Emotional times and hope

August has always been a difficult time for me emotionally for various reasons. Grief is foremost at that time even though those I grieve for may have passed over twenty years ago. There is also a deep sadness at their loss knowing what they could have achieved if still here. But these things are meant to be and you learn to live with their loss. It does get easier generally but there are times when I feel as if it was yesterday and the emotions run high.

As an empath, world events affect me daily and again I feel a deep sadness over recent events. I don’t feel anger as that would lead nowhere but I do feel this sadness at what has been happening all over the world. However I do have hope.

I have done a lot of reading and a lot of listening and I understand, and this is my point of view, that we all need to find our spiritual connection to the earth. We need to feel the earth beneath our feet, listen to what she is saying to us, listen to the trees and the animals that live on our planet. If we listen carefully then we can hear them and learn to do what they ask of us. It is quite simple really. Find that connection and the understanding that everything on our planet is connected in one way or another. You only have to think about what I was taught at school about the food chain and see how each species is connected to another species. We are the human species and we are connected to all the other species in some way or another. Find that deep contentment that comes from being in nature. Let your emotions flow into the earth to be healed and find joy amongst the trees and plants and the many insects some of whom have wonderful colours.

There is joy out there if you go outside and search. I find joy in the simple things like sitting on a seat overlooking a local lake and watching the birds on the water and seeing the dragonflies flitting about. Being by water is good for the emotions especially flowing water or the sea. It cleanses and heals too. So forget your anger and hate and go and find the joy outside in our wonderful natural world.

Food for health and food for thought

You know the saying ‘you are what you eat’. I often think about the meaning of it. I try hard to eat good nutritious food but it is not always available locally. I would love to be able to grow my own veggies as I have done in the past and I am looking for a way to do this next year in the grounds of the housing complex in which I live. I am sure I will be allowed some space for some large pots or growing bags. So how have I managed this year? I prefer to shop locally but sadly the content of my local supermarket has deteriorated over the last couple of months and I cannot find the food I prefer to eat. I suspect that they only have available the food that most people will buy. You can’t blame them but it doesn’t help me or other people who like good quality nutritious food. So I enlisted the help of my son asking him to take me shopping every few weeks to somewhere that I could buy organic veggies, fruit, and meat. I am a meat eater but I love fish more.

The taste of organic food is so much better that anything else and you don’t actually need to eat as much because it is more nutritious and fills you up quickly. So it is more expensive but you get what you pay for and I feel the expense is worth it. What might do me for 2 meals from the local store will do me for 3 meals when organic. So it is not necessarily more expensive.

I am also a believer in natural medicine, whether herbal of otherwise. I love essential oils too and the various salves that you can get that are 100% natural. I have been reading about natural antibiotics as I had to take some of those recently for an infection in a broken tooth. The infection has returned and won’t go away until the tooth is out in a couple of months time so I have been looking for something I can take or use to help. There is more out there than you think and it is worth the time searching through pages of knowledge to find what is right for you.

One thing that modern medicine ignores is that we are all different. We may all be human but we have different chemistry and biochemistry in our bodies. Our DNA is different and that also makes us unique so it is worth the time searching for what is right for you. This includes food and medicines. Doctors nowadays only allow one symptom to be discussed at an appointment. This is ridiculous as many illnesses have more than one symptom. As a friend once said, ‘I have one body and lots of symptoms.’ We should look at our bodies as a whole not in small pieces.

Finding calm in a chaotic world

Currently there are huge fires blazing away and destroying homes and forests, earthquakes also bringing destruction, heavy rain and flooding and extreme heat bringing drought. The world as we know it is changing rapidly. Much of what we have known is now crumbling around us. Things we have taken for granted are no longer secure and there are many who live in fear. Will they be able to keep their homes and live safely or will they have to leave and go elsewhere? Not only have we got a pandemic but we are getting these extreme weather and other natural events causing so much chaos.

But it is no good worrying about tomorrow as we do not know what tomorrow will bring. We do not need to worry about the past either although looking back at the past can show us how to avoid similar pitfalls this time around and learn from our mistakes.

