Mendinspiration 2 - orange hippy pants, and pockets!

Well two weeks ago I wrote my intention to write every week. And then I didn't…

So I thought instead, in the meantime, I'd write about one thing I did when perhaps I could have been writing… Mending my orange hippy pants.

These pants are another free shop favourite from my travels, and after intensive use, by the time I got home, they had one big two sided tear, another small one, and a couple of tiny little holes that could have been the start of something bigger as well. So I finally got around to mending them, thinking they might make good pants for pregnancy with their stretchy top… Of course I didn't quite manage to finish in time since my little treasure bumped the due date forward, but I completed the job I'd started anyway (while meanwhile the small one nestled on me, oh so snuggly warm and cosy and delicious)…

In my usual fashion I decided to patch my pants with an extra decorative touch of some hand stitching in contrasting colours, and also in this case some extra potential functionality, with three pockets of various sizes (one an unnecessary extra, just because I had a small piece of the material left, and because I got excited about pockets, since the stripe covers both the tiny holes). And coincidentally, during my time working on the project, I discovered on facebook that pockets are a subject of equality - how perfect! In any case, one way or another, pockets are awesome, and so very very handy, what's not to love?! So I say, pockets for all - woman, man, hippy orange, or any colour of the rainbow, alike!

So here are some various pictures of my work (with the pants in their two modes). I failed to take any before pictures unfortunately!

In this case the patch material was from a rag bag I got years ago, from a fabric factory near to where I live, which is sadly now closed. No doubt it was made redundant by cheaper imports from places where people are more easily exploited for their cheap labour, and where there may be less other 'costly' restrictions too, such as providing safe workplaces or reducing pollution and other environmental impacts… As always, it is worth remembering that it is important to consider what we are really paying for, or perhaps what we are not paying for… Funny thing, when my pants were free, the patch material was cheap and mending has saved me buying another pair of pants. While meanwhile buying a new pair of pants for that same small amount of money it cost me for the patches is frighteningly quite likely possible in this globalised day and age, but would also quite likely be encouraging the continuation of unethical practices…

And I'm looking forward to wearing my orange pants again, especially because orange is the colour of the sacral chakra, the seat of creativity, so hopefully they will inspire me to continue to express my creativity!

For previous meanderings on the topic of mending, one of my favourite themes, see here for Mendinspiration 1 - Mending my working in the garden pants, or here for my Make, Mend, Maintain page.

Some more photos of the mended pants, with my extremely cute modelling assistant tucked up in the sling to add to the look. :-)

Life, Death, Birth and Rebirth

Today I walked our local labyrinth in Buninyong.

And in honour of our down under Samhain, a time of honouring the underworld, and a time of rebirth, into the Pagan New Year, before walking I chose some oracle cards to guide me in reflecting on what I now need to release as the old year passes.

And when I reached the centre of the labyrinth, I chose some cards to help me clarify my focus to set some intentions for the coming year.

The cards were very fitting and enlightening, for the time of now and also for this point in the story… and the experience of walking was very grounding and brought me back to centre, to here and now, on a lovely Autumn afternoon, walking the labyrinth through fallen leaves from the surrounding European trees.

My beloved also walked the labyrinth, and in his arms he held our newborn babe, her first labyrinth experience.

Meanwhile, our wonderful whirlwind big little girl was having fun cooking, eating, doing jobs, playing, reading and dancing with her Nanna, allowing us this moment of quiet, stillness and reflection, in the midst of this joyful chaos that is Life. :-)

For us right now it is definitely a time of celebrating Life in its highest intensity of newness, vibrancy, immediacy and presence. And also a time to remember some of those who have passed into Death, namesakes of our newest and smallest family member. A time of reflecting on Birth, particularly our own very recent experience! And a time of Rebirth into this New Year and into our renewed roles as Mother and Father now of two little treasures.

And it is also a fitting theme of the time of now, not only for Samhain, and also yesterday's Full Moon in Scorpio, to be reflecting on Life, Death, Birth and Rebirth, as our recent experience with birthing our tiny daughter really contained all of the above, as after her surprise arrival 4 weeks early and after only 2 hours in hospital, for a moment there we almost lost her and time stood still as we willed her to stay with us, to return to us… But with us she is, and she is strong and healthy and growing every single day and right now you would not know her beginning was anything but smooth and easy.

