - so it's Wednesday - I came back from Estonia on Sunday and leave for Belgium tomorrow. Alex unexpectedly stayed at mine last week, after a job interview - Steph stayed last Wednesday and Sunday around Estonia - and my cousin's daughter Ruth stayed here last night - and I was out on Monday - that sounds like an excuse for not blogging - and in someways it is - as I have missed it/you..... but it it was lovely to have all these guests - and Estonia was a really good trip - hard focused work in wonderful company and country.

I will be away a week - doing my course over the weekend and then going to Vienna to take one specific aspect of SiS Catalyst to the next stage..... It feels like there is a lot of pressures around my work at the moment - good pressures but changes occurring so quickly - as things develop..... the pace of change does feel very, very fast indeed.

But I am knitting - love it - it takes me to this very slow place, stitch by stitch, row by row... and that's what I'll do now - sit in my peaceful flat and knit for a couple of hours - and with bamboo needles I can take it on the plane tomorrow too!

Where I am now.....

.... am at home - it's late Sunday evening - and I have been home an hour or so - unpacked and turned around - and should go to bed as I will be up early tomorrow - but I am no where near sleep - my mind is whirling and my heart is full - I am buzzing with energy and flying high - realising that I needed to blogg - to find a way of coming back down I think!!!

I have just come back from a weekend with the Spirithorse Women's Lodge - Thursday evening to Sunday afternoon - a period of time so rich - so long - yet also so short -  so deep, enriching and  connected - a joyous time - which also took me to the wall of grief - and instead of just recognising and  acknowledging it - for the first time I went through it...... buffff - it looks strange in black and white - typed into a blogg - but that was where I was - and gratefully, amazingly blessed to be there - I am consciously going on the next steps of my spiritual journey... knowing that I am not going there on my own - I am now taking these steps - strides - giant leaps....  all being taken with the love and support of so many amazingly beautiful people........ back to the mantra - how lucky am I?

blogging on a train.....

Travelling across the North of Finland by train - passing through the forests, fields and occasional towns - many evergreens but overall a patchwork of oranges, yellows and shades of greens as the autumn colours shine - they are ahead of us up here, though I noticed chestnut trees turning when I was out with my Mum a couple of weeks ago - so when I get back I am sure the park and trees will have well started to change. Autumn..... There are many, many lakes here - small and large and at the moment the sky is bright blue with some white feathers of clouds. The sky seems to change very quickly. Finland is very beautiful and showing off to me as I travel through her splendour! Yesterday we went to an island and I loved the sea and the endless horizon. We do live in such a truly beautiful earth. I have seen several flocks of swans and yesterday big groups of grey cranes - huge birds - special to see............ Today I will meet old friends and I am very happy to be travelling - train journeys are much more restful that planes, especially with views like I am experiencing............. I am also aware that this is the first anniversary week of my Father's death and the sixth of Chris's.... that feels quite emotional, but also OK. Both of those lovely men loved me - and how special and joyous to know that - and I do know it deep, deep in my heart. I also know that I was given such a huge gift to be born to a man who loved me - I smile as I feel his love around me..... and then to have the second gift of being loved by a truly wonderful man for so many years - again I can feel Chris's love deep in my heart - but I don't actually feel as close to him now.... maybe it's the passage of time - or maybe he is busy - I laugh as I write this - but in some ways I love to think of him being busy - he was a truly huge man - a huge hearted, powerful, beautiful man - who loved and treasured the small things in life..... my blessing is to have these two men in my life. So here I am surrounded by people chatting companiably to each other in the extraodinary sing-song Finnish language. I'm probably the only Brit on the train - listening to music, Sigur Ros, admiring the shining world I am travelling through and giving thanks.... Thank-you, Thank-you, Thank-you for giving me so many blessings - how lucky am I???????

in Finland

Have been on the road for over a week - a rich mixture of work and pleasure - but I am so lucky - my work is a pleasure!

Now in Oulu in northern Finland - and the autumnal colours have arrived here already. I haven't seen much so far - but tomorrow we will be going on a sightseeing tour - so that's special.

Last weekend I did my first part of the Sound Healers course I have enrolled on - it was a huge experience in many ways and at many levels - I haven't really started to process it all yet. It shook me up but it also felt  wonderfully right for me. I have three more weekends to go - and that's exciting. Singing in Georgia has started a huge ball rolling!!!

September?????

Am still struggling a bit - and cross with myself because I am - as I feel I have no right to feel down! Have just been talking to Gilly - who wonderfully said - it's OK - it's September!

It took me a bit to understand - but yes it's September - 6 years ago my life changed totally as Chris died in September 2006 - how did that happen - SIX YEARS - and a year ago my Dad died - so yes September is a significant month for me - but I've never really thought about it like that - last Sunday - September the 2nd - was my Dad's birthday - which was poignant - for my Mum - and maybe me as well - and as Gilly pointed out - Jim has now left Liverpool - and I might also have a bit of a twinge of empty nest syndrome - and it's also often hard to do what I do - whatever that is!

Ok - I will accept some of this - but not all of it!

Thinking about it - I now don't have anyone to tell how I am really feeling  - except maybe Gilly and you my blogg readers.  Looking back the bit I miss  most - is having someone to tell my feelings too - as I would have told Chris how I felt - though actually I probably would not have told him - he would have told me - "What's up with you - you seem a bit miserable!!!!"

