THE BLISS OF SOLITUDE

Good Morning on Saturday - welcome to Saturday in the Land Down Under, where winter has us in her grip again and it has howled and blown all night long.

My wishes for you for this weekend are for happy hours, for love and laughter,

sunshine and smiles, and calm and contentment.

I wish for you solitude and time to relax and unwind, to contemplate the things that puzzle you and have you perplexed.   Don't be afraid of time alone, it is a blessing and a healing time and a time to gather strength for the times ahead.

If you are unwell, take the time to rest, refresh and restore and if it is just the humdrum and bustle of daily living that has you tired - take the time to rest.

It is wonderful to be able to give to others and to care for them, but it is also very important that you take care of yourself - 

Enjoy this new day and be present to each moment and be ready to value and enjoy the beautiful moments that will happen during this day.

Love and hugs,

Linda 

xxx

BE YOURSELF

Welcome to Wednesday afternoon in Adelaide where the sun is shining but the wind is cold.   We had a rainy morning and for a while it looked as though the rain had set in for the day.

So in my little corner of the world the sky is blue, the sun is shining and all seems to be well after a busy day yesterday.

Yesterday was the training session with Donate Life Australia and it was a very good function - lots of great speakers and much to learn about solid organ transplants and corneal transplants.   The company was good, the venue excellent, food lovely and the best coffee I have had in a long long time.

The following pictures were taken from the Roof Top Garden of the Majestic Hotel here in Adelaide, where the scenery was lovely but the wind very cold.

The Group was varied and each one had a special story to tell of their journey ~ I was in the company of other recipients and several members of Donor families.  Each one of us wanting to do something to in part spread awareness and education for Organ and Tissue donation.   I caught up again with the lovely Donor Mum I met in February and shared many other stories too.


I felt yesterday I was in the company of friends and was able to be myself and to count my blessings and there is lots of rain to dance in and I often sing silly songs.


I came home in the bus and that was an awful experience - I swear the driver thought he was taking part in a Demolition Derby ~ a very rough ride and many elderly folk were very unsteady on their feet and rather scared. I know they have a schedule to keep but please think about the safety and comfort of the passengers - it was hold on for dear life.  It crossed my mind that here I was coming home from a Donate Life meeting and I was in fear of losing my life on a bus home.  


I notice that our American friends are having it very hot again - and I hope they can find a cool spot and have a long icy drink and keep out of the extreme sun.  Here they are peeling off and I am adding more layers to keep warm - we need a big mixing pot to mix all the weather conditions up so that we can all have something more moderate and temperate.


Wherever you are in our beautiful crazy world and no matter if you are working or at home or travelling ~ I wish you a safe day/evening, I wish you shelter from the sun/rain, green traffic lights, nice coffee that you didn't have to make yourself, beautiful music that stirs your soul, the company of someone you love and the sweet sweet joys of friendship.  I wish you the good company of family or work colleagues or if you need I wish you the "bliss of solitude".


Take care as you move around in our world ~ shoot for the moon, celebrate love and life, play fair and I hope that you can jump for joy.


Thank you for calling by to visit the musings of my heart - a heart that is happy to be itself and wish you the joy and freedom to be yourself.   To take on the challenges of what life brings your way   ~ live every day and always be present to each moment.


Love and hugs,
Linda

THE BLISS OF SOLITUDE

"For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils."

William Wordsworth

Welcome to my Saturday in Adelaide where the sun is shining and the sky is a beautiful blue and there are clouds floating around  ~ soft, small and fluffy white ones.   It is spring in the northern hemisphere and of course my heart turns to thoughts of daffodils again and today I am having a very quite day home alone and enjoying the "bliss of solitude"

We are in our autumn phase, but Mother Nature is, I think determined to show us one last blaze of summer glory with high temperatures forecast for the coming week.  I don't mind it at this time of year because the evenings are cool and the nights pleasant for sleeping.   It is at this time of year that I came home from a very long stay in hospital and I remember sitting outside in early afternoons just enjoying the warmth of the sun and the fresh air.

Our years are governed by the changing seasons and the phases of the moon and we add to those the celebratory seasons such as Mother's Day and Anzac Day and Memorial Day.  They are all markers of how quickly the time is passing and how that very soon we will be one quarter of the way through the year.   Our children are on School Holidays here in South Australia for two weeks and it is certainly delightful weather for them.  There are times when I lose track of the school dates because I have no cause to remember them, but I have lovely memories of the days when my children were on holidays and the things we did. 

