Tuesday 31 July 2012

Sometimes.....


Monday 30 July 2012

Start the week with a quote...

image from The Graphics Fairy


The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do

Sunday 29 July 2012

You are beautiful.....


Prayer for World Peace

Dove of Peace ~ Giclee print



We pray to the great Spiritual Power in which we live and move and have our being.
We pray that we may at all times keep our minds open to new ideas and shun dogma;
that we may grow in our understanding of the nature of all living beings and our connectedness with the natural world;
that we may become ever more filled with generosity of spirit and true compassion and love for all life;
that we may strive to heal the hurts that we have inflicted on nature and control our greed for material things, knowing that our actions are harming our natural world and the future of our children;
that we may value each and every human being for who he is, for who she is, reaching to the spirit that is within, knowing the power of each individual to change the world.

We pray for social justice, for the alleviation of the crippling poverty that condemns millions of people around the world to lives of misery - hungry, sick, and utterly without hope.
We pray for the children who are starving, who are condemned to homelessness, slave labour, prostitution, and especially for those forced to fight, to kill and torture even members of their own family.
We pray for the victims of violence and war, for those wounded in body and for those wounded in mind.
We pray for the multitudes of refugees, forced from their homes to alien places through war or through the utter destruction of their environment.

We pray for suffering animals everywhere, for an end to the pain caused by scientific experimentation, intensive farming, fur farming, shooting, trapping, training for entertainment, abusive pet owners, and all other forms of exploitation such as overloading and overworking pack animals, bull fighting, badger baiting, dog and cock fighting and so many more.

We pray for an end to cruelty, whether to humans or other animals, for an end to bullying, and torture in all its forms.
We pray that we may learn the peace that comes with forgiving and the strength we gain in loving;
that we may learn to take nothing for granted in this life;
that we may learn to see and understand with our hearts;
that we may learn to rejoice in our being.

We pray for these things with humility;
We pray because of the hope that is within us, and because of a faith in the ultimate triumph of the human spirit;
We pray because of our love for Creation, and because of our trust in God.
We pray, above all, for peace throughout the world.

prayer for world peace ~ dr jane goodall

Thursday 26 July 2012

The Thursday Poem

Young Woman Reading by a Window - Delphin Enjolras



Love's Immaturity

Not weaned yet, without comprehension loving,
We feed at breasts of love; like a still cat
That wears and loves the fire in peace, till moving
She slips off fire and love, to cross the mat

As new as birth; so by default denying
House-roof and human friends that come and go,
The landscape of life's dream.  Antelopes flying
Over his wild earth serve the lion so.

We are blind children who answer with love
A warmth and sweetness.  Those even we love most
We sleep within their lives like cats, and rove
Out in the night, and late return and coast

Their souls like furniture.  Oh, life, should give
Light till we understand they live, they live.

E.J. Scovell
(9th April 1907 - 19th October 1999)

from the book: Poem for the Day One

Tuesday 24 July 2012

Monday 23 July 2012

Start the week with a quote...

image from The Graphics Fairy



You must begin to think of yourself as becoming the person you want to be

Sunday 22 July 2012

Prayer for World Peace

Dove of Peace ~ Giclee print



We pray to the great Spiritual Power in which we live and move and have our being.
We pray that we may at all times keep our minds open to new ideas and shun dogma;
that we may grow in our understanding of the nature of all living beings and our connectedness with the natural world;
that we may become ever more filled with generosity of spirit and true compassion and love for all life;
that we may strive to heal the hurts that we have inflicted on nature and control our greed for material things, knowing that our actions are harming our natural world and the future of our children;
that we may value each and every human being for who he is, for who she is, reaching to the spirit that is within, knowing the power of each individual to change the world.

We pray for social justice, for the alleviation of the crippling poverty that condemns millions of people around the world to lives of misery - hungry, sick, and utterly without hope.
We pray for the children who are starving, who are condemned to homelessness, slave labour, prostitution, and especially for those forced to fight, to kill and torture even members of their own family.
We pray for the victims of violence and war, for those wounded in body and for those wounded in mind.
We pray for the multitudes of refugees, forced from their homes to alien places through war or through the utter destruction of their environment.