Ok - so at the moment I am a bit miserable - that's honest with myself - I feel quite lonely and on my own at the moment - I also feel better already - having written that!

Not certain why - maybe it is because it's September - though I am not convinced - but as I write a whole surge of  'How lucky am I' has just hit me - How lucky am I? to have had a person in my life that I was so close to - for over 30 years - that I didn't even need to tell that I was feeling a bit down - who just knew! Bufffff - I was just so blessed to have had that lovely man in my life for all those years. Maybe that's what I am feeling tonight - another level of loss - and if that's what I feel - that's good - I think it is important to FEEL.

So maybe I am just FEELING September - and maybe that's just a great place to be - even thought it is a bit raw - a bit painful - but I am alive and living a wonderful life - so now I must just be grateful, appreciate and be happy..... lucky, lucky me....

Being on my own.....

I have had a wonderful summer of being with people - Jimmy and Rachel here in my flat, being with people in Georgia and Spirithorse... but tonight I feel on my own....

I thought I would miss Jim - I was talking about it today with my Mum - as we walked companionably around Shakley Mere - a beautiful walk in the sunshine - both of us counting our blessings and being together - a truly lovely afternoon - we then went to Booths supermarket and Mum enjoyed me food shopping - both of us taking pleasure in the small things... Usually I would have had Jim for a meal - breakfast or tea - at least once in a week - and my shopping seemed very singular on this occasion.

But maybe I feel like this because this time last week I was in the Pennant Valley - immersed in the Spirithorse community - nurtured and enriched by just being there - surrounded by many beautiful people that I am honoured to call my friends - another family - richness indeed.

So I hesitate to even recognise that I feel on my own - but at the same time I think I should. I am so amazingly blessed - absolutely no question about that - bufffff - I have been given so much - my life is so rich and varied - that to even feel on my own seems like an indulgence! I think the more you are given - the more appreciative and grateful you should be - and I have been given so much - it is not easy to be uneasy with it all.

I have just looked back at this blogg - and it sounds a bit of a moan! However tonight I do feel a bit restless - but I think that's OK - there is so much change going on in the world at the moment - that I think I should just recognise that the opportunity to stop  - and to become closer with myself is actually a huge gift!

Home and happy...

...after a truly beautiful few days in the Valley - so I have just spent time with my Spirithorse family - wild, wonderful and deep days and nights.

I was thinking about the woman who went there for the first time three years ago - and I can see much of my growth has been triggered by events involving Spirithorse. The journies to India and Georgia included -  but just being in the Valley nourishes and feeds me - it also challenges me - making me peel back more and more layers of the onion skin within. Holding my heart gently as I take steps into the unknown.

Not always easy - but these last few days have been rich with a joyful certainty. So I have come back feeling very full, warm and profoundly happy - deep inside of me - glowing with happiness. Sometimes being there can be a bit over-whelming and although I can see/feel the shifts and changes - they are settling into place gently.

I had made it my intention to explore how my conscious mind could work with my intuition - and although I need to do more work on this - I just loved the clarity that I felt, as things unfolded for me, realisations that resonated with both my heart and my mind. 

So back home to a Jimmy less Liverpool, memories of the very special party that marked his departure last weekend. Four generations of our family and many dear friends filling this little flat with laughter and best wishes. A big step for him being marked and celebrated with love, wonderful.

I am just so blessed to be living this rich abundance of a life!

I've been singing!!!!!

.....now that was unexpected!!!!

Well - when I got the invite to sing with a choir for 2 weeks in Georgia - I knew I had to do it - but I really didn't know about the singing - I thought I couldn't sing - I hadn't sung since I was at secondary school and I also believed that I couldn't sing in tune - BUT I CAN AND I DID!!!!!!

It was fantastic - on so many levels - just being in Georgia with easy, lovely people -  having a purpose - to learn songs in Georgian - to travel in a most amazingly beautiful country - laughing in a minibus as it rocked and swayed over high mountains on un-tarmacked roads, avoiding cows as they stood stubbornly on the busier roads, clambering out to see monasteries with centuries old frescoes, staying in real people's houses and  eating huge feasts of amazing food..... tasting and toasting with wines  made in traditional ways, rich with the sun and full of life and....... singing, singing, singing - WHAT A JOY!!!!!!!

OK - so I had a good holiday!!! The warmth and recollection of it is still very close to my heart - making me smile right down to my toes!!!!!!!

I got back last Saturday after travelling through Friday night  - in time for Nita's 50th Birthday - which was a wonderful and happy pub party - with singing - Karaoke - I didn't push my newly found skill though - clear in the understanding that sacred Georgian chanting is not really going to go down well in a Liverpool city pub at 1 in the morning!!

The beautiful connection to the Georgian singing - of course - was Chris- I knew he liked Georgian chanting/singing - but to be honest I don't think I knew what that meant - he listened to it - but he didn't play it to the family - so although I knew it was music close to his heart - I didn't really know what it was - and then I find myself - singing this beautiful music with the backdrop of snow covered mountains - higher than the Alps - in the company of singers who understood the sacredness - not from a knowledge of the words - but from a shared recognition of the beauty of the music - the purity - audible in the harmony of joyful voices -singing together. That's what it was - joyful - the joy of opening your mouth (heart) with others - bufff - I think anyone can sing!

So now I am home - I am still amazed at myself - Chris died nearly 6 years ago - and I am now so very different - in so many ways - I call myself a dancer - and now I can say I am a singer - a singer of Georgian songs - wow, wow, wow!!!!!

I think the very clear message here is that we are ALL singers and dancers - if we let ourselves be............

Am home alone tonight as Jim and Rachel have gone to London today - Jim leaves Liverpool for Leiden on the 22nd  of August - a big step for him....

And I am me - happy to be home - just had a lovely chat with my Mum - reflecting on her legacy - visible in her children and grandchildren.....  busy at work, reporting on SiS Catalyst... things you have to do... grateful for the opportunities it is giving me  - and now it is time for my tea - Jim's spaghetti bolognaise  - how blessed am I??????

Blogging.....

I haven't been blogging much recently - a combination of being away, internet connections and I just seem to have been so busy.... not complaining - I am living an amazing life - someone sent me a text today which said: 'Your life style is so bright and fulfilling. Great stuff. One exciting life. Enjoy! xxx' And it is true I am living a bright and fulfilling life - consciously - because I do feel very aware of how blessed I am - I could use the word lucky but I don't think it is luck - it feels much more like a 'blessing' - a smiling of the Universe on me. I have been thinking a lot about this - How much of this have I made myself and how much have I been given?

I am obviously very fortunate to have been born ME - to fall into my Father's hands - literally - to have been the third sister of four - in such a close and loving family - to have been with one beautiful man for over 30 years - to have three truly amazing sons - to have the job that I have - and to have a clarity of mission - I live my life with a real sense of purpose..... I am trying to change the world - of course! And I do know we must work together to do this - so how can I feel anything other than absolutely and amazingly blessed!

I also don't feel alone -which is quite a new feeling and so important  - I am now connected to many people who understand - and their numbers grow all the time - how cool is that! When I am with them - I don't need to explain that it's OK to be happy, life is such a gift - every awe inspiring breath that we make - is just that - a gift..... and they understand because they are living their life in the same way - and it's just joyous.......

Does than mean that there are never hard moments - No - only this week I went down......... for a short period of time .... but I went to that place..... the: What's the point and purpose of anything place... but it was OK - I went there - I recognised it - but I didn't take it on board... and by doing that I was able to come back up to the surface - as that's what it felt like - coming up from deep water to the surface - swimming up - catching my breath and feeling that joy of breathing - seeing the world anew...... the point where the air and the water meet being the point of duality.

I had a lovely conversation at my Mum's today with Evie and Michael - where we recognised that if you think positively then what you get is positive - and looking at my Mum glowing from a cruise holiday in Norway - she visibly proved the point!

So my bright and fulfilled life continues - Jimmy and Rachel staying at mine til Jim moves to Leiden next month - the poignant joy of his graduation this week - bufffff - it was a beautiful and rich day - I felt and recognised Chris so strongly all the way through - of course - Jim is our child....

Then this week - lots of stuff to do at work - then on Thursday I go to Vienna for meetings - followed by a fortnight singing in Georgia - extraordinary - I have never sung since at school. Chris loved Georgian singing - and next week I am going to be singing and performing with a choir - our teachers will be Georgian, from that amazing culture of music - and we will be staying with families - wow, wow, wow... where did this one come from....... was it luck that I got a phone call a few months ago asking me to go - or a connection - I don't think that matters - I think what is important is that I said YES - instantly - living my life on the basis that if the door is opened - GO THROUGH IT - you don't get a second chance....

I do live a bright and fulfilled life - and I am just so thankful for it - but is it luck or responding positively to what we are offered?

Bufffffff - didn't expect that?

So it is late - 2ish in the morning - after such a very special day - the graduation of Jimmy!!!!! This was always going to be wonderful - and it truly was - also very emotional for me - waves of Chris moments - he would have just been so proud... Then the unexpected ....an evening of just beautiful connections. Lots of stuff here - just feeling warm inside - with that recognition...........

on the islands......

..... and it has been a most memorable few days.... Four of us - women from around the world - three sisters and a daughter - truly joyous! We have talked, swam in the warm blue, blue sea, eaten seafood, talked, slept, eaten fresh peaches, talked, swam in the sea and talked....... and then swam again in the blue, blue warm sea.... and then continued talking.... telling stories - sharing our griefs, sharing our memories, sharing our dreams.... I have had many Chris moments which has surprised me - but I have also recognised their beauty and poignancy..... he loved these islands - and now our son lives only a few short hours drive from them - we go to his tomorrow for his house warming party - how did that happen?????? So I am sun kissed and nurtured by the food and the beauty of this wonderous place and my soul is nourished by the warmth, strength and insight of my special companions. I am just so amazingly blessed..... and my Mum goes on holiday today to Norway!!!

Zagreb........

