Essence

This image makes me smile it gives me the feeling of waking up on a sunny morning full of bounce and zing, that utter happiness that i remember from my childhood when the holidays lasted for ever and we knew we were free to play in the fields and woods all day. It comes from the How to Raw Love blog which is also filled with images of delicious raw food.

This image also caught my eye, it's an extract from the book the owner of the blog is writing which has a little bit about raw bath time and herbal things/essential oils to treat illness. Take a peek HERE.

Super Exciting Conscious Parenting Summit

YEAH the *free* Conscious Parenting Summit hosted by Matt Monarch and Angela Stokes-Monarch of the Raw Food World has begun, but only just so there is still time to access the first interview by Ingrid Bauer on elimination communication. Click HERE to sign up and to listen to Matt and Angela explain what it's all about. It is seriously worth checking it out and signing up to access each of the main interviews (as well as all the bonus interviews and material) from the 16 inspiring speakers from around the world. They will be speaking on topics such as conscious conception, healthy pregnancy, natural birthing, vaccinations, children's nutrition, breastfeeding, cosleeping and more ....and each interview is available for 24 hours. 

Here is a look at the 16 experts on conscious parenting that are involved in this summit:

You can also read more about each one on the conscious parenting website here.

Angela Stokes Monarch with her gorgeous daughter Oria

(see her blog RawReform here.)

Be gentle with yourself

Picture from the house of Melissa de la Fuente as part of the 'Living with Kids' series on the Design Mom blog.

“Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly, and listen to others, even the dull and ignorant; they too have their story. Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love – for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment is it perennial as the grass. Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you from misfortune. But do not distress yourself with imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labours and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.” 
― Max Ehrmann, Desiderata: A Poem for a Way of Life 

One Day You Will

....aaah and back to the blogging world. I have to say i am really happy to have left January behind, it was a long month of chickenpox quarantines ( sadly no one was up for a chicken pox party) and illness starting with chickenpox for the youngest on New Years Eve and seemingly endless rounds of flu and viruses since, with each boy taking it in turns and Andreas and i succumbing eventually too. The quote that has been keeping me going through the tough stuff is "ONE DAY YOU WILL" and some fabulous blogs like "Taking Time" and Soule Mama ( i also have Amanda Soules wonderful book "Handmade Home" and next on my list is her book "Rhythm of Family") as well as some sweet dvds like Brother Bear and a fabulous friend who has been checking in with me almost every day and sending me funny things to keep me going like this, thank you Nicole you are amazing. But i have to say for the most part i have, dare i say it, been an uber mum/nurse thinking of endless activities for the various stages of sickness and making lovely herbal and natural tonics and healing juices and foods. But now i am done i want to get out, have some fun and a change of scene. I want to see people and i want to feel good about me.

So i was lucky enough to book flights to zip over to the UK for my dads 60th birthday party on my own, a first since Sebastian was born ( time to read, sleep and party on my own and come home to my lovely boys refreshed and bouncing again) and vainly that led to fantasies about getting a new haircut. But having been to quite a few places in Oslo since moving here and ending up disappointed i wondered where i could go without feeling completely let down after parting with a huge wad of cash and feeling that the hairdresser hadn't listened to me at all. After a chance conversation a friend recommended Adam and Eva in Grønland. I was sceptical, but i loved the place and Maria actually listened to what i wanted and seemed to tailor it to me and what suited me. I LOVED it and i still love it a few weeks later. Yeah!

One day you will, but where you are right now is where you are meant to be. If you can see the value in that it makes things much easier and sometimes you really can see that this is the only place you should be.

Stunning Images

Click on the image and see it dance

These images by Scott London of the 2011 Burning Man festival are amazing. He says:
 "It's no exaggeration to say the Burning Man festival is one of the world's hippest and most mind-blowing gatherings. It's not quite an art festival, not quite a desert rave, and not quite a social experiment, but something of all three. Held each summer in the remote Black Rock Desert of northern Nevada, it's a week-long celebration of free-form creativity and radical self-expression."

Take a look at more of his images here

We Were Made For This

This is a wonderful piece by the inspirational writer Clarissa Pinkola Estes for these challenging times.

You Were Made For This

By Clarissa Pinkola Estes

My friends, do not lose heart. We were made for these times. I have heard from so many recently who are deeply and properly bewildered. They are concerned about the state of affairs in our world now. Ours is a time of almost daily astonishment and often righteous rage over the latest degradations of what matters most to civilized, visionary people. 

