Fairy pools, cat bells, coves and rocks

An enjoyable evening watching top British walks has motivated me to check out some scenic hikes I've long fancied and never undertaken. I now have a long list :-) the North West has a plethora, yay, but I also want to head further north too. Time to use up some of my annual leave?

hymns about loving well

I loved the last hymn on Sunday, sung along to the Londonderry Air, do check out the whole set of words if you get chance, but this is how it starts :)

Let love be real, in giving and receiving,
without the need to manage and to own;
a haven free from posing and pretending,
where every weakness may be safely known…
As God loves us, so let us love each other:
with no demands, just open hands and space to grow.

(Michael Forster’s Let love be real, in giving and receiving, StF 615)

In then trying to track it down on t'internet, I then came across this, which also looks good. There's a heap of great singing out there :)

http://garyhopkins.net/creative/2015/09/thanks-for-friends-who-keep-on-loving/

heat seeking

There's something I love to do yet I very rarely do it (so I'm going to try and do it more!) It's putting my clothes onto a hot radiator so that they are toasty warm when putting them on, mmmmmmmm, lovely :)
Living near the coast, our weather is less extreme than the rest of the country and it's currently warmer here than elsewhere, but I still appreciate heat. When anyone else is in the house I indulge in the heating a lot more than I used to. When it's just me I tend to make do with my heat generating tips. I wonder if my new job will be home based or if I'll have someone else's heating going forwards?

Playing out in Leeds

There's a great quote, I've probably shared it before, how we don't stop playing because we get old, we get old because we stop playing. Today was great because I had no agenda, I just had time for recreation. I had a couple of hours or so to spend in Leeds alone with no set outcome. So I wandered initially, then had a bit of a hang out in the cathedral. Opposite, unexpectedly and joyously, I spotted a Henry Moore institute, so enjoyed a mooch around there, accidentally ending up in the art gallery. There were paints out for kids. Remembering that I wanted a new welcome poster for my door as my last one had faded, I decided to do a spot of painting, only slightly embarrassed that I clearly had no child with me.

The city museum was also great for youngsters so I also had fun there, spelling my name out in Greek letters. The vegan cafe I'd identified in advance was all I wanted it to be and it's chocolate orange rice pudding was one of the highlights of my day, along with the delight that was the snow on Saddleworth Moor, so pretty.

I can highly recommend having unassigned leisure time, hope you get some soon :-)

Joy ahead!

I have finally finished the brilliant "embracing uncertainty" book. I think I was reluctant to reach the end because I have found it so helpful I didn't want it to stop. Of course I can do what I want and so have immediately started it again as there's lots to keep learning and put into practice :-) I have wanted to quote bits from every page, and tonight was reminded of the value in looking out for the upcoming joy instead of things to be afraid of.
If you too need tips for staying in touch with your higher self who knows all will be well, andy enjoy rather than endure, then get the book. Or I can send you a copy :-)

The law of attraction

Our brains are intriguing. Today I have had as a constant ear worm the bass line to a new song we learned last night, only I wasn't even learning the bass line so why is that firmly lodged in my poor head?

Maybe it's because I need those notes in my life.

I started watching a curious documentary tonight on the power of the law of attraction. Some aspects of the programme I already ascribe to. I'm very much of the view that we have great power over our minds and our responses. That we see what we look for. There was a segment on how our day starts can set our mood for the day, if we knock over the alarm clock then stub our toe by the time we discover we're out of toothpaste we are of the mindset that the world is against us. Whereas a serene start can mean we're then able to shrug off an empty tube at tooth cleaning time.

I do believe we can make things happen with our attitude. This feels like a step beyond tho. The premis given is that we attract what our minds picture, so if we visualise success, that's what we will attract. If we imagine the worst, that is what will happen instead. I have my reservations and will see how the rest of the show pans out. I have concerns that the arguments could be used to victim blame, implying that responsibility could be attributed to recipients of crime instead of squarely placed on the perpetrators. And similarly that poverty, illness etc can be dismissed as people not trying hard enough, rather than a hard look at the systems of disadvantage in place.

Nonetheless it's helping me to get more in touch with my positive self, that knows I have a great contribution to make to our world and will keep being able to do that.

