Nov 11th

11/11/11

A truly auspicious date!

According to some, the official transition from the Age of Pisces to the Age of Aquarius.  Although, as my MIL pointed out, transitions between ages that last 2100 years will generally last longer than one day *wink*.  The shift from away from old, fear-based habits and into a reality based on hope rather than despair, of abundance rather than lack, of peace rather than war, of contentedness rather than yearning, and of connectedness rather than separation* is most certainly being felt and I feel started in my lifetime, if not before (think swinging sixties).

* Description taken from this blog post, by a gorgeous yogi :o)

I couldn't think of a better way to celebrate tonight's full moon and of course, the small thing of the dawning of a brand new age, than congregating with my loved ones, dancing with fire and LED lights, to the beat of some African drums.  So, we did!

It was a wonderful gathering!

The joining of two (perhaps more?) communities.  Our humble gathering of local families in the village (that have met on a few occasions now), a group of African drummers and more fire twirlers!  The spot we chose, down on the foreshore, meant on a balmy night like this evening, the foot traffic was huge - so the atmosphere of those that lingered to watch us dance and hear us play, was just magical.  Beautiful, beautiful community.

I wish I had more images for you - but the absolute truth is, I barely put my poi down from the minute I arrived.  And Ben was busy on the staff until much later in the evening, when Goose and I had a play on the drums.  Most of the crowd had dispersed by the time these images were captured.  It would have been wonderful to share more of the action!

The generosity of spirit amongst all was beautiful.  I learned so much from more experienced twirlers and in turn, I stepped a few newbies through a couple of swings.  The night had magic in the air from the moment we arrived on the sand to enjoy our dinner, in the company of families from our village.

I have just received permission from a beautiful woman who was amongst last night, to share two short clips she shot on her phone.  The first is of Ben twirling (closest to us, on the right) and the second of me tutoring a few swings.  One day, I may be lucky enough to secure a capture of me in full swing.  I would find that very cool *smile*.

Sept 24th

What am I grateful for today?

The blessings are far too many to number.

Instead, I will speak via some images from our day, celebrating Ostara with a collection of our loved ones (many thank yous to Sarah, for the vast majority of the captures *kiss*).

 

The hunt, in honour of Ostara.

The act of giving and receiving, in honour of Ostara.

The children were asked, if it felt right in their hearts, to give one of their claimed treasures and in return, receive.

The ritual of intent.

As spring is the time for renewal, for growth, for the manifestation of thoughts brewed, for fertility, we asked our loved ones gathered, to commit to paper the thing or things they wished to see grow in their lives.  They were then offered the opportunity to plant that intention in rich, organic, living, thriving soil, beneath a vegetable seedling in our garden.  The concept being, the seedling and the intent, both planted with love will grow together, supporting each other, nourishing each other, bearing fruit together. 

Many spring blessings to you and your loved ones.

May this season, rich in fertility, bring abundance into your world.

xx

July 15th

Grateful for blue skies,

warm sunshine,

wide open spaces,

the squeals of children

and the laughter of their mamas.

*Bliss*

July 2nd

Tonight, I'm grateful for the generosity of community.

I have been contemplating transitioning to vegan again, but the FODMAP sensitivity thing has been holding me back.  I have done vegan before, experimentally.  Nothing long-term.  I found it hard to maintain the commitment without in-house comradeship.  That and I love goats feta more than a person really *should*.

Many things have been redirecting me back along that path, but the thing that has been holding me back, is concern about insufficient protein sources, when meat, eggs, dairy, legumes and most grains are off the menu.  Woman cannot survive on nuts and seeds alone - or can she?  The lack of variety, I fear would contribute to culinary boredom.  And I know I would find it hard to maintain my ideals, in the face of laziness.  I have no problem admitting that to myself.  I have very little tenacity at times.

I put it out to my community tonight, via the wonderful medium of Facebook, and I was flooded with support.  Links, blogs, forums, books, supplements.  And most importantly of all, conversation prompting a change in perspective (again!!  I know!!) in the way I have always viewed protein.  When I studied (and this perhaps may be outdated by now), I recall learning a person requires a slab of protein matching the size of their palm, per day.  So, I imagine laying out almonds to cover the surface of my palm and I feel all nutted out.  This is of course, a simplistic view of the conversion... but it's the image that filled my mind.

So, I now feel a little more equipped to investigate a little more seriously, the next step in this transition.  And I have a comrade in Ben!  BONUS!!

June 27th

Monday, work day.

I am so grateful to have two whole days to myself of uninterrupted time (I forgive the kittens their interruptions), to work on my business.  The time is spent posting links, anecdotes and answering one question a day on the facebook page, and consolidating, writing and updating white papers for the website.

Facebook is an incredible resource of information.

Yesterday, I learned more about the practice of cord blood harvesting, about fallacies told to women in pregnancy and labour of low amniotic fluid, and I learned about a fantastic upcoming 3 day workshop of Creative Ways of Making Space for Baby, run by two amazing birth workers.  I would not necessarily have come to know of these things, without this forum.

Not only that, Facebook has opened up a community of people with whom to share my information with.  Facilitated a supply and demand relationship between two parties that would never have otherwise met.  That's more than just a little bit awesome.

When I first met Ben, a more-anal-than-your-run-of-the-mill privacy freak, he was completely against the idea of sharing personal information on Facebook.  He had registered his name (with a fake birth date) so no one else could pretend to be him.  And that was it.  He has since softened a little on his previously held stand, perhaps intertwined with a fatalistic view of the inevitability of Facebook and weighing that up against the realities of potentially infinite networking possibilities.  (Or it could very well have been he wanted another way to stalk me on line in the early days *grin*.)  Whatever the case, he now uses the tool daily. 

But, I do still remember heeding his words of warning.  Whatever is posted on Facebook, stays in Facebook - and indeed in the greater cached internet for eternity.  There's no taking it back.  My thoughts during our discussions back then are much the same as they are today.

I could very well be hit by a bus when I leave my house tomorrow.  But that doesn't stop me walking to the beach.  I could very well be involved in a motor vehicle accident.  But that doesn't stop me driving to visit friends.  My child's photograph could be uploaded and used for abusive practices.  But the chances of that happening are more unlikely than the previous two examples (just enter 'child' into a Google images search result and see if you can find her before a million other images of children come up ;o).  And I don't want to eliminate an avenue for friends and family who live overseas, from feeling a little more involved in her life, just in case.

So in the same vein, I will let be what will be.  And manage any potentially terrible consequence if and when it happens, rather than live my life attempting to protect myself from something that may never eventuate.  And that includes Facebook.

So for today, the stand out gratitude kudos goes to Facebook.

For making my world a richer environment through enabling interaction with many a gorgeous soul.

June 18th

Our Solstice Gathering.... 

Winter is a time when the earth slows down, there is less light, making it the perfect time for hibernation. Winter is the time for planning, for introspection and the incubation of ideas.

It is also the time of death.

A powerful time to set your intention to remove something from your life that is no longer serving you.

We asked our loved ones to gather their partners and children and join us for mulled wine and a wee winter solstice ritual.  We asked them to bring with them, written on a piece of paper, that thing they wanted to see banished from their life forever.  Our plan was to collectively cast our burdens into the pit of fire, permanently severing their ties to us.

We welcomed in the darkness and released that which no longer served. 

We danced, we drummed, we drank wine infused with passion and power.

It was an extraordinary evening.  Filled with laughter, love and passion.

Thank you again, to all that gathered and celebrated with us.

I am forever grateful for the beautiful people in my life.

Blessed be.

Some pics for your viewing pleasure, of our incredible entertainment.

(Our friends are so talented!)