Loving Life This February

Dear Friend

Loving Life This February
I’m being reminded this February that the reflective retreat of winter is an invitation to deepen our connection to what and who we love in life.  Hidden treasures lie within the stony pathways and knotty stories along our way.

Loving Stories
Every great love starts with a great story…. Nicholas Sparkls, The Notebook
The stories of our lives and loves can become the clay for our creativity.  We can reclaim and recapitulate even the most traumatic of tales through creative mediums, transforming and redeeming our experiences. The latest exhibition at descARTes Gallery at Matthews Yard - The Story of Faces is a truly inspirational example, as paedophile ring survivor Nicky Nickolls ‘paints her journey with the full force of her heart and desires.’   Another artist Hale Man is inviting Croydon to rise up this Chinese New Year through her powerful phoenix artwork.   I’m looking forward to singing at the Phoenix Parade which will bring diverse sectors of the community together in an integrated arts celebration.

Loving Singing
Good fortune attend each merry man's friend
That doth but the best that he may
Forgetting old wrongs, with carols and songs
To drive the cold winter away - Trad.carol
Folk of olden times certainly knew what they were up to with their wassails and carols - it’s a very effective way to transform ‘old wrongs’ and send the winter blues packing.  So I found this weekend at the community wassail in Addiscombe Railway Park (photos below by Ally McKinlay) where we blessed the orchard and each other with songs, sounds and speeches.   Singing kindles fires of fun and friendliness - regardless of whether you are chanting with a load of footie fans, rocking out with your favourite choir or simply your hairbrush.

Loving Learning I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it. - Picasso Learning limbers up our mind and makes space for us to fall in love with life again.  When we allow ourselves to be inspired by new ideas, we refresh our thinking and release old ideas that are past their sell by date.  We cultivate beginner’s mind, creating space and receptivity to expand beyond our conceived limitations. Loving Self Dare to love yourself as if you were a rainbow with gold at both ends.- Aberjhani One of my ongoing challenges in my relationship with myself is to be on my own side, which is easier when things are plain sailing.  But when winter storms hit, self accusation, guilt and anxiety can whip up havoc between me, myself and I.  At those times, we need circuit-breakers - the tools, practices and friends who help us break the negative self-talk and return to ourselves. Learning to alchemise the precious gold within our challenges, eccentricities, sensitivities and vulnerabilities is a life-long adventure. Loving The Unknown 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 -  Clarissa Pinkola-Estes, We Were Made for these times In her reassuring letter to a young activist, Clarissa Pinkola-Estes reminds us that we are not here to try to fix all the challenges of the world.  Instead our task is continually ‘stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach’ - even in the face of wintery gales and storms.  Whenever we reach out for something new we grow - and that growth ripples out into our world.  Just the tiniest step towards the new, the unknown can open up a whole realm of love and connection. Wishing you deep and delightful discoveries this February