This morning for brunch, I had a delicious vegan crumpet stack with chia raspberry jam, coconut ice cream and biscuit cream.
The air was cold, but the sun was shining bright on this last day of Winter. 🌞
Hubbie and I also had lunch in the sun, out on the balcony. It feels like the longest time since we’ve done anything like that, it’s really been so cold and miserable out. But I had a summer hat on in the bright midday sun, and we munched away under the rays. 😎
I am so emotional at the moment. I cry at the drop of a hat, for sad, for happy. Feeling my eyes well up with tears is a common occurrence.
My bump is showing more. 😁😁
And on this last day of Winter, I have one thing to say to it…
It’s been such a hot… no not, even day, or spate of days… try week! Maybe even weeks!Geez!
So I was super rapt to know a change was coming this late evening. My goal was to stand outside in the rain and get soaked, so I stood there, waiting…
Then I thought I should get a better view, so I went UP ⬆
And I waited there.
Baby girl joined me, so did Hubbie. We watched the sky. So stormy. A big grey cloud threatening, coming closer, closer…
Surely in like a matter of minutes, it would pelt down with rain!
Guess what?
STILL WAITING!
Well I’m not outside of course, we went inside soon after we realised the clouds seemed to disappear as they arrived in our part of town, every time. 🤔
But, even though ominous and grey, they were still beautiful. ☁💖
The doors were open, it was sunny, it was still, and it was the perfect weather for some smudging.
I got into this practice a while ago after speaking to a feng shui expert. I have a bunch of sage, and the thing is to light the bottom wider part of the bunch and let it burn for a couple of seconds before blowing it out, and then walking around the house and allowing the smoke and scent to seep into as many areas and dead corners as you can.
What does it do? Well I’m not going to google this, so forgive me if my memory fails… basically it’s for good energy and good vibes. I set myself a little intention as I begin, then I repeat it like a mantra as I move from room to room, allowing the smoke to waft everywhere, focusing particularly around corners of rooms and around doors, places where energy can become stuck or stagnant.
You can even wave it over your own body, focusing on areas that you feel need a little love and attention, areas that may not be working as you like. I wave it over myself generally, then if I feel a certain area needs help I wave it around a little more there. 😉
Doors or windows have to be open, that’s a must. And I finish the smudging with an acknowledgement to this practice, to the people who did it before me, their customs and traditions.
I also have a Palo Santo stick.
I have them both in a cute little bowl I got last year which I think is very yin and yang what with its two colours, blue and a peachy pink. It’s filled with sand from my favourite local beach which brings me such joy, knowing I have a piece of one of my favourite places in my home. Together I light them when I feel like it, or just stick incense sticks into it, either way lovely scents enter the air.
I really had felt it necessary to cleanse myself of any negativity today, to remove what was unnecessary, unhelpful, focused on the past and revolving around fear, and when I get this intense wave of emotion I know what it is I have to do.
I followed this detoxing practice by sitting up on the balcony for a bit and taking the sun in. The day before going back to work, it felt super necessary to charge myself for the week.
I happened to look back inside through the mesh door, and saw my reflection in my bedroom dresser mirror on the other side of the room looking back at me, and I loved what I saw behind me…
That brilliant blue. The water, so clear, refreshing, still.
What a gloriously sunny Winter’s day it was today. 🌞
I was feeling a bit off, but come work-from-home knock-off time, after baby girl and I did our new routine of watching Friends with our coffee and babycino – yes, my 8-year-old (8!😮) is actually getting through the entire series of Friends! – we decided to go for a slow, leisurely walk around the block.
We found a basket of lemons, even though the sign said limes… maybe they were all out? 😂 And it was truly beautiful, being in the moment and just wandering through the still, sunny afternoon, hand in hand, talking about whatever floated into our minds.
I continued the slow and steady at home when I took a mag I bought recently to the balcony, to indulge in some more ‘me’ relaxation time.
Even on those days when you feel a little less than yourself, doing these small, therapeutic things can make the world of difference.
I felt like I was holidaying it a little as I took my lunch up to the balcony today.
Of course. It’s these little luxuries that we ALL try to do in our lives, to make us feel like we’re a world away.
It gives us escape, a reprieve from the monotony of routine, and takes us back to said routine, all the more refreshed.
You might have a fancy coffee machine.
You might have an outdoor deck that’s the perfect spot for bringing friends and family together.
You might have a fire pit, cosy and warm for those icy nights where you can toast marshmallows and rug up with loved ones.
You might have a pool, that makes you feel like you live in a resort come summer time with drinks in your backyard.
You might have special artwork adorning your walls, reminding you of galleries near and far that you’ve visited.
You might just have a big TV that you like to plonk yourself in front of to take you away from where you are, if only for 90 minutes.
Or you might have a library of books, with a comfy armchair, that takes you to places and introduces you to people you can only imagine.
Or like us, you might have a balcony.
And the balcony may for you, like it does for us, re-centre you, remind you of the bigger picture, and allow you to dream BIG, bigger than what you ever thought possible…
A day without jobs. A day without appointments. A day without anything really urgent to do, where I could just let my feet lead me wherever they felt the pull.
It was EXACTLY what I needed.
I dropped off baby girl at school. The clouds were parting, and the sun was already starting to kick in. I kinda drove aimlessly, yet at the same time knowing precisely where I was headed.
To the water.
I walked. I sat. I looked around. I thought. I felt the burn in my legs as I walked up stairs, up red-earth cliff faces that showed sand and dust so raw and bright as the earth’s core.
Later I went to the grocery shop… sure, a job, but I did it slowly, and ambled around the store, with more ‘me time’ in mind…
I got myself a takeaway coffee, and at home headed up to the balcony to research, edit and read and write, for almost 2 hours.
Ahhh.
I felt at home. When everything else around me crumbles and falls, things don’t work out the way I’d like, and the future feels uncertain, confusing, and I feel lost… my writing makes me happy.
It’s that one guarantee, that one escape, that one thing, that makes me so light and free.
It makes me feel at home. The process brings me such joy, and I don’t even need to tell you what I did the rest of the day…
Because wandering, writing, musing. Bringing myself back to centre, made me, ME again. That is enough.
So what else does one do when you’re locked at home, it’s beautiful weather…
Did I mention locked at home? 🤣
Well, kind of. Many Melburnians would agree with me. Others would call me over-dramatic, but I am a writer so…
LOL.
With not much to do, and with so much time to do it, I looked outside, felt the air, and said to baby girl:
“Why don’t we eat breakfast on the balcony?”
It’s a nicer experience actually, without the gazillion cars going by. I actually don’t really notice them, it’s only that Hubbie loves to bring it to our attentions time and time again.
The cars, oh man, the cars. God help us, THE CARS.
But now, during lockdown? There are minimal cars.
It made our tea, toast and toy experience that much more serene, peaceful, and chilled, up there, on a day where we didn’t do much, AT ALL.
Hey, maybe we schedule snap lockdowns once a month, just so we can get some time off? Anyone?
carcrashgratitude 