You are right in your assessments. The lustre and hubris some have aspired to while endorsing acts so heinous against children, elders, everyday people, the poor, the unguarded, the helpless, is breathtaking. Yet, I urge you, ask you, gentle you, to please not spend your spirit dry by bewailing these difficult times. Especially do not lose hope. Most particularly because, the fact is that we were made for these times. Yes. For years, we have been learning, practicing, been in training for and just waiting to meet on this exact plain of engagement.

I grew up on the Great Lakes and recognize a seaworthy vessel when I see one. Regarding awakened souls, there have never been more able vessels in the waters than there are right now across the world. And they are fully provisioned and able to signal one another as never before in the history of humankind.

Look out over the prow; there are millions of boats of righteous souls on the waters with you. Even though your veneers may shiver from every wave in this stormy roil, I assure you that the long timbers composing your prow and rudder come from a greater forest. That long-grained lumber is known to withstand storms, to hold together, to hold its own, and to advance, regardless.

In any dark time, there is a tendency to veer toward fainting over how much is wrong or unmended in the world. Do not focus on that. There is a tendency, too, to fall into being weakened by dwelling on what is outside your reach, by what cannot yet be. Do not focus there. That is spending the wind without raising the sails.

We are needed, that is all we can know. And though we meet resistance, we more so will meet great souls who will hail us, love us and guide us, and we will know them when they appear. Didn't you say you were a believer? Didn't you say you pledged to listen to a voice greater? Didn't you ask for grace? Don't you remember that to be in grace means to submit to the voice greater?

Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world all at once, but of stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach. Any small, calm thing that one soul can do to help another soul, to assist some portion of this poor suffering world, will help immensely. It is not given to us to know which acts or by whom, will cause the critical mass to tip toward an enduring good.

What is needed for dramatic change is an accumulation of acts, adding, adding to, adding more, continuing. We know that it does not take everyone on Earth to bring justice and peace, but only a small, determined group who will not give up during the first, second, or hundredth gale.

One of the most calming and powerful actions you can do to intervene in a stormy world is to stand up and show your soul. Soul on deck shines like gold in dark times. The light of the soul throws sparks, can send up flares, builds signal fires, causes proper matters to catch fire. To display the lantern of soul in shadowy times like these – to be fierce and to show mercy toward others; both are acts of immense bravery and greatest necessity.

Struggling souls catch light from other souls who are fully lit and willing to show it. If you would help to calm the tumult, this is one of the strongest things you can do. 

There will always be times when you feel discouraged. I too have felt despair many times in my life, but I do not keep a chair for it. I will not entertain it. It is not allowed to eat from my plate.

The reason is this: In my uttermost bones I know something, as do you. It is that there can be no despair when you remember why you came to Earth, who you serve, and who sent you here. The good words we say and the good deeds we do are not ours. They are the words and deeds of the One who brought us here. In that spirit, I hope you will write this on your wall: When a great ship is in harbor and moored, it is safe, there can be no doubt. But that is not what great ships are built for.

This piece by Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Ph.D and author of the best seller Women Who Run with the Wolves is just one of a collection of inspirational resources available at www.WantToKnow.info/inspirational. While looking for images i also came across this great blog post: What would you attempt to do if you could not fail?  and this one on soul contracts.

and just because i love it : 

Eco Hope

Polly Catchpole, the founder of Polly Hope, in her garden in south London. 

For beauty, inspiration and 100% ecological textiles take a gander at Polly Hope, a company founded by British designer Polly Catchpole. I absolutely love her designs and would really like to have many of them in our house, and the fact that they are also ecological is a massive bonus. Her eco friendly collection includes interior textiles, cushions, lamp shades, upholstered chairs and illustrations and you can see her latest fabrics- "contemporary fabrics for eco interiors" here!Polly Hope fabrics are made of 100 per cent organic materials, hand-printed with natural dyes and made in a family-run factory called Aura Herbal Wear in India. These furnishing fabrics therefore value the environment and those who manufacture them, ensuring fair trade standards and a chemical free work place to all those involved. She's just had an article printed about her business in the Telegraph newspaper which is super cool. Do take at look at some of her designs below and on Polly Hope's website, they are incredibly beautiful and i think her company is very inspiring. She has a blog which you can see here and you can also follow her on Twitter @PollyHopeLive. 

My Heart Wanders

What would happen one day if you decided to follow your heart? 

Where would it take you?

