Tag Archives: inspirational

Why keeping a diary is important…

Why keeping a diary is important…

My beautiful journal ♥

Do you keep a diary?  I’ve kept a diary for as long as I can remember.  The colourful and personalised journal, coloured pens, stickers, glued in pictures and so on.  This was and still is an absolute must when I travel.  Travel is so important to me and to travel without a journal would be unthinkable.  I like to capture the images of magnificent buildings such as the Taj Mahal or the spitting camel or that train ticket of the train trip to hell from Delhi to Srinagar!  I’m a visual person so any images or pictures or crazy drawings will give me an instant reminder of what happened that day without having to read the entire entry.

An example of one of my travel diaries...

I suppose you could say that the blog is the modern day/computer version of a diary as so many people run a personal blog.  But really when you boil it down even a personal blog is not quite the same as a diary.  A diary is where your inner most self, secrets, fears, desires, and passion are poured.  Your diary is your companion, sometimes your counsellor and most times an account of your journey for that year no matter how mundane you thought it may have been.

Personalised cover of my London diary...

Reading back through your journal reminds you, and quite often you are surprised by all the wonderful moments you had actually forgotten about.

In recent years I haven’t been as diligent in keeping the diary since blogging.  I would start a diary in the New Year only to find by March it’s been forgotten, didn’t have time or can wait until tomorrow, with the exception of travelling, and then it’s an absolute must, and I magickally always find the time :)

When I found this week-long course on journaling by Nicole Cody at her wonderful blog Cauldrons and Cupcakes, I knew I had to reconnect with that love of longhand, the pictures, the coloured pencils, highlighters, stickers, glitter, whatever takes your fancy because it’s not only the writing, the story ideas or the getting down of what is in your soul, it’s also or can be, the getting in touch with the inner child and creating again.  While I had that creative spirit knocked out of me by my Year 10 English teacher I managed to retain it within the pages of my diaries that I kept year after year after year – until we all became computer obsessed – me included.

And remember to read Nicole’s post on living authentically as it will assist you on getting back to the roots of journalling and why it is sooo’ important!

I trust you will get as much out of this course as I did.  Happy journaling :)

 

 

Midnight rambler wanting to borrow her niece’s giant coloured pencils…

Connect with me:
subscribe | twitter | facebook | Linkedin

Reflective and refracted…

Reflective and refracted…

I’ve been a bit quiet lately on all forms of social media. I haven’t dropped off the edge of the world but have slipped into a reflective and slightly refracted reality. It’s temporary, these little life challenges or setbacks always are.

Without going into all the details this song sums up how I feel about the past few weeks. And of course this song will mean different things to different people or maybe nothing at all. I’m featuring this in the side panel also as this song is inspiring me to make peace with 2011 so I can move into 2012 beating down the door of obstacles and walking through with courage, determination, love and appreciation of all things.

 

What does this song mean to you? Love to hear your thoughts.

Midnight rambler enjoying the last week of 2011 ♥

Connect with me:
subscribe | twitter | facebook | Linkedin

remembering loved ones, and embracing the summer solstice with renewed energy ♥

remembering loved ones, and embracing the summer solstice with renewed energy ♥

My mum, Fay and New Year's celebrations...

It’s that time of year again – wow!  It only seemed like yesterday I wrote this blog post.  It’s the summer solstice, the longest day of the year and also the anniversary of my beautiful mother’s passing (13 years).

I’m never fond of this time of year – all the Christmas hoo-ha – the crowds, the crazies, and the losses.  My maternal grandma passed Christmas day, 18 years ago – I was in Mexico at the time and didn’t find out until two months later – I never really grieved properly as it never felt real except for the fact that she was no longer here. I’m still coming to terms with that.  My maternal grandad

Grandad

passed two weeks after Christmas, 29 years ago.  I was close to both my grandparents, particularly my grandad (Pop) his loss felt unbearable at the time,  and losing my mum was the most traumatic of all, and the worst Christmas ever!

Three generations of strong women ♥

But the summer solstice is a time of rebirth, healing and light – so in a way that’s kind of a nice time to pass.  All depends on how you look at it on any given day.  The grieving never really stops, the expression: time heals and all of that, I’m not so sure, the missing and the loss never, ever goes away, it just gets easier to talk about.  But upon reflection there are gems of memories that can never be taken, will always be remembered, and treasured.  And I thank my mum, my grandma and pop for having such a strong presence in my life.  As time goes by I try to not dread this time of year so much, but sometimes, and just sometimes I do back away from the tinsel and sparkle and craziness of this commercial thing called ‘Christmas’ and head to the beach, walk barefoot upon the sand, meditate by the ocean, ponder a flower and cloud watch.

I like to nurture my spirit at this time of year, eat well, sleep well, and retreat a little and reflect on the year that’s been.  Because that’s my time to honour the spirits of my family and remember them with a quiet, loving embrace.  I like to nurture and honour their spirit within me and give thanks to all the things they taught me, good and bad, because without them I would not be the person I am today.

And it’s summer, my favourite time of the year, a blessed time to draw on the sun’s energy and breathe renewed life into a ‘new year’.

Midnight rambler remembering loved ones and nurturing the spirit within…

This one is for you, Mum :)


Connect with me:
subscribe | twitter | facebook | Linkedin