Wake up calls

Wake up calls are important and I am not writing about those wake up calls to get you out of bed on the morning. Wake up calls often happen when you become ill or are involved in something traumatic but they can happen at any time. These wake up calls are the ones where you stop and take a look at your current way of living and decide to change it for the better. Many people come to a spiritual path through a wake up call. My own wake up call came when I had an out of body experience while undergoing surgery many years ago. It changed the way I looked at my life and how I did things.

Some wake up calls occur during illness such as cancer which can be life changing in many ways. Some occur during an accident of some kind and these can often be even more life changing. We hear on the news of injuries that are life changing due to accident and terror attacks. So our lives can change in physical ways but often the wake up call is about changing our approach to life and our thoughts about how we live our daily life.

Meditation, mindfulness, crystals and Reiki are a large part of the way I live. Although I spend a lot of time researching family and local history I find that without the other things I have mentioned above, then the research would not be the same either. It never ceases to amaze me how the atmosphere in a room can change through music or the chimes of bells or a singing bowl. These all enhance my life and enable me to live more peacefully and in more harmony with myself and those around me. All these came from my wake up call and my life changed in many ways and continues to change as I meet each challenge on my life’s journey.

Have you had wake up calls? How did they change your way of life? Did your diet change or your perception of things? Did you find a spiritual path to follow? Do you find being in nature helps you?

I will end with a brief note about my short walk the other morning. It was very frosty and as I walked down this path I saw the sun melting the frost and the resulting mist rising into the sky making the surrounding landscape look very mystical. A wonderful experience.

 

Everyday rituals

I know many people who shudder at the word ‘ritual’. They see it as something bad and horrible. But our daily life is full of rituals. Making a pot of tea is a ritual and pouring it into a cup is even more so. Do you warm the pot first? Do you add milk to your cup before or after? Have a look at the things you do each day and see how many are rituals. You may be surprised.

But let’s look at some kind of rituals. One I do each morning when I get up is open the door (I only have one door to the outside) and let the stale air out and new fresh air in. I stand there quietly for a few minutes and breath in the morning air. I look at the sky, the birds flying around and listen to them chirping and singing. It is quiet and I can hear traffic on the bypass. It is a few moments of stillness before I start my day and it is special for me to do this. While I am doing this I am also connecting to the elements around me and becoming a part of them. This morning it was raining gently and I let the rain fall on my face. It is a daily ritual but full of meaning and mindfulness.

While eating my breakfast I sit facing the window so I can see the sky and the birds on the feeders. As I do this every day then it becomes another ritual. For the druid rituals for celebrating the seasons and festivals I prefer to use the word celebration as that is what it is. To me it only becomes a ritual if you do the same things each time and I do not do this as I prefer to work spontaneously. A final word here; writing my blog on a Sunday morning is another ritual. I spend time thinking about my theme for the blog, find a photo to add and then write straight from my heart.

I’d love to read your thoughts on ritual and what it means to you.

 

A new calendar year

A new year has begun. I am not one for making New Year Resolutions but I do look back at the previous year and see what I need to do to make this coming year a better one. I have always given thanks at the end of the day for five things that I have, have done, or have experienced. Now I am adding to this. I purchased a Mindfulness Colouring Diary and as well as the colouring I am using the diary sections to write down five positive words to describe that day. If I have meditated I can put Contemplation, if I have been writing I can add the word Creative and so on. I am finding this very good as it makes me think about the good parts of the day not the bad bits.

One other thing I thought about was Random Acts of Kindness. I have known about this for a long time and try to do these little things. It can be very easy as doing something like holding the door open for some one or saying good morning to someone and smiling can all be called random acts of kindness. This is much harder for me now as I am not very mobile but I do manage to get to the village shop every so often. I go when there are people around, going to catch the bus into town or walking their dogs. I always speak to them wishing them Good Morning and smile and they always answer me and smile too. This is a way of connecting with people and you never know where it may lead. Also they may then speak to others and smile, passing it on in effect.

So these are two things which I find important as a part of my druid way of living. There are others but they will do for now. How are you starting this new year? Do you do random acts of kindness? Or do you help in other ways?

My photo is one I love, the petals of the flower reaching upwards and out towards the sun and sky and to others around them.

 

Mindfulness

A couple of weeks ago I read a book (Zen Druidry by Joanna VanderHoeven) which resonated very strongly with me. So much so that I wrote the following poem;

Mindfulness

Be mindful, I hear you say;

Be mindful throughout the day.

Mindful of what I eat,

Mindful of what I wear,

Mindful of what I do,

Mindful of what I say,

Mindful of what I feel,

Mindful of what I sense,

Mindful of what I think,

Mindful throughout the day.

Mindfulness brings its own rewards

Of peace, of balance and harmony.

Be mindful throughout the day.