My husband says right now it would take him to a tropical island with Theodore, Sebastian and i. But even though right now i don't know where it would lead me i know i'd like the unexpected journey, the joy of following ones bliss and intuitive nudgings and going without hesitation wherever i felt drawn to. It takes courage to leap into the dark and a certain amount of what the heck attitude to be true to those inner desires and intuitive nudges or slaps around the face, but how many of us allow ourselves to really listen and to act on them.

In her book "My Heart Wanders" stylist, photographer and author Pia Jane Bijkerk takes us on her journey as she leaves her comfortable life in Sydney to follow, unconditionally, her instincts. Setting up home first in Paris, then on a houseboat in Amsterdam, Pia observes the serendipitous moments that present themselves when letting go and following one's dreams. With beautiful photographs from her travels in France, Amsterdam, Belgium, Italy and Sydney, My Heart Wanders is a reflective, inspirational, tender memoir that speaks to 'the wandering heart' in all of us. It's a celebration of taking risks, letting go and making a home wherever you are. Take a look at her book here and on Amazon here. Pia also has a beautiful blog which you can see here.

Inspirational

The powerful and the empowered

"Pregnant Woman" 

by Alex Florschutz

www.alexflorschutzart.co.uk and www.florschutz.com

Our wise and ancient birthing traditions 

By Veronika Sophia Robinson The Mother Magazine Friday October 14, 2011 

When it comes to defining joyous birth, it’s important to understand the role of power.

I believe the difference between an interfered-with birth, and a joyous ‘hands-off’ birth, is fear. Fear can come from a deep primal urge in the old brain, or from our centre of logic (the neocortex or new brain) ~ a place where we try to make sense of the unexplainable. Our ego freaks out when it can’t control the information. Taming our powerful ego empowers us.

In the dominant cultural model of birth, the leading actor is The Powerful One who ‘delivers’ our baby. In the sub-culture of joyous, autonomous birth, the leading role is played by The Empowered One. Indeed, there is no place for The Powerful One in this culture.

Never will you find such different characters. In fact, they are so diametrically opposed, that you would never find them both in the same room ~ much less on the same birthing stage. The only connection might be if, through the performance of The Powerful One, a woman becomes transformed, at a later time, into The Empowered One.

Their props, their scripts, their guiding drive are contradictory.

The Powerful One becomes so through domination. He conquers the other characters by taking charge of the stage and wielding tools which say “I am in charge”. He is defined by his use of three specific tools. They are light, language and observation. Whether he is conscious of this or not, is irrelevant, because as soon as they are introduced into the delivery room, his status is confirmed.

Light is the enemy of every birthing woman. It stimulates her ‘new brain’ and changes the course of labour. Her mammalian instincts wish to seek out the dark, but The Powerful One shines a laser beam on her, freezing her in time like a startled rabbit in headlights.

He controls her by his use of language which actives her neocortex (new brain). While this is engaged and stimulated she is incapable of slipping into her old brain ~ the very place she needs to be in order to birth instinctively.

The Powerful One stands guard over the woman whose baby he’s delivering. If he can’t be there, he sends others to guard her. Their eyes ensure that she can’t escape. She is watched. Her every movement observed. She is ‘held in place’ by their paranoia. Privacy is the number one need of every birthing woman. The Powerful One ignores and denies this, keeping a woman prisoner in her ‘new brain’ so she can’t birth without his ‘help’.

Light, language and observation ~ the three deadly enemies of joyous birth.

And what of The Empowered One? What would she make of these tools? She’s a wise woman who, like the three wise monkeys, has her own mantra:

See no light

Hear no talk

Allow no eyes

The Empowered One is a woman who honours the ancient tradition of birthing. She creates a birthing nest of dimmed light, if not complete darkness. The external language of choice is non-vaginal touch, or music and gentle singing, as she slips into her birthing zone. If she chooses to have her lover or anyone else with her she lets them know beforehand that eye contact is another form of power, of control. The support she seeks is of skin contact, and being held from behind. Beware of any man or midwife who demands or encourages you to look into their eyes while you’re birthing. Contrary to our culture’s childbirth classes, they are stealing your inner power. Remember, our eyes are the mirror of our soul. When we’re birthing, our soul needs to rise ‘upwards’ and greet the new soul who is coming Earthside, not to be distracted by someone else’s needs.

The Empowered one is clear to her supporter that all the power she needs for birthing is within her, and that ‘coaching’ of any description defies what is innate within her. The instinct to give birth is always heard by those with ears to hear. Sadly, joyous birth is inaudible to The Powerful One.