And so for my intentions for this year… They have been a long time coming as I have been musing on them since feeling stuck at the beginning of the calendar year of 2018 while working on 2018 intentions back then, but it feels right that I am now ready to clarify and set these goals at this Pagan New Year instead, and following this labyrinth walk and oracle readings, which really followed an earlier walk and reading, and also the readings I did back in January for each month of 2018 with 4 sets of cards - 3 of which did give us an early heads up that our little one was going to surprise us and come in April instead of mid May!

So… Intentions setting now, for the year beginning Samhain 2018.

1. Family - Being the best I can be mother, partner, sister, daughter… to my daughters, to my beloved, to my other blood and 'out-of-law' family members and also to my friends, my soul family members who I am slowly but surely finding more of and gathering to me close.

2. Creative expression - Sharing my writing, and my music, and my other arts and crafts. Every single week. (This was a surprise revelation today after previously committing myself to monthly sharings!)

3. Building my personal strength. In every way. - Taking care of myself physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually, soulfully.

4. My soul work - Healing and energy work - Developing my capacity and sharing this gift wherever, whenever, and however I can.

5. Communication - Working on my communication skills and building on this knowledge with family and friends and sharing this further. Listening and speaking, writing and reading.

6. Intuition - Developing my intuitive skills, remembering to listen to and to follow my intuition.

7. Meditation, stillness, connection to source. So important to find time for this.

8. Developing our Halcyon Haven. Making and holding sacred space in our home, on our land. Making our own labyrinth. Creating space for healing, for connecting, for sharing.

Some important revelations from today's process and recent times…

Family, friends and soul families… Sometimes building community happens not just by working to build connections, and finding ways to give, to help, to support, much as we want to do all this. Instead, in times of need, community connection also grows by allowing receiving, accepting help and support, and being grateful for all this, and for the blessing that has brought so many beautiful angels to give all this in times of need. And then building on all this by continuing to clear and open the flow of giving and receiving, remembering to find ways to give in return that feel right and natural and easy, and remembering always love and gratitude.

The path of least resistance - a very important reminder. Sometimes it feels hard to find the balance between making things happen how you choose and allowing things to happen as they will. Perhaps the goal is effortless effort…?? Effort that doesn't feel hard because it feels so right and so good. For the highest and greatest good of all.

And remembering the freedom of childhood - letting our inner children run free with joy, playfulness, wonder and presence, alongside children to whom all this is the most natural and only way to be.

And with that I wish a Happy New Year to you, and blessed be.

Prelude 2 - Life in The Wild

Around me, in all directions, the canopy of box eucalypts. The landscape wounded by its gold fever history, heavily damaged but yet not destroyed. Denuded of its soil, eroded into gullies, pockmarked with holes, rock exposed in all directions. But still trees growing strong, some for more than 100 years, despite this adversity. And in turn these trees made home for birds of many sizes, shapes and colours. Those birds, those trees - my companions, in those despairing and despondent days of pain and paralysis, stopping me from falling into the void.

The lack of walls separating me from outside may have meant occasional challenges to comfort, like exposure to icy gusts and sometimes even below zero temperatures overnight, or the inescapable full midday heat of summer and accompanying ever present clouds of flies, but at a time of disconnection, doubt, desperation, depression… it also meant that I was never alone, never really able to completely close off and give up.

I had been pushed to my limits in so many directions. I had pushed myself and been pushed by others; I had been pushed by circumstances, events and accidents; pushed by choices, and by lack of choices; by dreams, and by the desolation of dreams too big, too wild, too impossible to fulfil.

There could have been nothing left.

But instead there was yet deep within, the glimmer of new beginnings, and the stirrings of hope; the spread of new growth brought by sweet red breasted friends, grey morning songs and tiny nesting flitters; the times of change to come signalled by the rustles and creaks of the wind approaching through the trees and lightning flashes in the night; fresh eucalyptus scents and glittering sunlit leaves following cleansing rain showers; sunlight, starlight, moonlight, painted skies of sunsets and dawning of new days shining the way.

That land saved me. It spoke to me, and I heard it.

But still I had to go.

Tree creeper creeping, and flying

Hey little red boy, where's your little red girl?

There she is! And boo!

My precious friend

No wall home

My nest for those days

Tucked away in a high corner but open to the elements

Ooh yeah! Brisk mornings indeed…