Am just beginning to stop whirling - after what has been one of the most intense few days on top of what seems like weeks of running to catch up with myself!!!! I came to Zagreb seeking clarity - and can see that I am beginning to find it - I can also see it growing in the wonderful SiS Catalyst family - as we make our journey of learning together. Capturing learning is what we have been trying to do here - because we cannot share our learning unless we clearly see it ourselves. Our aim is to mobilise our mutual/shared learning - and to do this we must find ways to take the individually owned and understood 'Aha' moment of clarity and to enable this to go global! 10 million hits minimum! OK so if the destination has become clearer - the path to the destination is still obscure - but to know where we are going is a very, very important first step - hurray!!!!!! We are getting there!!!!!!!!

Bursting with love.....

and pride and recognition for my amazing son Jimmy.

Buffff!!!!  Jim is away with Rachel - tonight staying at his brother Rob's in Varazdin - they have all been in Grenoble with Alex and Lara - and tomorrow Jim, Rachel and Rob go to Bosnia - another story..... but tonight I got home to open a letter which was just so amazingly wonderful.....

My little Jimmy, my youngest son, the amazing rock of our whole family...... the youngest grandchild, the child who came so late to reading, who was then diagnosed with dyspraxia, the young boy who was there alone at 16 when his father died, who was there for me, through those hard days, who ended up studying physics and maths... and struggled .... but who despite everything - just got on with it......

... this wonderful young man, my beautiful Jimmy has been awarded a FIRST in his History degree!!!!!  What an amazing journey.

I have had such a huge night - phoning Jimmy in Croatia and telling him - he had looked on line and though he had a good 2:1....... and was very happy with that! Telling my Mum - her joy in phoning my sisters - and though not being quite clear of the differentiation - just loving their reaction (they knew!) - and reflecting with me - and getting it so right - Jimmy got this because he chose - despite everything - to work hard/stay focused - when it would have been so easy for him to have every reason not to - he also did it with humility and passion for his chosen subject area - the Civil Rights Movement and the impact of protest songs.

Tonight I also texted Jim - to tell him how proud his father would have been of him.

OK - another first night for me.... to recognise my beautiful youngest son - the child of Chris and I ......  and I think this is why I feel so emotional tonight because this is not just Jim's well earned achievement - but also a night for me to recognise the beautiful legacy of Chris and my love for each other - our wonderful sons.........

Accelerated time......

... have been aware that I haven't blogged for a while.... time seems to be just racing by.... doing my best to cherish every moment and to be present all the time - but my life seems to be almost a blurr at the moment - but I think so many of us are feeling this.

Have just had a glorious weekend dancing with Andrew Holmes - 'Soul Food' - two beautiful days of nourishing and recognising my soul. Truly gorgeous - not always easy - because to really dance deep - is to dance with an honesty and truthfulness to yourself...... and it does require a real awareness of self.

To those that don't dance this  might sound strange - but 5 Rhythm dancing is a 'practice'  - it requires you to dance without self judgement, to dance with an open heart, to go without fear where the dance takes you and to just 'be' in yourself.

I truly love it - and Andrew is an amazing teacher, who takes us on a journey, together - but on our own.

I think so often about journeys... learning journeys..... individual journeys and the journeys we make together - in families, in organisations, cities, countries, globally - our individual journey weaving it's way in and out of the journeys of others. Sometimes these journeys come together for brief seconds, sometimes like my parents - journeying together for 66 years.

The journey which 23 of us danced this weekend - was exactly that - our own individual dance - but through the dance - we came together - to share a moment of joy -  to witness grief, beauty, truth, to learn from each other, to be irritated by each other, to see ourselves reflected in the dance of our companions - but fundamentally to dance our own journey.

As a group of dancers we sought to individually dance the embodiment of our souls and I have felt the legacy of that process all day. Seeing reflections of the lesson of dance within my world of day to dayness and work. Wonderful.... and then because it was Monday I went back tonight to dance in our regular group......................bufffff! How blessed am I to have dance in my life - I love it, love it, love it!!!!!!!

uncertainty......

.................. with my future .... and with everything... buffff!!!!!

It's Sunday night - the weather today (and for several days)  has been extraordinarily beautiful - sunny - but more than sunny - amazingly/heart warmingly sunny!!!

I had a very lazy morning and then sorted out some storage boxes for Jim (for him to move into my tiny flat)  - he goes to Spain on Tuesday - we will overlap a bit - but from this summer he will leave Liverpool - still waiting confirmation where - but today I did feel a big feeling of transition.......... I love his going but recognise that I will really miss his presence - he has been so very close to me over the last few months/years.

After moving stuff - Jim and I went to the pub and talked over beer and a following meal - it was lovely. Unexpectedly I felt quite emotional - it was all un-planned - but that was good. We sorted out practical stuff - he will be here at mine - when I am not..... probably with Rachel most of the time - so keys etc are sorted.

So I am feeling lighter............ recognising another gossamer thread connection to my old life is  moving on....

But also wondering where my life will take me? But loving the fact it could be anywhere!!!!!!!!!

Wildness and wonderfulness!!

I have no idea why I called the blogg this - just opened the page and it's what I wrote - love it! Now I have to see what the wildness and wonderfulness means!

Have actually had a very quiet evening - I worked late - lots to do at the moment - but I am also so happy to be really beautifully clear - just getting on with it- which after the last few months - feels really focused and good.... Then I went to Liverpool1 to buy my Mum's birthday present for Jim - as we go over to see her on Saturday - and then he's away - and there is absolutely no way my Mum would have been able to buy an ' ipod world travel adaptor kit' on her own!

