A Year of Mornings Monday 31st January 2012

This is me, catching my germs in my hankie - full of a cold, feeling very sorry for myself.

A Year of Mornings Monday 30th January 2012

"Watching the painter painting
And all the time, the light is changing
And he keeps painting
That bit there, it was an accident
But he's so pleased
It's the best mistake, he could make
And it's my favourite piece
It's just great"..........An Architect's Dream by Kate Bush

A Year of Mornings Sunday 29th January 2012

I remember a few weeks ago a post I had written about creating space in my Reiki Room for maybe yoga or mediation or even both.  So I guess I surprised myself this morning whilst the rest of the house was sleeping, I managed a morning meditation and 20 minutes of Yoga.....that all seemed such a long time ago now as I write this post at 9pm.  This is spooky, because after the meditation and yoga, I read my emails. Which included an email from Hannah Marcotti on the Making Space Cleanse, today she was focussing on relaxing, that could include anthing from enjoying a cup of tea, reading, watching a movie, but we have been challenged to do 5 relaxing things - so my "relaxing" start to the day was meditation.  You would have thought that was relaxing...right?.....well, that wasn't the case for me, infact I found quite alot of resistance to the "letting go" concept I found myself with during a guided meditation I was following as part of Andrea Schroeder's Creative Dream Incubator. Resistance to letting go is not a new concept to me but during meditation - I mean, what was going on there?.....little me resisting to the wonders of the Universe - hmmm.....crazy I know. But our fears have a tendency to creep up on us sometimes when we are least expecting them.  But anyway, I digress.  I took a picture of my t-light sat on my yoga mat and I was reminded of this quote:

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us most. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and famous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in all of us. And when we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
Marianne Willamson

Me with Marianne Williamson (centre) and my friend Andrea, I had blond highlights in my hair at that time -what was I thinking?

A Year of Mornings Friday 27th January 2012

Orchid

I am really enjoying Hannah Marcotti's   Making Space Cleanse  which I am currently participating in. We have been looking at many things this week, including identifying your Abundance and Love Corner using the principles of  Feng Shui.
According to Feng Shui prosperity rules, the first step toward the abundance is to find the key Wealth spots. They are the  back left rooms and back left corners of your home from entering your front door. 
Purple is the best colour to stimulate and increase your abundance. Hang purple curtains on your windows, put a big chunk of amethyst or tall purple candles on your table.

I already had a citrine crystal in my abundance corner but I have since added a purple t-light holder and and a purple orchid. 

Did you know you also have a love corner?   This can be identified by standing in the front entry, facing into the home. What room or rooms are in the back of the house on the right-hand side? The corners of these rooms are your Love corners.  I was  pretty shocked to see one of my love corners on the gound floor of the home was located in the kitchen, where we place the pots, pan scubbers etc - it was a grim sight to behold this as my Love corner.  Still, I quickly remedied the situation by hanging a red love heart in the window, placed some red heart shaped t-light holders on the worktop along with a rose quartz crystal - I am now working my way through the rest of the floors identifying and "loving up" my love corners (and my abundance/prosperity corners too).

A Year of Mornings Thursday 26th January 2012

There was a brief glimmer of sunlight this morning when I was stalking around the house wondering what on earth I could take a picture of.  It's not the most exciting of pictures, but it was the best I could conjure up before I had to leave the house this morning. Its a chair in my hallway, the sun just managed to catch it, so it could cast an interesting shadow on the wall behind.
Talking of a chair, I did the chair pose in Yoga this evening, it's not one of my favourites but I managed to get on better with it tonight, so that's promising!

A Year of Mornings Wednesday 25th January 2012

This was the only picture I took this morning, it's a photo of the two polaroids I took with my Polaroid SX-70 camera, they have not developed as expected.  I don't know if there is a fault with the camera or whether its a swirly girl error. The cassette only holds  8 polaroids and at £18.00+ to purchase the film, well, trying to trouble shoot this feels costly!

Any polaroid people out there who can help?

