Happy 2015 everyone!

New beginnings, however arbitrary.

A new paragraph in a story.

A new opportunity to realize old intentions.

A chance to stop and look at ourselves.

A joyful celebration of life in its totality!

It has been a delightful evening of food, music, dance and lots of hugs spent with close friends and family. And of course our old friend, a wood fire which was cohesive and comforting on a cold winters evening. By the way, I think hugs are one of the best things in the world! I am glad 2014 is over. I have started the New year with a smile and a resolve to not let it be removed  by anything. Everyday I will remember to be grateful for my life and all it’s gifts. I will be joyful.

Here is the link to a music video called ‘Dreaming like a fool’. He had been working on it with his close friends who formed a group called Joaquim and The Smoke Machine. He is the percussionist in the band and also has a cameo appearance in the video as a pedestrian in a yellow t-shirt around the letter box at 1.14-1.20 minutes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELELuagyrBY

Introducing, the star of the show! Play on my darling! Play on.

Long time ago at one of the handicraft fairs I wanted to buy a beautiful black earthenware pot but my partner’s argument was that we shouldn’t buy it as it might break during one of our many transfers. We promised each other that if that happens, we will not break our hearts over it and we bought it. It graced our home for many years.

If something is breakable, it is a real possibility that it might break, no matter how much I feel it ‘should’ not. I cherish it and look after it and sometimes spend lots of money on it but despite everything it might disintegrate. It is the sense of entitlement that stops us from being ok with whether it stays or goes. Nature has its own laws. Going with the flow would seem to be the best attitude to take for our own peace of mind.

This brings to mind a story about 2 men who were falsely accused of a crime they had not committed and sentenced to life imprisonment. When they left the prison 20 years later, one on them had clearly gone insane from the injustice while the other man was calm and serene. On being asked about how he was able handle the situation, he said, ”I chose it.”

I accept my heart is broken. I have started putting it back together. Soon I shall find a new use for it.

This world is an expression of the vast cosmic expansion and contraction, just like inhalations and exhalations are the breath of life. Nothing is all black or white. Energies merge into one another to the harmonious rhythm of nature. There is a little bit of evil in all that is good and vice versa. Heaven is yang and Earth is yin. One is movement and the other is stillness. In between the two are all living beings in whom these energies combine, mingle and move. These two opposite energies feed each other what the other lacks. It is through this interchange that they transform from the inside out and become each other, creating the perpetual cycle of life to death to life again.

Living and dying is simply the dance of the molecules.
(Buddhist pranic healing)

A couple of years ago my son spoke about some of his friends who had private medical insurance and we discussed whether that would be a good idea for us. I thought it to be unnecessary as I work for the NHS and I know what a wonderful job we do, even if I say so myself. Of course, there are a lot of areas for improvement but by and large the quality of services delivered are excellent. Moreover I have a lot of friends who are doctors, very helpful and approachable. So, we would be fine. He often did prove me wrong in his own special way. Rascal! 😉

That’s where everything comes from and everything goes,

All possible beauty it holds,

Most of an atom is nothing and so is most of the universe,

Time and space are nothing too.

I am nothing and so are you.

Just being with the nothingness is being true,

The silence therein connects us two.

All is one and all is none,

Nothingness of love spares no one.

Look, and it’s not seen.

Listen, and it is not heard,

Reach, and it can’t be grasped.

Seamless and unnameable, beyond the realm of form,

No beginning or end,

As subtle as a gentle breath, a kind smile for oneself.

Whenever we went out for coffee, he would have an espresso or cappucino and I, a hot chocolate. It was another one of our bonding things. I have not had a hot chocolate since Day 0. I just haven’t felt like it. It’s funny how a button gets switched off in a second.

When I think of my childhood, so many stories come to mind. Religion, mythology, history and literature are full of stories. Everyone has a story. Entire civilisations have been built upon stories. Friends and relatives come together and share stories from here and there and we remember a lot of people by their ability to tell a good story. Films are stories told and retold. In the end, life is just a story. Some bits are fun and some are not. Sometimes it is too good to be true and other times it is a bitch. But, it’s nothing but a story. That is all it is.

Here’s some good new – a blood test for biomarkers to predict those at a high risk of suicide.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/265062.php