Then tonight I have been sorting out music on my phone - as it had got a bit muddled - and I like to play music in the car and at work via my phone (still sorting actually whilst blogging) - I love the music on my itunes - over 40 days - unbelievable but beautiful - and a real organic mixture of Chris, Jim, Rob - and my choices plus friends just lovely..... keep moving from this blogg - to save tracks - choosing ones that resonate with me.

Last weekend was lovely - Steph was over from Belfast and we had such a good time - and then on Sunday we cooked a birthday dinner for Jim - there was 8 of us - 4 young ones - 4 not quite so young - but together we ate special food, talked and laughed a lot, drank wine/beer and were just joyous - how blessed am I to have such wonderfulness in my life!!!

OK - so that was the wonderfulness - what was the wildness? Well I think that must be........

......I meet and connect with people - and I know that I am very open to these connections - and when they happen I just go with them - and I go where ever they take me.......

I feel very right and beautifully blessed to do this - but I also know that some my friends worry for me! But I also know that fear petrifies - so to live without fear - which is what I do - is the only way!

Last night I was with one of my 'daughters' and we just went.......... some ways challenging each other - many ways supporting each other - but just seeing each other - and then just going to where that took us. We went back in our histories and also  to and fro in our futures - but we did it all by just being in our present!!!!!

But we also had a ball!! And ate fine steaks - that I cooked - and did the washing! I just love these beautiful connections - day to day - seemingly ordinary - but spirituality extraordinary.

Way to go....... Life is so beautiful.


.

Deliciously tired....

... an tonight I do feel wonderfully weary.

Worked hard for the last few days for a deadline - another funding proposal which went off this afternoon - and I loved it. Don't know if the bid will be successful - but just loved the thinking and where the process of writing it took me/us.

The bid is called ' Dream Our World' and it is for funding for a global conference of young people - working with them in such a way as to enable them to identify what an ideal education environment should be - for them....

The most powerful thing about Bucharest for me was the meeting of minds of the young people - and the one thing that they totally agreed on - absolutely unanimously - from around the world - was that their education/their schooling is profoundly boring.......................

I was talking about this to Jim over the weekend - and it was so true of my childhood - and I think of his - children go to school to be taught - not to learn - but to be taught. And what we were taught was/is - How to be an adult - How to conform - How to obey the madness which are the self imposed rules of our society..... absolutely bonkers!!!!!!!!

So I love the thinking which enables me to go back into my childhood and to start to think through what I've been taught - and then to reflect on what I actually needed to know!!!

Having my Mother in my life is also really important to me as I think through this stuff - reflecting with her and through her - what she has learnt over and through her rich and long life - the two ends of the spectrum - I suppose - what is it that young people want/need to learn? - and what is it that elders understand through their own life's experience of learning  (and actually how much of that was taught?)

Closer to home have spend a lot of tonight talking on the phone - lovely deep conversations - learning - and lots of openness and love - wonderful - so a mind full - a heart glowing and a body weary...... time for bed......

Living in the present - but how do I do that?

It's Friday evening - after what seems like some of the most concentrated days that I have had for a long time - (which is saying something!) - absolutely no complaints - all wonderful and rich - but also so amazingly full on - in so many ways!

Tonight I went to see my Mum after she had been in hospital for a night - she fell yesterday and banged her head - Fiona and Ann sorted everything - but I was there this evening - took with me the mobile phone that Jimmy and I had bought her yesterday - by her forgotten request - a bit ambitious - but see how we go!

My Mum is amazing - she was finding it so hard tonight - she hates losing her memory of recent events - and the fall has knocked her confidence - she was feeling 'stupid'  - and tired after a night in hospital etc - but she was also very funny and loving - doing her best to pick herself up - and loving the concept of the mobile phone -  foreseeing all sorts of potential uses when she's on holiday etc. I just agreed as she was not really going to the day to day - like me trying to contact her when she's not in her room - or her being able to phone without getting out of bed etc..

But I think we were both holding our breath - as the things she really wants to do - in her very precious life of the moment - are just so dependent on her living semi-independently in  Abbeyfield and her ability to stay strong and active etc -  She knows she can't fall again etc - with all that would lead from that......... So she really is living every second of her life today (consciously) - with a huge understanding that the life she wants to live tomorrow - is totally dependent on her ability to hack it through today!

Wow ----- when I wrote Living in the present - but how do I do that? as the title of this blogg - I was actually thinking about conversations I had had today and recently-  about living in the present - but hey I don't need to think any more - I just need to really try and understand where my Mum is with every second of her life - wow........

OK feel crammed full of emotion,  and very tired - but beautifully happy - doing my best to live in the present and to really understand/feel/live what this means -  it' might be Friday night - but I'm for an early night - to sleep in the present - tomorrow is another day to be - what ever that means!!!!

Crazy pace of change..............

Know I'm not the only one ... in fact think it is all of us... but the pace of change is truly quite extraordinary at the moment!!!!!

Am OK - but do feel like that there is so much happening around, with and to me - that it is sometimes difficult to feel any kind of certainty... but also recognise, relish and love the fact that there is no certainty - wow - change is just happening - so let's enjoy it!!!

I can clearly see that if you stop - for what ever reason - then you move from being part of the 'flow' to a 'blockage ' - from being in a raft going down the rapidly flowing river - to being a rock in the river!