A Year of Mornings Tuesday 24th January 2012

Ok.........so here's the thing.......the dilemma.....is it ok to appreciate beauty from something that is toxic? I can appeciate beauty of the colours, the way they flow and merge into each other - it's fluid, graceful, but its either petrol or oil filtering out into the water.

Beauty in the unexpected - oil floating in a car park puddle

A Year of Mornings Monday 23rd January 2012

Just got in from work and noticed the sunlight resting on the sofa, and why not? It's a big, comfortable sofa with lots of room for the family to enjoy.  A real treat is to sit on the sofa in the afternoon and knit, or enjoy a little bit of cross-stitch.  I always feel guilty for indulging myself in these pleasures as there is always something more important to be doing, usually in my case coursework!   Hmmm...there's a thought, I may sit down and do my coursework on the sofa this afternoon.

Notes from the Universe

I'm listening to a cd I've borrowed from a friend, it's called Notes from the Universe and read by the author Mike Dooley.   Packed full of inspirational words, I was particularly struck by this:


"You want what you want, because you know its possible.  If it wasn't, you wouldn't.  This is powerful, embrace it. For whatever else you believe or don’t believe,  this belief alone can take you the distance, please, want what you want, dreams don’t come that can't be won."

Another quote went along the lines of " the absolute fastest way to manifest change is to claim you already have it, to withdraw your attention away from the yearning, to think, speak and act as if ".


What do you want? and can you act as if? and if you can, how do you do it?

I've discovered textures which are currently free to use in picnik

A Year of Mornings Sunday 22nd January 2012

I had plans for this morning, which included a session on the treadmill followed by a bit of weight training. Unfortunately they have been scuppered by a very painful lower back with what feels like a trapped sciatic nerve. So, feeling a bit sorry for myself today, I'm waiting for the heat patch and the painkillers to kick in, hopefully the pain will ease off  and I may get round to some gentle stretching later.
The excitement of starting Hannah Marcotti's New Year Cleanse today has been slightly dampened by this unexpected setback. Anway, that's enough of my complaining.....here is my contribution for my year of mornings:

A Year of Mornings Friday 20th January 2012

Playing catch up from yesterday! This is my daughter Jenna, getting ready for College, applying her mascara, I like this, it gives me a secret peek into her early morning world.

A Year of Mornings 19th January 2012

 

I snapped this picture from a bedroom window this morning.  The pigeon had flown into the garden and was peeking around to check if I had put food out on the bird platter!

A Year of Mornings Wednesday 18th January 2012

 

Buddha & The Books

As I write this post, I am listening to Graceful Passages, I hear the words " you are part of a love story, you are desired, and longed for.  There are thousands of witnesses before you who proclaim you are held in the arms of love, and I would like to leave you with this prayer:

Oh My God You are here
Oh My God I am here
Oh My God We are here

and always, always, always you love us, always, always, you love us.  May the angels of God watch over you, may Mary and all the saints pray for you, and all those whose lives you touch, this moment and forever more. Amen."

A year of mornings Tuesday 17th January 2012

Hot steaming cup of tea & crumpets - a welcome breakfast on a chilly morning.

I'm enjoying challenging myself to take a picture each morning and I am learning more about composition.  I can already  see where I could have improved this shot, but this isn't what a year of mornings is about, it's about capturing part of your morning before all the hustle & bustle of the day.

A year of sunsets?

Sunset Lytham St Annes

I made it to the promenade just in time to take a picture of the sun before it disappeared beyond the horizon.  I overheard a little girl out with her Dad saying "the sun has worn out its battery" - priceless!

A Year of Mornings Monday 16th January 2012

Stopped at Fairhaven on my way to work and took a picture of the morning sun.  My friend Ali who is also participating in a year of mornings with me also took a picture of the morning sun casting shadows over a school playground!  Ali is a self taught, award winning  photographer, if you would like to see examples of her work, you can check her out over here - alisongreenwoodphotography.com

Reorganising, creating space, return of peace

In the latter part of this afternoon, I was paid a visit by the decluttering bug, he never announced he was coming to visit today, he just appeared.  When you are paid a visit by the decluttering bug it is a bit like putting on the red shoes, if you have seen the video "The Red Shoes" by Kate Bush you will know what I'm trying to say here.  Anyway, the decluttering bug is a hard task master, and before I knew it, I was turfing out yet more stuff, creating spaces in storage cupboards which hadn't seen space for a long time. It didn't stop there, the decluttering bug pointed me in the direction of my study and said "get that sorted out Mrs".  My study used to be my treatment room a few years ago (I still call it the Reiki Room), it was a peaceful, tranquil space, where family and friends came for Reiki, Indian Head Massage or Reflexology.  But, since I started my counselling course nearly 3 years ago, I slowly began to leave the healing path, I kind of had my own stuff to look at, I needed to heal some of my emotional clutter.  It often left me in a strange and unfamiliar place at times, leaving me with questions, such as "who is the person I've become? Self healing is a bit like being an onion I suppose, there are always more layers to unpeel. I'm a work in progress, always will be.

But, I have been feeling the pull back to Reiki, back to healing - it feels like a sort of home coming, I feel like I am travelling a path back to myself. I feel like I have come full circle, for the time being at least.
Although I don't have space for my massage table at the moment, I feel the study is now half a study and half a tranquil space which could be used for meditation/yoga, I'm not really sure yet, but I know I'm making room for something.
I  now have enough room for my Lafuma Chair, which means I can give reflexology treatments.  The room looks and feels so much better, I'm looking forward to reconnecting with healing energy and I am reminded of my word for this year -magical connections. 

My Reiki Room/Study - infused with space, light, love, mojo!

I Can Choose Peace

A year of mornings 15th January 2012

Through the kitchen blinds this morning I spied a Robin having breakfast on the bird tray. I  quickly grabbed the camera and did my best to take a picture through the kitchen window, it's not brilliant but I was so happy to get a picture of the little fella or lady!

Did you know that Robins have a sweet tooth? They often take cake, especially fruit cake, coconut cake and uncooked pastry. (so if you have any unwanted Christmas Cake, you know what to do with it!). Mealworms are a firm favourite, this is what the Robin in my garden was feasting on this morning.  In the garden centres, mealworms are really expensive, I bought a bag yesterday from Home Bargains for £1.29 - Bargain!!

A year of mornings

Has anyone heard about a year of mornings?...I have come across it several times so far this year and it keeps grabbing my attention,  I read this about it:
  
"The morning hours before the hustle and bustle of the day commences is the perfect time to pause and enjoy a sense of renewal and vitality. On the morning of December 7, 2006, Maria Alexandra Vettese and Stephanie Congdon Barnes each took a digital photo of everyday objects randomly arranged on their kitchen tables and, unbeknownst to one another, uploaded them to the website Flickr.
"A Year of Mornings" collects 236 images—always taken before noon without discussion between the two women – from this uniquely 21st-century artistic collaboration. The intimacy of these photographs—discarded clothing, a view of a snowy day from the window, a table cloth—combined with their striking similarities in color and composition defies the reality of their long-distance collaboration. While clearly kindred spirits, the two women have met in person only once. Their friendship is maintained solely online, sustained by a shared love for moments of serenity, solitude, and peacefulness. The annotated photographs in "A Year of Mornings" radiate an aura of sweetness and light—the promise of a new day."

I think I may give this a go, although I don't have anyone to exchange with.

The picture below was taken with my panasonic DMC-LX5.  I had put it down on the kitchen table and it was still on for some reason, I noticed the lens was pointing to the front of the kitchen so I just "hit the button" so to speak.  I quite like the result because I really feel the camera took this picture, it was just sat there ready to go, there was no intervention from me at all.

Saturday Morning - daily life in my kitchen.

Sunny Moments

I enjoyed some sunny moments out on my dog walk today:

St Annes Beach

My, what long legs you have swirly girl!

Dune grass & sky

 

 

 

 

     

When on a dog walk

When on a dog walk, camera to be carried at all times, because you never know what delights Mother Nature has to offer.