We pray for suffering animals everywhere, for an end to the pain caused by scientific experimentation, intensive farming, fur farming, shooting, trapping, training for entertainment, abusive pet owners, and all other forms of exploitation such as overloading and overworking pack animals, bull fighting, badger baiting, dog and cock fighting and so many more.

We pray for an end to cruelty, whether to humans or other animals, for an end to bullying, and torture in all its forms.
We pray that we may learn the peace that comes with forgiving and the strength we gain in loving;
that we may learn to take nothing for granted in this life;
that we may learn to see and understand with our hearts;
that we may learn to rejoice in our being.

We pray for these things with humility;
We pray because of the hope that is within us, and because of a faith in the ultimate triumph of the human spirit;
We pray because of our love for Creation, and because of our trust in God.
We pray, above all, for peace throughout the world.

prayer for world peace ~ dr jane goodall

Thursday 19 July 2012

The Hormone Guide...

The Thursday Poem

Young Woman Reading by a Window - Delphin Enjolras


From: The Jungle Books
Mowgli's Brothers (chapter heading)

Now Chil the Kite brings home the night
That Mang the Bat sets free -
The herds are shut in byre and hut,
For loosed till dawn are we.
This is the hour of pride and power,
Talon and tush and claw.
Oh, hear the call! - Good hunting all
That keep the Jungle Law!

Rudyard Kipling
(30th December 1865 - 18th January 1936)

from the book: Poem for the Day One

Wednesday 18 July 2012

Wednesday Weigh-in



Starting weight: 22st 7.5lbs (315.5 pounds)

This week: 22st 7lbs (315 pounds)
= - 1/2lb

Total loss: 1/2lbs
 
Oh my word, sweetie~pies, the last time I wrote a weigh-in post was waaaay back in May!  I guess I should be grateful that I haven't gained lots of pounds since then, eh ;-)
 
My head just hasn't been in the right place for dieting/healthy eating/call-it-what-you-will but for once I have been cutting myself a bit of slack and just going with the flow.  I think that is reflected in the status quo being maintained ~ yes??  Still, that little voice in the back of my mind has been reminding me that it really isn't the best thing to simply stay at this weight for the rest of my life.  I rather think that I am finally ready to listen to said voice and make steps to alter my lifestyle.
 
For that is what reducing my excess weight is going to have to entail, my loves.  I am going to have to make a commitment to changing the way I eat, and also how I think about food.  For more years than I care to remember I have used food less as a simple source of fuel and more as a means of comfort when times have been difficult.  As we all know, though, using food to "stuff down" emotions is not a long-term solution; there comes a point where we have to steal ourselves to face whatever those problems are ~ otherwise we simply stagnate and never move on in our lives.
 
I have had enough of stagnating, my loves.  I want to live my life rather than simply coast through it ~ and that means "dealing" with all those issues that I have allowed to hold me back.  And the bottom line truly is that it really is only myself who is doing the holding-back.  And it is equally true that the only person who let go of the past is me  ~ no one else can do it for me!
 
As I have already mentioned, I have been going through a somewhat emotional journey with the decluttering exercise currently taking place in my home.  I won't pretend that suddenly it has become simple to let go of things, but it has gradually been dawning on me that the task is slowly becoming more manageable ~ and a little less emotional.
 
And at the same time, I have become aware that I actually do want to change the way I live ~ not in some sort of abstract I'll-do-it-someday way, but in a firm realisation that this is not how I want to spend the rest of my life.  And since I am already 51 years old, I'd better get on with it NOW!
 
So this week's supermarket shopping has been done with this lifestyle change placed firmly uppermost in my mind, following the principles set out in The Harcombe Diet.  Said shopping is due for delivery today, my loves ~ my new life starts tomorrow :-)
 
 

Tuesday 17 July 2012

Everything...

Monday 16 July 2012

Start the week with a quote...

image from The Graphics Fairy



The best thing about the future is that it only comes one day at a time

Sunday 15 July 2012

Prayer for World Peace

Dove of Peace ~ Giclee print



We pray to the great Spiritual Power in which we live and move and have our being.
We pray that we may at all times keep our minds open to new ideas and shun dogma;
that we may grow in our understanding of the nature of all living beings and our connectedness with the natural world;
that we may become ever more filled with generosity of spirit and true compassion and love for all life;
that we may strive to heal the hurts that we have inflicted on nature and control our greed for material things, knowing that our actions are harming our natural world and the future of our children;
that we may value each and every human being for who he is, for who she is, reaching to the spirit that is within, knowing the power of each individual to change the world.