Doing my best to 'go with the flow' but also recognising I am so blessed to be me - to be this woman who is living her life - and enjoying every second of it - way to go!

That doesn't mean that it is easy - because it hasn't been recently - but I do feel beautifully happy - if sometimes hanging on by my finger tips to the edge of the raft!

But way to go - who wants to be a rock - with everything swirling and moving past us? Not me!!!

Roller Coaster.........

.....what a week - a roller coaster and a half! Am at home tonight - last Friday I was in Bucharest - little sleep and travelling after an amazing week! Last weekend was a beautiful blurr of travel, family and friends (and little sleep!) This week has been truly hard - moved office, left my team, walked on and away - a huge mixture of emotions - I focused on the positive - and am proud of myself as I did well - worked hard and stayed focused - though have to say I also took time to grieve and to recognise the sadness - but I actually had very little time as I was just so busy and also Rob was here, overlapping with Jimmy and Rachel then Alex and Lara plus two young Croatian girls - out every night a flat full - 6 here last night - in a flat for one person - so pretty bonkers all round!!! Tomorrow we go camping - a Gilly first and linked to Alex and Lara going to a wedding in the lake district - really looking forward to it - though it will be very cold - but jus feel happy to be going close to the earth and it will be a full moon - perfect and so what I need....... So have felt bruised this week - like I've been in a washing machine - pretty mad - but tonight I feel good - clean and moving on - yes a little bit vulnerable - tired - but also very, very blessed and buffff - big time - CHANGE IS GREAT - but not easy - way to go!

Living in the moment...........

... I am tonight very tired but am happy to wait up for Rob, Hanja and Ivanicha to arrive from Croatia - struggling to stay awake though!

Really lovely day, Jimmy and Rachel came for a late breakfast and then we went to my Mum's - Jimmy introducing his girlfriend to his grandmother ....

I only got back from Roumania mid afternoon yesterday and had arranged to meet an old friend last night, because it was the only night we could meet for ages - and am so glad we did because we just talked - and I talked...... it poured out - so much has happened recently! So that was lovely and then today was so special - family...... Rob here later tonight til Friday - Alex and Lara overlapping Thursday night - Jim and Rachel being here til Wednesday then back the following Monday... wonderful!!!!!!!

Last week was also a real turning point for me - re the thinking that I need to clarify - hard but beautiful - so much fell into place in Bucharest - many reasons for this - but the real reason being that it was the right time...... I can now see clearly what I have to do - Big Picture - details still cloudy - but I have had lots of  - path analogies over the last few days - all about being able to see where I'm going -  I will however go into work tomorrow - and I must take this thinking and write it up really, really clearly - I know that wont be easy - I'm also supposed to be moving offices tomorrow and having a house full....

I can either look at this as difficult or I can just say - How lucky and I to have so much richness in my life - no brainer!!!!!

I have also just realised that I'm still in Bucharest time - 2 hours ahead - so waiting to 1 - actually means waiting up to 3!!!!!

Busy inBucharest....

I'm now in Bucharest - and it's strange to be somewhere - yet with so many people I know - and to feel that I'm in a different country, that I don't really know, and yet so much at home.

I have been interacting with 2 conferences over the last three days, working closely with people from across Europe and well beyond. Many of whom I've been with over the last few months - in several different countries - so extraordinary and yet so deliciously ordinary - wonderful.

The joy of both conferences are the young people - students from across Europe and young people aged between 13-15  from across the world. The thing I love most is how normal this feels - how right and just meant to be....

We are here to work - all of us - this is accepted by the young people and the slightly older students - and they have worked - for long tiring days ( and nights), and for most in a second language ( 2 other native  English speakers in 3 days)....   and I just love them for  their passion, integrity and commitment

They party but only after they have put the work in - and what work - real thinking - the joy of thinking - We Can, We Must and We Will change the world thinking.............. what better kind of work could there be?

So I too have worked hard.... feeling more focused now after the last few weeks/months .... and feeling strong and energised by Bucharest and the wonderful young people that I am blessed to be with.... tired tonight though, so an early night with a song in my heart - to dream well..... of change........ love it!!!

Days of change....

......it feels like a huge shift has occurred and I think it has. So what has actually changed?

Big things and small things... yesterday I left my office and the next time I return it will be to move out to another office. A small event in the scale of things - but the process means that I will be moving on from my lovely team - I will be leaving them to a very safe pair of hands - but they, and their work will no longer be my responsibility. There will be a small group that continue to work with me on SiS Catalyst but I will no longer work directly with the majority.

I am so happy that the decision has been made and the change enacted - for to get to this point has been has been very hard for all of us... yesterday I was describing how it has felt for the last few months - I felt like a Firefighter tackling a fire - holding onto a hose pipe and pointing it at the fire but with no water coming out!

But the change has now occurred - my office will be in boxes a week on Monday and I will move on. In the meantime I will go to Bucharest and have the chance to really focus on what I now need to do. My heart sings with happiness, it has wanted this for a long time and I feel very grateful for what has happened.

I also feel a deep sadness as I know that other people got hurt through the process and I did not want that to happen. I have thought so much about this and on reflection I do not think I could have stopped that hurt from occurring........

