October Fridays on a Saturday.

Reflections on my week..... inspired by :

 

On the menu:

 Many people can listen to their cat more intelligently than they can listen to their own despised body. Because they attend to their pet in a cherishing way, it returns their love. Their body, however, may have to let out an earth-shattering scream in order to be heard at all.  

~Marion Woodman

Chick peas. Friday lunch involved chickpeas and feta cheese, both of which are favourites of mine. Just a quick and convenient salad picked up from the garage as I filled my tank up with petrol, and eaten at my desk whilst catching up with work. Second part of this scenario is not at all good I know; part of an old pattern of binge-ing on "being busy" which inevitably leads to overwhelm and fatigue. This weekend is about being good to myself, relaxation and exercise, planning and organising for the week ahead. Chick peas might figure again, maybe a bit of home cooking will be in order. 

  Out the (car) window:

Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky.

Rabindranath Tagore

On the way home on Friday evening. It's around 6 o'clock and the weather can't decide quite what to do. The clouds paint a mixed picture for us - dark moody rain filled clouds and white fuffy meringues are gathering on the horizon. There is a blue sky overhead. 

 Good things: 

 People tend to dwell more on negative things than on good things. So the mind then becomes obsessed with negative things, with judgments, guilt and anxiety produced by thoughts about the future and so on.

- Eckhart Tolle

Some weeks, the bad things seem to be conspiring to eclipse the good things, and it is hard to find the hope. However it is there and we usually don't have to look far to find it or them, we might need to have a little help to do this.

“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”

- Viktor E. Frankl

• Lessons about forgiveness
• The NHS
• Being on hand to help
• Opportunities for learning
• Having choices
• The privilege of witnessing love in all it's forms 
• Being me - valuing my own unique perspective
• Morning smiles as a little person wakes up
• Sunset skies
• Morning skies
• Technology
• Finding the right words 
• Questioning myself - trusting myself- trusting others - balance
• Letting go

Reading:

Watching:

Unreported World is one of the best documentaries on mainstream television, always bringing the hard stories that are not reported elsewhere. The people who are usually invisible and whom it is easy to forget about. Friday's espisode was about people with a disability who have fled Syria and are left without the services they need to help them have quality of life and in some cases to keep them alive.

"Unreported World visits Lebanon to reveal the plight of some of the most vulnerable refugees fleeing the war in Syria: disabled people, many of whom are children. Talking to the children, their families and the organisations trying to help them, producer David Fuller and new reporter Giles Duley, a photographer who lost his legs and an arm to a landmine in Afghanistan, reveal how the refugees and the Lebanese government are struggling to cope as the crisis worsens."

 Listening:

Round and About:

A beautiful poem for World Mental Health Day

How we react to this and other pressing social issues of our times is important; it tells us a lot about ourselves, and also defines how we will act, or not. Been thinking on this in my everyday work life where feelings about a situation can determine how I behave and what I do or do not do. How much can you fight for something when it seems a little bit hopeless to even try and when your presence might even be causing harm.

Friday Passage - Meghan shares some of her favourite bits of writing on a Friday. This one might become one of mine too.

Collateral damage in architecture 

Lee writes about looking back to see how far she has come as an artist. That's good to do in life too when things seem tough and you are being hard on yourself.

Preparing for the full moon and eclipse

Listen let me whisper in your ear: