In all this great unknowing
June 11, 2020
Yarns, chronicles, anecdotes, tales… be the reader. Be the reader of awe-inspiring books and epic tales but also take time to read the actions, thoughts, feelings and sharings of those around you by putting down the devices and simply being with each other.
A face can tell many a story as can the deepest of hearts.
Since my earliest days ( alongside the sharing of great wisdom, passion, strength, vitality, love and absolute joy from all of the adults around me) I’ve also watched the worry on people’s faces and I’ve read signs of loss, disturbance, frustration, deep sadness and heartache because this is what it is to be truly human.
Working my whole life in the field of education and especially since the boom in how much access children have to devices, I’ve noticed vast changes in the way that children read each other’s faces or the faces of those around them because you don’t read emotions from a device.
For this very reason I’m thinking about what I’m reading into this current situation we find ourselves within.
In all this great unknowing
I still have the freedom to pause or to react
I still have the freedom to stock up or to share
I still have the freedom to harbour or to free
I still have the freedom to shout or to be quiet
I still have the freedom to laugh out loud or cry
I still have the freedom to moan or to be grateful
I still have the freedom to encourage or dissuade
I still have the freedom to create or close my heart
I still have the freedom to breathe or lose my focus
I still have the freedom to hide or to be seen
I still have the freedom to withdraw or to connect
I still have the freedom to learn or bury my head
I still have the freedom to worry or to live
- Maria Cairnie
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It’s at times of real difficulty, stress or heartache that we often see the greatest amounts of kindness and tenderness that any one human being is capable of giving or sharing.
Self-work is a long, sometimes arduous, at times very difficult but also greatly rewarding journey and the amazing thing about it is that it really should never end.
A day in my life as I reminisce over conducting a wonderful wedding ceremony that was to be a walk down memory lane in the heart of the Glasgow Barrowlands.
Show yourself that you are capable of so much more than worry by stopping to take time to breathe, stand still, look at yourself closely and know how far you’ve come.
When was the last time (before this pandemic took root and made us prisoners in our own homes) that you really stopped to look at, feel close to, listen to, touch or consider the immense power of the mighty trees that gives shelter above your head?
Have you felt during this pandemic that there has been a feeling of ending? Endings of course are a necessary part of life but the anxious feelings arise in the ‘not knowing’ when the new beginning will come around.
Our secure bookshop is now open with a collection of children's books to delight and inspire through literacy and creative arts written by Maria Cairnie.
'This time will pass' is a really important phrase which helps me to understand and rationalise my feelings around this time we find ourselves in, knowing that this time won't be forever and that being mindful is all about keeping within the present.
