I took a wee sabbatical and it’s been a couple of weeks since my last post but brightest blessings for 2024.
Family gatherings have been high on the priority list and with their departure it’s been more difficult for me to get myself back into a routine of daily writing. It’s been an interesting time, social media and blog free and very tempting to remain so but as author and artist it’s ‘the way’ to maintain a presence and to, as we all have do, make a living… although I try not to push my work on my followers and subscribers.
Before we knew it, another year passed and we’re half way through January. Flux and change have been the predominant aspects of these last years more than ever and I think we all may need to reimagine our lives, even reinvent ourselves, to find a simpler way of being that encompasses change and allows for more of a flow through.
Perpetual flow
rolling in
season to season
Blessed days of sunshine
rain and shadow
reflected
in how we
walk our way
in balance
wading
through emotional
waters deep
or rivulet shallow
or exhilarated
dive
immersing self
into life
and grounded
let seeds fall
in fields, once fallow
Needing less, wanting less, declutters our spaces, just as it declutters our entire lives… freeing us from having to maintain and care for items long redundant. I’m really not saying we rid ourselves of cherished items, loved for many reasons or to live the lives of monks and nuns, but rather to see how clearing space of physical things, also clears our internal space, our very consciousness, of so much neediness. There are always others that truly need what we hang onto, senselessly. I don’t do New Year’s resolutions quite honestly but this could be just the one we can easily adhere to… letting go those out-worn things.
We started our yearly declutter in the pantry, cleaning and checking use-by dates on home preserves or canned good and checking that dry goods such as flour or cereals were not invaded by weevil. What a simple task and yet what a lovely feeling to know our pantry is clean and renewed… actually making room for this year’s harvest as it comes around.
This is abundance for me… fruit and vegetables, flowers in bloom; mostly those that provide sustenance and that can be frozen, dried or bottled/preserved in a well stocked pantry that is constantly used and replenished as produce is harvested. No clutter to be seen ☺️
This year our olive trees flowered profusely but whether they will produce after the very cool wet summer we’ve had is another matter. Their scent is wonderful and their bloom so delicate and pretty.
As the summer season heads towards autumn at a frightening speed. and Lughnasadh is but three weeks away, hay harvest is done and there is an early chill on the air… although our summer’s are getting cooler and more like those of twenty five years ago. Our deciduous trees are changing their cloaks of green to amber hues very early, dahlia are in bloom and autumn berries are already ripening in the hedgerows.
…and so the wheel turns on again, birth, renewal, harvest, death and rebirth cycles on and on… where do you find your peace in the war-torn landscape of life?
There is a place
that we can go
beyond the muddy
tales of woe
where waters pool
in depths that glow
with dreams of hope
renewing
where bee-sung songs
drone of peace and plenty
bird-chorus sings
of a life never empty
With nature’s rhythm
gently flow
barely rippling the grass
…walk softly
In stillness lies
a sense of peace
within the mists
and the sound of wings
and in the silence between
a song up-drifts
and bird calls
the heart uplifts
our senses soar
in stillness growing
in deepest silence
across waters flowing
In nature’s rhythm
gently flow
barely rippling the grass
…walk softly
Wishing you all peace in 2024…
Penny
Beyond the Gate Studio and Farm
Penny Reilly Artist Beyond the Gate 
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