We pray for social justice, for the alleviation of the crippling poverty that condemns millions of people around the world to lives of misery - hungry, sick, and utterly without hope.
We pray for the children who are starving, who are condemned to homelessness, slave labour, prostitution, and especially for those forced to fight, to kill and torture even members of their own family.
We pray for the victims of violence and war, for those wounded in body and for those wounded in mind.
We pray for the multitudes of refugees, forced from their homes to alien places through war or through the utter destruction of their environment.

We pray for suffering animals everywhere, for an end to the pain caused by scientific experimentation, intensive farming, fur farming, shooting, trapping, training for entertainment, abusive pet owners, and all other forms of exploitation such as overloading and overworking pack animals, bull fighting, badger baiting, dog and cock fighting and so many more.

We pray for an end to cruelty, whether to humans or other animals, for an end to bullying, and torture in all its forms.
We pray that we may learn the peace that comes with forgiving and the strength we gain in loving;
that we may learn to take nothing for granted in this life;
that we may learn to see and understand with our hearts;
that we may learn to rejoice in our being.

We pray for these things with humility;
We pray because of the hope that is within us, and because of a faith in the ultimate triumph of the human spirit;
We pray because of our love for Creation, and because of our trust in God.
We pray, above all, for peace throughout the world.

prayer for world peace ~ dr jane goodall

Friday 13 July 2012

AWOL

image from Writing Valley



I've tried to think of some reasonable excuses why my blogging has been so remiss lately, my loves, but the simple truth is that my blogging get-up-and-go has got-up-and-gone!  I've been in a bit of a weird place lately ~ I am sure those of you who have hoarding tendencies will understand when I say how difficult I am finding all this downsizing and decluttering *sigh*  I never expected it to be such an emotional experience ~ after all, it's just getting shot of a load of "stuff", right??

It isn't proving to be quite as simple and straightforward as that though.  I feel like I am peeling off a protective layer, inch-by-painful-inch, and it is leaving me feeling pretty exposed and even somewhat vulnerable.  A very dear friend has told me many times that all my "stuff" is like a baby's comfort blanket and I know she is right.  I have been building a thicker and thicker protective wall around myself but the truth is that it has not been able to "protect" me from what is going on inside of myself.  All it has done is temporarily take my mind away from dealing with my issues.  Of course, those issues are still there; I need to face them head-on and finally put them in the past, where they belong.

So please bear with my somewhat sporadic posting, sweetie-pies ~ normal ramblings will resume asap! 

Thursday 12 July 2012

The Thursday Poem

Young Woman Reading by a Window - Delphin Enjolras

From Ode: Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood

Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting:
The Soul that rises with us, our life's Star,
Hath elsewhere its setting,
And cometh from afar:
Not in entire forgetfulness,
And not in utter nakedness,
But trailing clouds of glory do we come
From God, who is our home:
Heaven lies about us in our infancy!
Shades of the prison-house begin to close
Upon the growing Boy,
But He beholds the light, and whence it flows,
He sees it in his joy;
The Youth, who daily farther from the east
Must travel, still is Nature's Priest,
And by the visions splendid
Is on his way attended;
At length the Man perceives it die away,
And fade into the light of common day.

William Wordsworth
(7th April 1770 - 23rd April 1850)

from the book: Poem for the Day One

Monday 9 July 2012

Start the week with a quote...

image from The Graphics Fairy



Don't expect anything original from an echo

Sunday 8 July 2012

Prayer for World Peace

Dove of Peace ~ Giclee print


We pray to the great Spiritual Power in which we live and move and have our being.
We pray that we may at all times keep our minds open to new ideas and shun dogma;
that we may grow in our understanding of the nature of all living beings and our connectedness with the natural world;
that we may become ever more filled with generosity of spirit and true compassion and love for all life;
that we may strive to heal the hurts that we have inflicted on nature and control our greed for material things, knowing that our actions are harming our natural world and the future of our children;
that we may value each and every human being for who he is, for who she is, reaching to the spirit that is within, knowing the power of each individual to change the world.