Sometimes it's OK to be sad - and to recognise hurt and pain and thats what I am doing now in my blogg. The pain is not mine - and I also recognise this - it is the pain of others that I am recognising and respecting.

So I move on..........................

 

back home but on the move...........................

....so much change - so much movement - feeling quite nomadic tonight - woke up in Paris this morning -  travelled home, bit of shopping and sorting, then dinner with Gilly - touching base with my life here - working plus family tomorrow..... then Brussels... then Roumania.... plus a lot of work here. Absolutely no complaint - knowing how lucky I am to do what I do - to be me - but also recognising that I am no longer the person of one place that I used to be!

The previous Tricia was so different!

Last weekend I was with Alex and Lara in Grenoble, and it was just so lovely to be in their French home, to see them happy.... perfect!

A couple of weeks before to see Rob happy in his home in Varazdin, Croatia.... wonderful. Knowing that Jimmy will be leaving Liverpool shortly - it does raise the question, what is there here for me?

Wow - that's a huge question, which for over 30 years was not even a question - but now?

Which of course with my nomadic head on - could be anywhere - why not? Crazy - but bottom line is - somewhere I will be happy........

Which of course means I need to know what makes me happy - wonderful - the best question in the world, the only question worth answering! But the answer is fluid - and I don't think I yet know the answer - I like being nomadic, increasingly realising and accepting that I can be happy - but where - and with whom - bufff- no idea - but deliciously also feel it could be anywhere!!!!!

OK -  to be happy is the most important thing - where/with whom  etc comes later - Wow being clear  on what actually makes me happy - must be my priority.

My boys are right!!!!! I have become an 'Old hippy!' (with nomadic tendencies) - you know what - it's great fun!!!!!!

Feeling tired in Paris....

.... which is a great place to feel tired in!!! Work has been full on and really hard this week - but the joy of my job is the wonderful people I am privileged to work with - sat listening to three of them arguing/discussing their next steps as I write this....

I know I am tired because I have had to really, really focus on staying positive for several weeks now - and that's not always been easy - but I've done my best!

How lucky I am to be me.........

My Mother and positive thinking................

Peaceful Sunday - after a bit of boozy night last night -  was out with Gilly and Fiona - we drank lots of wine and talked and it was lovely!! And today after a lazy morning, I went over to my Mum's and we went for a walk around Shakerley Mere.

It is one of her old favourites - though I don't think she has done for a while, definitely not since my Dad died. It is a mile walk, on the flat, around a lovely little mere. Which in this extraordinary weather, we are having, was just breath-takingly beautiful and the pleasure of walking it with my Mum was intense. She and I just treasured and savoured every tree bursting with green shoots and/or blossom, listened and watched the birds singing, the colours, especially the greens!, the sunshine..... it was just so good to be with her - as we ENJOYED IT SO MUCH. It was special. We talked about last year, my Dad dying and her positive attitude to life, we talked a bit about my life but she gets a bit muddled about who's who and where I've been/am going - so we just agree that I am very lucky and have a fantastic job!!!

Then we went back to her new home - and it is lovely to see her happy and comfortable there - and she is also eating - really, really well. She is happy, content and very grateful for everything in her life - which is perfect. We were sitting outside, having a cup of tea, when she said an interesting thing - which I have been thinking about since. She was reflecting on her lifetime and the global changes that have occurred for her generation - in particular the speed of change and the movement of people around the world - which she thought was wonderful - 'full of wonder' but she also felt she could cope with it - though she didn't think her parents generation could have done!!! So she was reflecting, very positively on the world and its people, when she commented 'But not everyone understands yet - there are even sometimes murders....'

This struck me strongly then and I have been thinking about it since - and what I think is that her mindset is so positive - that even though she watches the news everyday and reads the newspaper regularly she had to remind herself that there are negative people (murderers) in the world..... I have been thinking about this since she said it... and loving it - it's like she's living her life accepting all these massive changes and just focusing on being so positive that she even struggles to recognise the negativity.... wonderful I want to live my life like this tooo!!!!!!!!!!!

Connecting with people....

.... happens beautifully - and I am increasingly seeing that they all come with a purpose - which is much bigger than me or my individual need to connect with another person...... a lot here to unravel!

Jackie Coleman said to me several years ago - Everyone is in your life for a 'Reason' and a 'Season.' I liked this then and still like it now...  I believe that everyone is in my life for a purpose (for me to learn) and they are in my life for a period of time - be that short or long. Their leaving sometimes being where the big learning occurs - like Chris's sudden death.

So I am increasingly living my life on the basis that everyone around me - close and far - are in my life for a reason (for me to learn from). This means that I welcome everyone into my life - and those who know me - see the smile! It doesn't matter if they are in my life for a moment or a lifetime - they are in my life and we are connected. I think have been doing this for quite a while - but not really recognising what I was doing. It does mean that I go very deep, very quickly with anyone who responds and is open to the connection........

I was thinking about how these connections just happen - with a lot of extraordinary circumstances - when the phone rang - and I had a wonderful conversation with one of my 'daughters' about consciously connecting. We also talked about breathing - and how inspiration (breathing in ) is 50% of breathing - but that it is hard to recognise the process of 'inspiration' - especially within ourselves.