My phone rang early this morning and it was Naomi sharing news of her friend Kate and her new little daughter born last night at 11.00.p.m. ~ they got the phone call at 2.00.a.m. and were delighted to share in the news of the arrival of Avie Grace ~ such a special time and babies are a reminder to us that life is good and should go on.

Today my day is mellow - and I have spent the morning tidying up my stationery, stamps, stickers, pens and labels and writing letters by hand.   It is a dying art but Joe and I are determined to keep it going and exchange hand written letters often.  Going to collect the mail is delightful and the joy of sitting down and reading words written by hand is pure magic.

To those nurturing a spring garden no doubt the week has brought some new growth and some changes and I am sure you delight in this life that has lain dormant during a cold and unforgiving winter time. 

My pink rose is going through the last flush of summer blossoming and the wind of the last few days has almost finished the remaining blossoms, but they were perfect when there.

This was the last bud I picked and photographed.

Rebecca and Nick are in Amsterdam for Floriade 2012 and this link will take you to a joyous site for a lovely look around.

http://www.floriade.com/

no doubt they will have a wonderful time ~ she did say it was very busy with tourists and people on bicycles.

I wish you a joyous weekend however you plan to spend it ~ be it at the beach, at home or away with family and friends.    Ray has gone to spend the second week of the school holidays with Grace and Henry and they will love that.

For those of you already well into your Saturday like me I wish you a lovely afternoon and evening and to those who will soon wake to a new day ~ give thanks for being alive that you are able to get out of bed and take life by the hands and enjoy the love of friends and family.

I wish you love and laughter, health and happiness, moonbeams and magic and a wonderful weekend ~ thanks for calling by to read the musings of my heart ~ a heart today at peace with itself and the world.

Love and hugs,

Linda. 

FIND JOY IN YOUR JOURNEY

"Under the heavens
we journey far,
on roads of life
we're the wanderers,"


Good Morning and welcome to Saturday for me and Friday evening for some - welcome to my heart and my home on the web,  and your visit here is all part of your journey.


The joy is in the journey - at least it is for me and I hope that I can encourage you to leave the past behind and go forward with courage, strength and hope.
Indeed we are the wanderers and must be looking forward not backward ~ there is nothing anyone can do to change the past. 


  Please don't visit me in my past for I don't live there any more.


I have had a wonderful and long conversation about this already this morning and clearly we acknowledged that there are going to be bumps on the journey, holes in the road and storms as we travel, but what we should always remember is that these things pass and we can't dwell on them.
We don't travel alone - and have and need the support of others to share their umbrella on rainy days.  There are also times when we need the solace and comfort of our own company on our journey - there is also joy in solitude.


There are times when I need to be alone with my thoughts and I have just remembered some of the lyrics from a song I can remember my Grandfather singing to me as a little girl:


""When you come to the end of a perfect day,

And you sit alone with your thought,
While the chimes ring out with a carol gay, For the joy that the day has brought"  

Wow - where did that come from - from some deep dark recess of my mind. !!

Take time with those you love but also take time with yourself - enjoy your own company - learn to like yourself.    What do you see when you look in the mirror - I hope you see a kind and compassionate soul who is willing to reach out to others ~ one whose heart is filled with hope. 


It is already well into the weekend for me and I have been shopping for groceries this morning and even enjoyed the bustle and crowd - I gave away smiles and surprisingly received some in return.  


I like my life - I like me  - I am so very blessed.  I have a family grown and making their own way in the world and doing very well.  I have friends and I am loved, encouraged and supported in so many ways.


I am finally getting to watch the Lord of the Rings series on DVD - somehow in the mess that was my illness I never got to see them and I have watched one of three and of course Enya's "May It Be An Evening Star" completed the magic for me and, although it was late I caught hold of a phrase at the end of the first film "The Fellowship of the Ring", which challenged me and captivated me.


"All you can do is decide what to do with the time you've been given."  


How profound is that ? and it is so perfectly true of any of our lives - we don't know the time we've been given and must decide what to do with it.  I know for me I feel I have been given a second chance at life and a friend calls it "re-birth"  whatever you call it, whoever you are and for whatever reason,the decision is yours as to how you "spend" your time.


There is much sadness in the world but amid the sadness are ordinary people making the best of what they have and going forward - never turning back, nor even looking back.


I wish you a beautiful weekend with your thoughts, your solitude, your busy family times, and the problems that beset you - just keep looking forward and find the joy in your journey.


Thanks for visiting the Musings of My Heart a contemplative heart this morning, but one finding joy in the journey and moving forward.


Love and hugs,
Linda.