Fairy Gardens

What is essential...

“And now here is my secret, a very simple secret;

it is only with the heart that one can see rightly,

what is essential is invisible to the eye.”

~ Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

He turns our living room into a playground filled with colour and energy.
And he shows us this sacred world of pure and shameless play.
For us, his parents, it is a lost world. Vanished bit by bit as we grew older.

But he takes us by the hand and leads us back to purity and simplicity.
And while the three of us are sitting on the floor together I realize that all my life I have been searching desperately for the happiness that was already present....and always will be.

When You Open Yourself...

“When you open yourself to the continually changing, 
impermanent, dynamic nature of your own being and of reality, 
you increase your capacity to love and care about other people and your capacity to not be afraid. 

You're able to keep your eyes open, your heart open, and your mind open. 
And you notice when you get caught up in prejudice, bias, and aggression.

You develop an enthusiasm for no longer watering those negative seeds,
from now until the day you die.

And, you begin to think of your life as offering endless opportunities to start to do things differently.”

~ Pema Chödrön

I started this morning with such peace inside but as the day progressed and I started to get tired, I fell back into my old behavior. Oh, frustration!

But then I saw this post from Oak before Ash and remembered a quote by Pema Chödrön; think of your life as offering endless opportunities to start to do things differently.

And I decided to take the opportunity to focus at least the rest of the day on the love and warmth that surrounds me in our cozy home.
And now I feel peace inside again instead of that consuming self-blame.

Thank you for being here today and thank you Emma for your heartfelt post. It inspired me and reminded me that we are all on the same path, going two steps forward and one step back. But we are on our way!
With love to all of you....Xxx!

Reconnect

It was such a beautiful day, windy and sunny at the same time. A strange combination of a cold wind and warm sunbeams. The leaves in the garden seemed to glow in the sunlight and whirled away a moment later.

M was playing with his beloved hydro grains again and I was strolling around the garden with my camera. At these moments we're at complete peace with ourselves and our surroundings. I wish we could be like that all the time.

I felt how the sunbeams warmed me and enlightened me. I felt how the wind blew my worries away. That fresh cold wind brought energy and clear thoughts.

And suddenly I could not remember what I worried about this morning and why I was angry or disappointed. It all seemed so small and non-essential. The essence was here with my boy in our garden. It was hidden in every bird, flower and plant...and in me.

After today I promise myself to go outside whenever that feeling of discontent comes again. To take a time-out to breathe some fresh air and to reconnect (and perhaps to play with hydro grains.. :)