Then I came back to the computer and stumbled on Youtube - to hear a piece all about soul connections - which just made so much sense to me...... Love it - so I am increasingly clear that the connections I make - the deep and profound - the very quick/spontaneous - are soul connections... wow love, love, love it - and it makes beautiful sense to me!!!!!

in bed drinking tea.....

....decided I was dehydrated so have been drinking pots of herbal tea... I am home, it's Saturday morning and I'm just slobbing in bed - and it feels great!!!!

Last week was hard - I have accepted that and am glad of it - there were lots of reasons and I did struggle to stay happy - I also saw clearly the consequences of not being happy  - dark clouds of despair negative and heavy - building up around me.....  and it was really good to see them - to recognise them - and then to have the strength to look directly at them and to blow them away.

Which was what I did.... and it was amazing - it was like the world lifted and the sun shone just for me, and my heart space became open and I remembered how beautiful it is to be happy!

So today I am going to see my Mum - we will go and buy teabags for Robbie - tonight I'm going out with Margaret to meet Hector and tomorrow I go to Croatia.... and I am happy again!

It was good to see the dark clouds though, and what was really, really good was to recognise that I was building them up - by letting negativity get through to me - once I realised that I was doing that - getting rid of them was easy.

I still don't know what I want to happen in my future but that's OK - that's part of the lesson of acceptance - not knowing is fantastic - just being is perfection - and smiling is contagious! 

One of those wierd nights.......

..... after a hard couple of days at work - mind buzzing tonight!!!!

I feel that I have so much going on - in so many 'levels' - of my life - it feels a little bit overwhelming - but also tonight it feels more than a little bit wonderful......
I have struggled a bit with the day to day- since Colombia - jet lag combined with going to Barcelona - plus understanding (or trying to understand) where I have been - plus work - and good work - but also quite heavy and draining......

Yes - it has been heavy and draining - these last 10 days....

But all good!!!! Today has been a hard day - yet several times I have heard very strong messages about the need to stay positive - it has been wierd as none of them were directed at me - but over-heard snippets between others, on the radio and about somene else....

... but their message was about the importance for me to stay positive.... and happy...

.. which I am not finding easy.... but beloved blogg - yes I know it is what I need to do.... to be positive - for if I am not - all I get back is negativity.... wow so true!!!!

OK - so am knackered - good recognise that... am happy - though it is not the easiest state of mind to be in!

But yes I CAN - and AM beautifully positive - only way to be..............................

Turning around and off again!

Feeling a bit rushed - haven't really found my feet and I'm off again tomorrow  - but it's OK - felt quite wobbly yesterday but tonight feel good - though I know I'm still a bit jet lagged from Colombia as I feel wide awake now at 11 - but know I will struggle at 6 tomorrow morning!

The important things are good - my Mum, and my boys - Jim and I had a truly delicious tea tonight - we decided it was the best meal I had cooked for a long time - pretty cool hey! And I talked to both Rob and Alex - and have touched base with others close to my heart - so good.... But I also recognise that it will take a while to come down to earth after the last three weeks  - but as I'm off again tomorrow I know I'm not giving my self much time to process one set of feelings, thoughts and emotions before setting off in a completely different direction.

So that's a clear thought - and writing that has made me know that I need to consciously stop - when I can  - in the next few days - and  take the moment to clear all the busyness and just be me.

OK I can do that!

I love my blogg because it helps me think clearly! I can meditate most anywhere - and that's what I must make time to do - just go to my heart space and take the time to just be..... nothing else - just be me - here and now - and you can do that anywhere!

Buffff!!!!! Isn't being just beautiful...................

Leaving Columbia...

.... I have been amazed by the beauty of this country and the warmth of my welcome which has continued over the last lovely week. We have been travelling - driving on roads - an adventure! Staying in old villages with dancing horses and moto rickshaws providing street performances in the evenings - meeting people and hearing stories - walking on high paths through green lush countryside enchanted by birds and insects of many colours - enjoying such richness with an open heart and great pleasure - but now I must go home.....

Like the best holidays you get to the stage when you know it's over and it's time to go home and you must start closing off from this world and begin to prepare for the return to the old world.... but like the best holidays and best adventures - I know I go back a different person - my heart is full of immense gratitude for the wonderful time I have had - and I have learnt so much - about myself and my journey and I am filled with great happiness - how amazingly lucky am I?

So a shower, breakfast, a drive around the lakes of El Pinol then to the airport......... then home.

.....still pinching myself!

I did actually pinch myself yesterday as I couldn't really believe where I was and what I was doing! Being away from home always means you reflect more - but I live in astonishment at where I am and what I'm doing - but to be in Columbia, speaking in Spanish - to 400 people in a huge auditorium at a conference which was arranged just for me - was amazing. But the wierd and wonderful thing is - that I am just so at home here!

Tonight I'm at Ana's and Pablo's - we're all pretty tired after the last couple of very hectic days - Ana has gone to bed with the beatifically content baby Fidel and the mariposa hermosa (beautiful butterfly) Simona. Pablo has to finish off a video for Monday - so I am just relaxing and reflecting on the last couple of wonderful days. I am also very excited about the next week of my holiday - which starts tomorrow..... how did all this happen??? No idea - but it's wonderful and I'm revelling in every treasured second of it - with a heart just full of gratitude and love.