It has been said that ‘when the power of love overcomes the love of power, there shall be peace.’ It has also been said that ‘peace on earth begins with birth’. True power and true peace are internal and can never be found outside of ourselves. The Empowered One is a woman whose power is always internal. Instinct is beyond anyone’s control. It can’t be bought, begged, borrowed or stolen. Perhaps that’s why it terrifies the medical world so much?

The Powerful One requires tools and gimmicks and fear to ‘create’ his power ~ something which is always external, and therefore, transient.

The power of love which is alive in The Empowered One can teach us more about birth that any medical text book. Love and fear can’t co-exist. They are opposites. In a study of 500 tribal cultures, the researchers found no evidence of any pain or death in childbirth. Prematurity and stillbirth were extremely rare, as was malpresentation. We’ve been inculturated with the idea that birth is painful, dangerous and deadly. I agree. It is painful, dangerous and deadly IF, and only if, we allow The Powerful One into our birthing space; if we give away our crucial mammalian need for privacy.

If you’re seeking a joyous birth, look no further than you and your baby for all the power, love and support you need.

"The Symbol of the Goddess 1"

by Alexandra Florschutz

Far-Far

A beautiful oriental tile place called Far Far has just opened its showroom in Oslo. They import their handmade cement tiles directly from Morocco and you can find them at Biermannsgate 6 in Sagene,Oslo and also here on facebook. There are so many that i would like for our house, but i also think that the individual tiles would make great presents.

The blog is back

Golly four months have zipped by and there seems to have been hardly a minute to write this blog. The reason being that with two children at home demanding lots of attention, packing up the rented house, moving into the new house, unpacking, painting etc and a whole heap of lovely travelling to celebrate birthdays, weddings and time with family there has been no time. I've also been tackling my health/hypothyroid thing naturally, which is a blog in itself. But now that things are finally a little more settled and my eldest son has started going to the Steiner Barnhage down the road i feel there may be more moments to be able to keep up with the blog too, i hope so at least.

There is a wonderful blog called The Daily Good and today they posted an article by Valerie Williams from Yes Magazine called "National Treasures" Feb 14, 2011. It's about a wonderful  program called Project Arrowhead that aims to help disabled, troubled and at risk children (and horses) by working with wild horses, learning about nature, gardening and Native American traditions on the Sunshine Acres farm in Northern Maryland. It's run by Jean Albert Renaud ( or Jar as he is known) the world renowned horseman, activist and motown musician. He says that “It’s about trust, trusting me and trusting the horse. Here they are, faced with this eleven-hundred-pound animal. It’s like a metaphor for their lives, taking on the enormity of their lives. ‘Who can I trust? Where do I start?’"


Ultimately he feels that “we need the tonic of wilderness. Wild horses merit protection as a matter of ecological right, as anyone knows who has stood awed at the indomitable spirit and sheer energy of a mustang living free.” 


I believe that is true of us all that we need more wildness in our lives, being in a natural environment i.e outdoors in nature, connecting to the earth and the elements. We need it to be balanced, healthy and happy individuals. But we also need connection to each other and Jar shows these children how to start relating again to themselves and to others.

You can access the full article here www.dailygood.org/view.php?sid=21

Dr. Emoto requests assistance for Japan in the form of prayer and positive intention

A little late in the day, as this post has been sitting in my edit box for a while, but nevertheless still very relevant is Dr.Emoto's request for us to come together to send prayer and postive intention to the waters around the Japanese Nuclear plant of Fukushima. Rather than dismissing this as total rubbish have a look at the following article:
Dr. Emoto requests assistance for Japan in the form of prayer and positive intention and also if you wish my earlier blogpost about Dr.Emoto's work with water: http://alittlelightonlife.blogspot.com/2009/12/our-thoughts-can-literally-change-our.html

The Magic and the Mystery

A friend sent me this beautiful film yesterday of the Northern lights/aurora borealis seen here in the north of Norway. It's stunnng and made me feel that there is more than a little magic in the world. It also made me think, gosh 2 years now in Norway and not a even a glimpse of these famous lights, i must get a wriggle on and get up north to see them.....

It was my 33rd birthday yesterday, a day of spring sunshine, fabulous people and spoiling treats and celebrations. The day started with a delicious birthday breakfast and dancing, then adventures in the sun, including a picnic at our new house (yes we've bought a house, a house, our own house. We're totally overexcited, it's our first house and we move in on June 1st. It's such a relief after months of looking) and a raucous evening with lovely girlfriends and a delicious meal that my husband cooked for us all, the darling, he was totally amazing and i was thoroughly spoilt by everyone. Thank you for the magic!