Being in the present, living each day as it comes and making the best of it is important. Staying calm and showing others that we are calm helps others to become calm too. Sending love and peace out into the world each day and living that way ourselves also shows others that there is another way. Being calm and loving around others helps them to feel that way too and they then do the same and this in turn helps even more people to be calm and loving. A bit like the ripples on a lake or river when you throw in a stone and see the ripples spreading out for a wide distance.

As we experience the changes that are taking place now and those that are to come, staying calm, loving and peaceful is very important. Anger does not produce anything good and only makes things worse. As we stand together in peace, love and serenity we will be able to change the world to one we wish to have but this will not happen overnight. It could take several years for it to change to something better and for the crumbling walls to be built in a different way that benefits us all. Stay calm and send out that feeling to others. There is a better life ahead. We just need to be patient which for many of us is very hard. Change will come though and eventually it will bring a better world. But we have to get rid of the old to make space for the new.

Freedom

So what is freedom? We talk about freedom of speech, freedom of information, freedom of movement and so on. But what are we really talking about. Many people believe that you can do or say anything as long as it doesn’t harm anybody. That brings in the aspect of what do you mean by harm. There is the freedom to choose and this varies with different people. It brings in obeying safety rules when working. Some of these are important as choosing not to obey them can bring danger and even death.

But despite the fact we do have a lot of what we call freedom, in our lives, this freedom is slowly being eroded. If you disagree with the main line of thought then you can be denied access to social media and other forums. Toeing the line is getting far too important and we risk being turned into the serfs of long ago. Independent thinking is very important and so far nobody can stop you from thinking so we need to keep that freedom. If there were no disagreements in science for example then we would not be where we are today. One scientist testing something can come up with different results than another scientist. Even science results are open to interpretation like statistics.

So going back to freedom to choose. We do this every day many times. We choose what to eat and drink, what time to go out and what to do when out. That is a lot of freedom. We also choose what to wear unless we have to wear a uniform for work. These freedoms have been restricted over the last year but we are now getting some of them back.

We have freedom to just be, to be ourselves even if we dress differently from many others and we have the freedom to be who we choose to be. As an older person I choose not to dress like many others my age but dress in the way that I prefer. I don’t want to look like the others or act like them. Getting older is not about conforming to what is expected but is about doing what you feel is right for you.

Over the centuries there have been wars in our world, wars to protect countries from being taken over by tyrants. There have been wars over beliefs as one country tries to convert another country to a particular belief. We should have freedom to choose our own religion if we think we need one. We should have the freedom to be true to ourselves, to think and speak our truth and to do things that we wish to do if we are able to do so without hurting others or ourselves.

Freedom of information is very important but we have to ask for it in a particular way and then we do not always get the true information we ask for. There are many different ways of interpreting things and we should be able to have the freedom to choose which way.

Freedom of movement has been severely restricted recently but has never really been there in the first place. Passports and visas can restrict freedom of movement. There is much that can be said about freedom. I am sure you will find much more to add to my blog.

Love and truth

Love is a very popular word. We love your hair, your clothes, food, car and so on. But is the word being overused and do we really mean something else. Love is important where friends and family are concerned and there are different kinds of love within the family and friends circle. Maternal love for our children is a different kind of love than we have for our parents and our partners.

We use the word love often when talking about things we like doing. I love to walk amongst the trees is a good example of this. I love to paint, to draw, to sew, to make things, to ride a bike and so on. Do we really mean we love these things or are we using the word love for a word such as enjoy or like?

For me love is something that represents a deep emotion of caring for someone or something. I love my children and my friends but I also have a deep love for our land and everything that lives on it. I generally hesitate to say ‘I love that’ about something such as a dress, a hair do or a car. I prefer to use the word like for those kind of things.

But that brings me to another word that is often misused, truth. I tried to find a good definition of the word truth and was not really happy with any of them. Truth is important though to all of us as a society and to all of us as individuals.There are different kinds of truth; historic truth is about something that actually happened, but truth today is often opposed . Some facts or beliefs are accepted as true even if there is no proof. But other true facts are often opposed and considered to be lies.

It is important to be honest and truthful. Honesty allows you to have a fulfilling life. It’s also about being true to yourself and not pretending to be someone else. There is nothing wrong with being who you really are and avoiding changing at times to suit others. Truth, honesty and love go together in my mind and are extremely important in my life.