At the weekend Kaspa & I walked across the Worcestershire fields alongside the river Severn, with the Malvern hills as our backdrop. We stumbled upon a caravan park, deserted for the winter, and sat and looked at the reflections in the water. I noticed long-tailed tits, the squidge of mud under my boots, the cold air entering and exiting my lungs.
I also disappeared into the glittering Aladdin's cave that is Pinterest. Pinterest lets you gather the most beautiful images with a click of your mouse & create your own 'boards'. Here's Channing Allard's glorious board where I found the goldfish image, and here's what I've made so far.
This is how I fed my head this weekend. But I don't think it matters so much where you go or what you do. It matters whether your head is ready for feeding or not. To prepare yourself for nourishment, you need to allow your eyes, ears, nose, fingers, mouth, head & heart to open.
This is the kind of preparation we talk about when you go out hunting small stones. What helps you?
What helps me? Sometimes I need to 'talk something out' with someone before I can focus on what's around me. Sometimes I need an afternoon slobbing out with a trashy novel. Sometimes I need to be disciplined about doing the things I know are good for me. Sometimes I need to say 'no' to things. Sometimes I need to say 'yes'. Sometimes I need reminding that nourishing my head doesn't always taste nice, and I need to digest a few uncomfortable truths. Sometimes (often, always) I need to remember gratitude.
What helps you? Can you do something today? Can you put something in your diary? Do share your thoughts in the comments.
We have a few offerings that will help. Our two ecourses (Journalling Our Way Home & Writing and Spiritual Practice) start on March the 2nd. Kaspa wrote 30 days of small stone prompts. I wrote the free PDF How To Write Your Way Home about Lorrie. There's lots of good stuff here and out there, waiting for you to pick it up and devote some time to yourself.
And if you fancy feeding your head with a little more psychedelic, here's the song from which I took the title of this blog: White Rabbit by Jefferson Airplane. I'm very fond of it. Happy feeding.
*
'Goldfishes' originally from creative journal.
8 comments:
Oh, that Chihuly glass - what wonderful colours. I was lucky enough to see his exhibition at Kew Gardens a few years ago - a fabulous setting for extraordinary pieces.
Thank you for spurring my interest in Pinterest - I've already found it very useful!
Good... don't get too addicted!
What a great song. I just bought it from iTunes to listen to it while posting a response to this (as always) thoughtful note. For me, the question isn't about feeding my head so much as getting out of it and climbing back out of the rabbit hole. I do enjoy solitude but find that too much of that good thing can be way too much. Often all I need is to have a nice chat with someone or just be around people in general. Leave the house! Go to the grocery store! A quick change in perspective can work wonders.
Glad you like it Lesley! Thanks for reading.
I havejust finished reading your e-book and found it immensely inspiring.Thanks for sharing your insights..
I guess I must not be a visual person;I joined Pinterest but could never get into it and closed my account.by all accounts in the tech press it's the Next Big Thing and very popular with women..
June - so glad. Thank you.
Nice post, nice ideas. I like feeding my head, too. Thanks for the Jefferson Airplane tonight.
Post a Comment