We all need some fireworks in our lives

Happy Happy New Year everyone, may 2011 be a year filled with immense happiness, fabulous health, magic, love, light, adventure and fulfilment for you all. May it be one in which you achieve many of your dreams.

When my family were here at Christmas my sister, mum and i wrote down all of the things that we were grateful for and that had been significant for us in 2010 and then we wrote down all of things that we would like to bring forth in 2011. It was an interesting exercise because i had previously felt that i hadn't achieved anything last year, but i was wrong, there were a few very important things and events that had shaped me. For this year there weren't many things on my list, but nevertheless more things keep being added and i realise that i have many more goals than i initially thought. This year, infact in a few days, i hope to hold my new baby. This is infact one of the most significant things for me this year and there are signs that he is on his way, but who knows when he will actually make an appearance. It is a good lesson in trust and patience, but i am never good at waiting for things and i am so excited to see him for the first time and to see how i cope with labour a second time around. Luckily i have a fabulous natural birth unit lined up where i hope to have the baby. I feel completely safe there and i know that it is the right choice for us.

We had a very happy christmas with all of my family here for a week and my husbands family joining us for the 24th december when the main celebrations in Norway occur. It was wonderful to be hosting Christmas, and as it turned out New Year's Eve too, for the first time, trying our hand at the various family traditions and making up some new ones along the way. The most important thing was just being together, but it was an enormous amount of fun too and i would love to do it all again!

My sister sent me Kate Perry's Firework song when she got back to the UK, which i find really inspiring and very appropriate for the new year. It's about showing people what you are worth and that each person is uniquely amazing in their own right. I love the video and the way this is visually portrayed!

The Firework lyrics

Do you ever feel like a plastic bag

Drifting through the wind, wanting to start again?

Do you ever feel, feel so paper thin

Like a house of cards, one blow from caving in?

Do you ever feel already buried deep?

Six feet under screams but no one seems to hear a thing

Do you know that there's still a chance for you

'Cause there's a spark in you?

You just gotta ignite the light and let it shine

Just own the night like the 4th of July

'Cause baby, you're a firework

Come on, show 'em what you're worth

Make 'em go, oh

As you shoot across the sky

Baby, you're a firework

Come on, let your colors burst

Make 'em go, oh

You're gonna leave 'em falling down

You don't have to feel like a waste of space

You're original, cannot be replaced

If you only knew what the future holds

After a hurricane comes a rainbow

Maybe you're reason why all the doors are closed

So you could open one that leads you to the perfect road

Like a lightning bolt, your heart will blow

And when it's time, you'll know

You just gotta ignite the light and let it shine

Just own the night like the 4th of July

'Cause baby you're a firework

Come on, show 'em what you're worth

Make 'em go, oh

As you shoot across the sky

Baby, you're a firework

Come on, let your colors burst

Make 'em go, oh

You're gonna leave 'em falling down

Boom, boom, boom

Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon

It's always been inside of you, you, you

And now it's time to let it through

'Cause baby you're a firework

Come on, show 'em what you're worth

Make 'em go, oh

As you shoot across the sky

Baby, you're a firework

Come on, let your colors burst

Make 'em go, oh

You're gonna leave 'em falling down

Boom, boom, boom

Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon

Boom, boom, boom

Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon

Sun Soaking

Here is a wonderful piece about Sun Soaking by mind, body and spirit author and educator William Bloom, its something i feel we all need to practice right now in the depths of winter and in the snow chaos all around. (Well the chaos is mainly in the UK right now where everything has ground to a halt, in Norway they are so used to snow that they just carry on as normal, but that means i'm keeping all my fingers and toes crossed that my family can still fly out from London tonight to join us for Christmas here in Oslo.) But wherever you are have a read, its good stuff:

SUN-SOAKING

As we move deeper into the winter months some of you may begin to miss the sunlight and even go into that form of melancholy and low energy, known as SAD — Seasonal Affective Disorder. There is a natural remedy for this, which might work for you — it works for me — and which also teaches some useful lessons for other areas of our lives, personal and spiritual.

I am sure that many of you will be familiar with these strategies, but this is what I do. It does not matter what else is going on in my life, if the sun is out, I make sure that I go and sit in the sunlight for fifteen minutes every day, my face directly towards it. I wrap up warmly, plonk myself in a garden chair and absorb the rays. I learned this years ago from a young Norwegian friend who told me that this was the way that he survived the long Scandinavian winters. I do it first thing in the morning or during work-breaks.