We pray for social justice, for the alleviation of the crippling poverty that condemns millions of people around the world to lives of misery - hungry, sick, and utterly without hope.
We pray for the children who are starving, who are condemned to homelessness, slave labour, prostitution, and especially for those forced to fight, to kill and torture even members of their own family.
We pray for the victims of violence and war, for those wounded in body and for those wounded in mind.
We pray for the multitudes of refugees, forced from their homes to alien places through war or through the utter destruction of their environment.

We pray for suffering animals everywhere, for an end to the pain caused by scientific experimentation, intensive farming, fur farming, shooting, trapping, training for entertainment, abusive pet owners, and all other forms of exploitation such as overloading and overworking pack animals, bull fighting, badger baiting, dog and cock fighting and so many more.

We pray for an end to cruelty, whether to humans or other animals, for an end to bullying, and torture in all its forms.
We pray that we may learn the peace that comes with forgiving and the strength we gain in loving;
that we may learn to take nothing for granted in this life;
that we may learn to see and understand with our hearts;
that we may learn to rejoice in our being.

We pray for these things with humility;
We pray because of the hope that is within us, and because of a faith in the ultimate triumph of the human spirit;
We pray because of our love for Creation, and because of our trust in God.
We pray, above all, for peace throughout the world.

prayer for world peace ~ dr jane goodall

Thursday 5 July 2012

The Thursday Poem

Young Woman Reading by a Window - Delphin Enjolras


from The General Prologue to The Canterbury Tales

Whan that Aprill with his shoures soote
The droghte of March hath perced to the roote.
And bathed every veyne in swich licour
Of which vertu engendred is the flour;
When Zephirus eek with his sweete breeth
Inspired hath in every holt and heeth
The tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne
Hath in the Ram his halve cours yronne,
and smale foweles maken melodye,
That slepen al the nyght with open ye
(So priketh hem nature in hir corages);
Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages,
And palmeres for to seken straunge strondes,
To ferne halwes, kowthe in sondry londes;
And specially from every shires ende
Of Engelond to Caunterbury they wende,
The hooly blisful martir for to seke,
That hem hath holpen whan that they were seeke.

Geoffrey Chaucer
(ca. 1343 - 25th October 1400)

from the book: Poem for the Day One

Monday 2 July 2012

Start the week with a quote...

image from The Graphics Fairy



Leisure tends to corrupt,
and absolute leisure corrupts absolutely

Sunday 1 July 2012

Prayer for World Peace

Dove of Peace ~ Giclee print


We pray to the great Spiritual Power in which we live and move and have our being.
We pray that we may at all times keep our minds open to new ideas and shun dogma;
that we may grow in our understanding of the nature of all living beings and our connectedness with the natural world;
that we may become ever more filled with generosity of spirit and true compassion and love for all life;
that we may strive to heal the hurts that we have inflicted on nature and control our greed for material things, knowing that our actions are harming our natural world and the future of our children;
that we may value each and every human being for who he is, for who she is, reaching to the spirit that is within, knowing the power of each individual to change the world.

We pray for social justice, for the alleviation of the crippling poverty that condemns millions of people around the world to lives of misery - hungry, sick, and utterly without hope.
We pray for the children who are starving, who are condemned to homelessness, slave labour, prostitution, and especially for those forced to fight, to kill and torture even members of their own family.
We pray for the victims of violence and war, for those wounded in body and for those wounded in mind.
We pray for the multitudes of refugees, forced from their homes to alien places through war or through the utter destruction of their environment.

We pray for suffering animals everywhere, for an end to the pain caused by scientific experimentation, intensive farming, fur farming, shooting, trapping, training for entertainment, abusive pet owners, and all other forms of exploitation such as overloading and overworking pack animals, bull fighting, badger baiting, dog and cock fighting and so many more.

We pray for an end to cruelty, whether to humans or other animals, for an end to bullying, and torture in all its forms.
We pray that we may learn the peace that comes with forgiving and the strength we gain in loving;
that we may learn to take nothing for granted in this life;
that we may learn to see and understand with our hearts;
that we may learn to rejoice in our being.

We pray for these things with humility;
We pray because of the hope that is within us, and because of a faith in the ultimate triumph of the human spirit;
We pray because of our love for Creation, and because of our trust in God.
We pray, above all, for peace throughout the world.

prayer for world peace ~ dr jane goodall