Tag: joy

The King of Knowledge

Sometimes I’m not sure how certain books arrive in my ‘to read’ pile. But I accept their intrusion and, following my own rules, they must be read. 

This is one such mystery: a Hare Krishna commentary.  I have vague memories of the Hare Krishna community hanging out in Kentish Town where I grew up, handing out food, chanting and wearing orange tones. I may well have been palmed it at some point then and it’s taken twenty (plus!) years of house moves and adventures to reach the top of my pile (most books take a year!). 

From wherever it came, the universal timing is all in perfection. As my young teen is reminding me clearly right now, those years are not about absorbing the spiritual aspects of life! I wouldn’t have really resonated with the deeper perspective that I can welcome now, in fact I can quite imagine myself being quite dismissive and derisory about it. 

But now I love reading about different faiths and beliefs. There is so much compassion and love as the foundation and I enjoyed learning much about the world of Hare Krishna. The Bhagavad Gita and Upanishads are still working their way to the top of my pile and it was fascinating to be reading a study of this ancient wisdom, wetting my taste buds for the originals. 

As with most of life, whilst I don’t chant the exact song sheet of this text, there is more that resonates than doesn’t. Faith and love being the core of existence, all the tendrils that flow from that are so nourishing and inspiring. 

And now, instead of remembering a slightly bizarre cult on the streets of my London neighbourhood, I can reframe that memory to one of charity, grace, joy and generosity. Such is the power of knowledge and understanding. 

First published on social media on 26th August 2022

The Rockery

My youngest is a do-er. Any task where tools can be utilised, muscles stretched and creative energy unleashed, that’s heaven.

And it welcomes its own journey of negotiation, surrender, guidance and boundaries. Much like most areas of parenting really.

This past week we designed and created a rockery in our garden. Our ideas were not fully aligned. One of the areas of parenting I have struggled with is finding the balance between fully embracing the creative vision of my child, measured against not only my own desires, but actually more the practicality and functionality of these endeavours.

I have learned that leaning fully into their own ideas has so often just led to crushing disappointment as they cannot yet manifest in practical terms. This has its own gifts, and disappointment is not something to shy away from. Counterbalanced by the knowledge that with a little guidance these ideas can create the most glorious of lessons, skills and confidence. The cherry on the top is also respecting my own visions, to model holding my boundaries and not allowing the ego of child to believe themselves too worldly, too early. And then of course there is surrender….

All this in just a few days of moving rocks, planting flowers and scattering stones. All of this everyday as a parent.

When to guide, when to step back and allow, when to stand strong, when to surrender to flow.

These are life lessons for me but the painful edge is that it can feel huge that I am this influencer of principles to real, live humans who are still growing and forming and absorbing it all. The pressure can feel utterly overwhelming until I remember that I’m just human too, that we chose each other from the stars and love is love the world over after all.

So to all you mama’s and papa’s agonising over the most recent battle, the lost moment, the unsaid apology, the what if; I want to offer the words that I comfort myself with.

My work is their work, my lessons are theirs. We are intertwined for this very reason, for this moment in time, for this day of chaos, for this hour of hilarity. All of it is and all of it isn’t. Everything is just as it should be.

Love Hope Faith and Grace.

#parenting #childhood #boundaries #surrender #joy #love #hope #faith #grace #negotiation #guidance #influencer #humans #lessons #asitshouldbe

First Written on Social Media 27 March 2021

The Ones I Thought Were Friends

Many claim they want the jab but also stand for personal & medical freedom. Except they don’t. They don’t stand up, they don’t speak out. They don’t support freedom at all, because they’re not willing to fight for it on principle. They are the biggest disappointment of all.

These are the ones who would glance towards the secret door when the soldiers come knocking. These are the ones who would use their pass to step onto the train to freedom knowingly leaving you behind, pretending to themselves that you’re sure to follow soon. These are the ones who claim they’re doing things for the Greater Good, except it’s only for their own safe, selected community. These are the ones I thought were my friends, until they showed me that friendship means nothing as long as they feel safe.

I am soulfully disappointed. And I am deeply grateful for finding out what I truly value in friendship and discovering it in unexpected, joyful places.

#truthrisesup #friendship #thedarkesthours #speakup #standup #thegifts #joy #disappointment #grateful #thegreatergood #freedom

First written on Social Media 1 March 2021

Christmas – An Act of Rebellion

How strange that Christmas should come to represent such a moment of defiance. How sad to have witnessed so many families go against their instinct for connection, joy and love to spend time apart, even, for far too many, completely alone.

I refuse to conform to the rules that are based on lies, distorted statistics and fear propaganda. Apparently, I should not be allowed an opinion because I’m not an ‘expert’; I should follow the rules because other people know better than me; I should not socialise in order to save people from dying a horrible, early death; I should accept data from media and governmental sources without second opinion from independent voices.

‘Shoulds’…. one thing I’ve learned well over the years is always to question a ‘should’.

Does it matter that in the 10 months of ‘pandemic’ I have not once been sick, neither worn a mask or kept my distance? Does it matter that this isn’t just pure luck but conscious, considered health choices that keep my immune system strong? Does it matter that, yesterday, whilst rebelling, we had nine for Christmas lunch, two of whom are doctors, also standing up against the lies and misrepresentation of truth and data? Does it matter that I have studied vaccines in greater depth than the majority of doctors, who usually attend one lecture on the subject in med school? Does it matter that, despite not having a university education, I was schooled in scientific thought and critical thinking? Does it matter that I look at the root of the statistics rather than the narrative they create?

Actually I believe it does. Democracy is an ideal of being governed to follow moral and community rules for the success and happiness of our country. But if that governance is based on lies and deception, it then becomes our duty to stand against it, to not follow, to redefine and create a new.

I have said from the beginning, indeed for the last decade, as I speak out about the criminal behaviour of the trillion dollar corporations dictating our lives, that the only way through this is radical personal responsibility; for our actions, choices, education and moral compass.

If connection, human touch, emotional attunement are some of the most important factors in maintaining a strong immune system, why have you just been asked to destroy those?

Disobey. Reclaim your personal responsibility, make the wise, moral, kind, loving choices that hold the very essence and fabric of our communities. You know. YOU know…..