When I write ‘absorb the rays’, that is exactly what I do. Using my imagination and visualisation, I work with my body’s subtle sensations so that I imagine and feel that my flesh, muscles and bones are absorbing the sunlight. I breathe it in. In particular, I feel it coming into my eyes and travelling down the optic nerve and into my brain. I absorb the sunlight into my brain cells and then visualise it going down my spinal cord and into the rest of my nervous system.

This is not simple sun-bathing. It is sun-soaking.

I also practice a strategy from internal martial arts and qi gong, known as ‘bone marrow breathing’ and I sense the sunlight sinking into my bones and bone marrow. As I inhale, the sunlight comes into my bones. As I exhale, the sunlight is absorbed and distributed.

Whilst, I am focused on the sunlight, I know that I am also absorbing into my body the natural healing energy and vitality that permeates the natural world and the universe. At the same time, this triggers the production of endorphins, the ‘miracle’ hormones of wellbeing. This is very good for my health. It feels great.

Now you may be familiar with these strategies, but here is the point. Do you actually practise them regularly? Every day? Do you do what is good for you? Over the years, over and over again, for example, I keep meeting healers who never use their own strategies on themselves.

‘I have a toothache,’ one of them says.

‘Have you directed healing energy into the roots and pain?’ I ask.

Typically, they reply that they have not. This is interesting, isn’t it, this forgetfulness we may have about looking after ourselves. Sunlight and healing energy are there for the taking. You don’t have to do anything except be open to receiving them.

So here is another crucial question, which may be relevant both to your relationships and your spiritual life. Are you open to receiving good things? Do you allow yourself to receive people’s love, affection and positive comments? Do you also allow yourself to receive the healing energy that permeates the whole universe?

In spirituality, one of its most central practices is to connect regularly with the wonder and energy of life — with God, with spirit — and be able to just relax, be empty and receive its blessing of positive energy and love.
You do not have to do anything special to receive this love except be open to receive it. This basically means that you stop buzzing around for a while, calm down and place yourself in a receptive state. In some spiritual traditions, this is called ‘emptying’ — just being an empty pot and allowing yourself to be filled.

Most of you know about these strategies, but as I wrote above, many of you may not do them. Often, I have noticed, this forgetfulness is accompanied by self-sabotaging.

Perhaps you lack the self-discipline to do what is good for you. Perhaps you take your work too seriously. Perhaps you feel some kind of psychological block to receiving and absorbing good things. Perhaps you feel unworthy or are simply just not in the habit of receiving.

Well, let me give you a brotherly nudge, my friends. Absorb the good energy from the sun. Chill out and absorb the benevolent healing energy of the cosmos. They are abundantly available. Just because you are alive and part of the cosmos, you are able to access and absorb them. All you have to do is open up and let it all in.

And here is another important reminder

Even when it is hidden by cloud or during the night, the sun is always there. This is a bit like a pantomime when the audience shouts, ‘It’s behind you!’ Whether you can see the sun or not, we are always part of the solar system and the great golden disc, the solar deity, is ever present.

Just open your heart, visualise and sense its presence even when you cannot see it.

So, in the long winter nights, especially when your own internal weather is moody and melancholic, lighten up. Cheer up. The sun, the healing energy and the unconditional love that fills the cosmic ocean are always there. Relax and receive.

All my love

William

You decide

I love this fact, that you can choose your attitude in each and every moment no matter what the circumstances. It's a useful thing to be reminded of as it can be so easy to get bogged down by things and swept away on a negative tide of thought.

The Ministry of Stories and Monster supplies

What a totally fabulous idea. The people responsible for the "We Made This" blog have just launched a project called The Ministry of Stories on Hoxton Street in east London.  The Ministry follows the model of the 826 centres: a writing centre where kids aged 8-18 can get one-to-one tuition with professional writers and other volunteers; with the centres being housed behind fantastical shop fronts designed to fire the kids’ imaginations (and generate income for the writing centres). But in this case the shop is Hoxton Street Monster Supplies – Purveyor of Quality Goods for Monsters of Every Kind.

A sample of what they sell in their Monster Supplies shop

See the blog post from the blog "We Made This"to read more about this wonderful project : www.wemadethis.co.uk/blog/2010/11/ministry-of-stories-hoxton-street-monster-supplies/

The opening hours are currently Saturdays and Sundays, 11am-5pm so do pop in for a bit of monster magic if you get the chance.

The Ministry found its name, mood, and identity from an old post-war ration book, featuring the Ministry of Food's logo. I love it.