Municipal buildings

It's always good to be reminded that we're all different. I was really surprised to realise that lots of people have perhaps never been in their local county hall. I go each week for a choir rehearsal, but even without that, I have long frequented my local town and county halls for a variety of exciting gatherings. I hadn't clocked that it goes along with being a community activist, that you get to hang out in municipal buildings for inter faith events or brilliant sessions on learning about the exclusions traveller families face, for example. Work and various volunteering too takes me into a range of community buildings, even giving blood can mean you get to see some interesting places that maybe some others just don't go to (my next donation session is scheduled to be at a temple).
I'm going to Leeds on Saturday as my partner has a tutorial there. Not being someone who shops, I have had a look at interesting places to explore. It's a bit nippy for a picnic in the park but I have a choice of museums, I shall let you know how I get on :-)

In charge of my relaxation

Like a lot of people, it would seem, I find it difficult to stop being busy and make time to get on with the pleasures I enjoy in life. There are some books tho, that are such page turners it can be the other way around. Today I have set several alarms, aware that I might become so engrossed in my book that I'd forget to leave for church, or check on the boiling beans, or go get my girly. And now I am going to read in the bath, one of my supreme pleasures.

I hope you too can temporarily put aside whatever makes you too busy to do whatever it is you most enjoy. Why would we not make such choices to live this one existence with as much happiness as possible?

perspective

I've noticed that I become reticent about blogging when someone I know dies - my thoughts seem to pale into insignificance.
I've been very glad this week to have spent time with friends - a lovely lunch in Lancaster and then a beanfeast last night. My friends are incredibly important to me, and so even though work is looming large whilst I trying and figure what I'd like to do (every job ad I've looked at so far I've rejected on some grounds or another, I don't think I'm ready just yet and that's fine, there's time yet), I'm holding onto the knowledge that work is just a part of my life and I want to keep a balance of all that's important.
It's all about perspective.

Not so fantastic plastic

Like many, I'm reviewing my plastic use given the news that we can no longer simply ship the problem of recycling it overseas. I think I had got complacent, believing that I am a pioneer, ahead of the game. It's been over 30 years now that I have been vocal about carrier bags. I get my milk from the Milkman because it comes in glass bottles. I have even recently started buying my loo roll online from an ethical company that wrap rolls in paper rather than plastic (check them out, "who gives a crap" and if you want to place an order yourself let me know as I can get us both a discount).

When I looked into my trolley yesterday tho, I realise I still have a long way to go. I'd put in two cartons of soup that were on offer, which then went back in favour of onions so I could make my own. Many of the lunch box items, like snack bars, have outer cardboard packaging but still the bars are individually wrapped. And as they were out of loose mushrooms that I usually put into a paper bag, I ended up with a cellophane wrapped tub. Yoghurt tubs - I momentarily contemplated making my own and then put them in the trolley anyway, cos that's not going to happen.

It's good to notice just how much plastic I use and to keep thinking how to reduce it. I would like to utilise the prison farm shop more, I'll have to think how I can do that. 

It's only just begun

What I have learned (but keep forgetting) about the way I react to loss is that it's not linear. So I can have times like when I last blogged about losing my job, when my take on redundancy is to look for the opportunities, and I can feel excited about the next chapter. But that doesn't mean I have done grieving the loss of the current project and team, and so then I can fall back to feeling sad about the endings and scared about what next. I also think that redundancy can play havoc with confidence.
I was supposed to go out today but can't face people so am trying to channel my fear into some tidying. It's not perfect but it's a start...

Tree collection

I love the way the branch of this tree matches the line of the pike and every time I come up try to photograph it and hope to build up a collection across differing lights and seasons. I'll hopefully keep coming back to this blog and adding to it...

we'll take a cup of kindness

I'm starting my new year as i mean to go on, seeking opportunities to be kind and so enjoyed being an anonymous donor. Later i hope to write a letter or two as part of a secret letters project.
Are you making any new years resolutions? staying as present as possible is always a good one for me. I thoroughly enjoyed my drive to Cumbria, making the most of my time alone (unless you count whiney dog) by singing really loudly. this was been a well used strategy last year, instead of mourning a loss (today saying bye to the kids for a week) instead looking for what it means i am able to do instead.
Another new resolution is to look beyond the immediate issue of waste. last night i hardly slept because of too much sugar in my bloodstream. mainly this sugar wasnt what i actually wanted, but was me finishing drinks and food off that would otherwise have gone in the bin. i need to recognise that my body is not a better place than the bin.
so far, so good. what about you?