Sunset on the Fylde Coast 8th Jan 2012

Friday = play day

As you know, I have been a busy bee this week de-cluttering, rearranging furniture and trying to get a more simplistic look going on in the home and in my cupboards. As I was busy decluttering some of my cd's yesterday, I picked up a cd by the Manic Street Preachers called "Everything Must Go" - a message from the Universe perhaps? - anyway, that particular cd is most definitely staying! I did commit to getting another 3 bags filled for the Charity Shops, infact I filled 4! 

I picked up a great idea from a lady who was participating in Hannah Marcotti's clear out your closet day - she said " most years I get rid of everything that I don't LOVE and feel beautiful and comfortable in. Then I turn all the hangers backwards to start the year, and as I wear things I turn them around so that by the end of the next year I can see clearly what I have not worn at all and start by tossing those into the donation pile."
LOVE this idea! so,needless to say, I have turned all my hangers backwards. It will be interesting to see exactly what I do and don't wear by the end of this year!

Today, I decided to start taking some pictures as I am currently in week 1 of Susannah Conway's Photo Meditations.  So far this week we have looked at composition - lines - vertical and diagonal.  Rule of thirds, rule of odds and white space/negative space.  Rules of course are there to be broken too!
Usually I enjoy taking pictures of pets, people or my fave subject - nature.  Today, I chose to get out of my comfort zone and see what I could conjure up indoors.  To begin with I found it difficult.  But, as with most things, once you to start too really "see", then photo opportunities pop up everywhere. 

Playing with diagonal's - the feline beauty is my cat Dibble.

This picture just spoke to me, probably because it is a photo of my Hunter Wellingtons which are approx 25 years old and have taken me on lots of lovely dog walks.  They have holes appearing around the ankles but I can't bear to part with them!

Wash Day Soul - this doesn't follow any compostion rules but I loved the colours and shadow work going on in the shirts as they lay draped over the Sheila Maid.

My owls perched on the radiator shelf enjoying the morning sunlight - I hope I have managed to incorporate the rule of odds, diagonal and negative space in this.

Making Space

I am really looking forward to Hannah Marcotti's The Making Space Cleanse. You can read all about it at  Hannahs Harvest.  And, if you get inspired by it, Hannah is offering a free spot on the cleanse, for more details visit here Hannahs Harvest . The cleanse is about making space in our homes, hearts and minds so that we may honour our spirits and bodies. I am so ready for that!  Infact, I can't wait to get started, so I've had my very own pre making space cleanse party!

I have created space in a cupboard ready to be filled with healthy ingredients:

Making space for healthy ingredients

I've also been clutter busting (a theme carried forward from last year).  After clearing out loads of clothes from my closet last year, I have now got ruthless with the clothes left and had another clear out. I got inspired by Hannah's comments on her facebook page when she says she only wears about 5 things.  I have created so much more space as a result, it feels really good.  But, the clutter busting didn't stop there - oh no!  I have been clutter busting yet more books (this I find really hard but I really don't like the feeling the power of "attachment" has over me. So today I have had another purge.

6 bags of clothes and a box of glassware

These bags have now been "adios'd" down to various local Charity Shops and I know I have more stuff  I am prepared to let go of.  So, I commit to finding at least 3 more bags of stuff to go this week. I am working my way up to clearing out the "big one" - the storage cupboard under the eaves in our loft conversion - more to come on that, as it involves a trip to Ikea for storage racks!

This year (so far) hasn't all been about clutter busting and space clearing.  I've also been enjoying Susannah Conway's Photo Meditations e-course which started this week. It's lovely stuff.  A 5 week course sharing everything about creating images that carry an imprint of your heart and soul.

Here's my favourite picture I've taken so far this year:

You can just about see the moon!

The Making Space Cleanse starts on January 22nd,  which is the perfect time for harnessing our desires and making space as New Moon weeks are magical for visualizing what we truly want!

Moment by moment

Have a  happy new moment, since nothing else is possible to eyes that really see.....Byron Katie.

This New Years Day, I have had many magical moments:

 

Bringing in the New Year with sparklers

Beautiful fireworks - I can see a humming bird!

Sign in the pub - "Todays Soup is Very Nice"

Rydal Water

Jasper

Mandle Candle

I didn't have a word for 2011. This year my word is magical connections, because what I learned from 2011 was this: