Making Choices

We all make choices, all day and every day. There are the little choices like what to wear, what to eat, where to shop. But what about the bigger choices such as buying a new car, moving house, taking a holiday and many other big choices.

I like to look at the good and bad points about my choices. For example if I wanted to go on holiday I would look at where I wanted to go, how much it would cost and what the place had to offer.  Moving house is a much bigger choice but in my situation the choices are limited by what I need in a home. I need level access, ground floor only and space to move around with a wheelchair and space to keep the chair and the mobility scooter.

But I have a far harder choice to make at the moment. I have had a lovely cat since she was a kitten. She is nine years old now and we are very close. She likes to sit on my knee in the evenings and takes an afternoon nap with me too. I love her dearly but I am having problems looking after her and giving her the care she needs. I am also becoming more allergic to her fur which she leaves everywhere. So what choices do I have and how do I make that choice. First of all I must think about her welfare. She must have a loving caring home and be welcome all the time. But following up that choice is going to be hard.

How do you make the big choices in your life? What do you consider to be important?

Here is my lovely Tabitha.

Light and dark

The days here have been moving from light to dark and back again rather quickly. One minute the sky is blue then suddenly dark black clouds appear and rain pours down. But both of these are good for us and our land. The rain feeds the plants and cleanses the air while the sun brings heat to dry up the rain.

The changing light and dark is a bit like my life. One minute I feel good the next minute I feel sad and down. But is this how it should be? Should life be all bright and cheerful or should we have a mix? I have always felt that we cannot have a world that is just love and light as many others believe. If this was meant to be then why do we have day and night? Maybe it is how we decide what love and light really means.

For me the different shades of dark and light make my day better. The contrast helps me to do things better when it is light and rest when it goes dark. If you look at nature, there are always shades of dark and light. Take a good look at the willow tree in my photo. The shades of dark and light make the tree so much more beautiful.

Early Autumn

It is only mid-August but nature is showing autumn symptoms. It is quite cold here and going to get colder next week. The leaves are turning brown on the trees and some have fallen already. The rowan trees are bending down with the weight of their berries. The recent storms have battered the shrubs in gardens and some are already dying down ready for the winter.

But it is the birds that seem most prominent. They have descended on the bird feeders in a frenzy and have demolished several fat balls in only a couple of days. Each time I refill the feeders, they come again. These are young birds, starlings, but not yet with their adult colours. None of them look alike as they all seem at different stages in their lives.

Someone said that surely there were enough insects in the garden for the birds to eat but obviously this is not so. I know it is only mid-August but if the birds need food then they should have it. We have to be aware that whatever the date is does not mean anything at all nowadays as the weather patterns are changing. We need to be aware and notice when our birds need food.

The photo below is not as good as I would like but there is no way I can get rid of the background house! And I took the photo through the window as well.

Amazing nature

Last Sunday my son took me to a wild flower farm. I managed to get down to the dragonfly pond and sat watching while he walked round and took the photos. It was very peaceful and I sat watching the ripples on the pond. We then walked back to another smaller pond which was also very beautiful and watched a dragonfly laying her eggs. There were some gorgeous butterflies too. While I sat on a bench resting my son took a photo of an amazing dragonfly which showed all its colours and the wings in a very clear way. What do you notice about the wings?

When out in nature I have always noticed the sacred geometry in flowers, snails and dragonflies but this photo is the best I have seen. Do you see the sacred geometry in nature? Do you have photos to share? If not, then next time you are out start looking and watch.

 

Finding peace

In druid ceremonies we call for peace in each direction and for peace throughout the world. This month we remember the outbreak of the First World War a hundred years ago. At that time it was said that war would not happen again yet here we are with conflicts in many parts of the world. So how do we find peace?

Inner peace is important for us all and sometimes that can be hard to find. If we are always angry or wanting something that others have, then we will not find inner peace. If we want to change others then again we will not find inner peace. Why are there so many conflicts going on in many places in the world? Is it because people want to control others, or to gain land or just to fight? Gandhi said that an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.

But back to inner peace. If you are happy with who you are and what you have then finding your inner peace will be much easier. It is also about accepting and respecting others and respecting nature too. How do you find your inner peace? Do you have special places to go where you can find this inner peace?