Newsletter Archive: December 2009

 

Text Box: December 2009 Welcome to the Dare to Blossom newsletter If this has been forwarded to you by someone else, you can sign up for your own copy every month here. If you do not wish to receive future editions, please email me to unsubscribe. Everyone who is on the mailing list will be entered into a draw twice a year (at the end of June and the end of December) with a chance to win a prize of six free life coaching sessions. In this issue: Reflections: Walking and talking Inspirational link Reflections: Walking and talking Yesterday I shared a walk with two dear friends, in a place that has many connections for me, St Mawgan in North Cornwall. The village has a wonderfully serene atmosphere, at the same time being full of interesting features, such as the parish church dating back to the thirteenth century, a pretty pub, a Village Store and Post Office that sells all sorts of fascinating things (as well as incorporating a delightful tea room), a Japanese Garden, a craft shop, and a village school. As I drove there, I thought of the special connection I have with St Mawgan. I don’t go there very often but I think I can say every time has been memorable. With my sister on another walk and talk occasion, and again with my niece. With my mother as a summer outing from her nursing home, sitting in the sun outside the Tea Room enjoying tea and homemade cake. With another friend lingering for hours over lunch in the Falcon Inn garden one hot day. With another niece and her husband, taking my mother on a wheelchair tour of the Japanese Garden. All of these were times of connection and sharing. The walk the three of us took was along the Vale of Lanherne, beside a little river. The winter woods were full of colour: some of the autumn leaves were still on the trees, there was ivy, luxuriant ferns, pheasants in virtually every hedgerow – and some crossing our path or startling us with their alarm call. Either the wind had dropped or we were sheltered by the trees and after recent stormy weather it was a delight to feel the peace and quiet. The skies were grey and threatened rain but we only had a few drops. As we walked we shared conversation on all sorts of topics, with reflection, laughter and interesting discussion. After a while the path climbed up from the valley and the woods and we had a higher viewpoint across the fields where we could hear buzzards calling in the distance. Later we came to a ford with stepping stones and joined a lane climbing the hill towards another ancient settlement, St Columb Major. We visited a friend’s antique shop there and then returned the way we had come, greeting the two parties of people walking dogs we had passed on the outward path. After refreshments in the tearoom, the three of us said our goodbyes and went away to continue our weekend with our families. I feel I have added another special memory to my store of connections with that lovely place, I felt refreshed and revived at all sorts of levels. In a busy world sometimes we have to make ourselves stop for a while and share simple pleasures. Especially at this time of year when the pressures of preparing for Christmas can sometimes overwhelm what should be a time of joy and celebration. For you: What can you do this week to revive your spirit and refresh your ‘joie de vivre’? Share a walk with a friend? Allow yourself an afternoon with a good book? Settle down to a favourite film or DVD? Phone a friend you haven’t spoken to for a while? Inspirational Link You may have seen this film before, (if so you will know that it is well worth seeing again), and if you have not it is an extraordinary true story of a man blind from birth who can paint pictures that show real places and objects. For me, a most moving comment was when he said his ambition was to be known for his art, as someone who can see the world through his fingertips, not as ‘the blind painter’. To be recognised for what he had achieved, not for any physical characteristic. This is a reminder to me to look beyond surface appearances and first impressions to the person within. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3AgO6H0H98 Thank you for reading, do email me with any questions, comments or suggestions, or feedback on particular items. Please feel free to forward this newsletter to anyone you think may be interested. Mary Text Box:   Text Box:  



 

 

 

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Newsletter Archive

December 2009

 

 

 
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