HorseSight

'All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another.'
~ Anatole France

Image source: Peakpx

I've been 53 now for just over one day. On my birthday I usually reflect on my life. After all, birthdays are when our individual "new years" really begin.

Today was an exceptional birthday. I'm not sure what made it so good precisely- most of my birthdays have been good. But this one was exceptional.

I was wrapped in love, given gifts that made my heart smile, and was able to accept all with a deep sense of peace I can't remember having felt before. There was a real letting go of expectations; a release from the constant tension of life. It wasn't forced or thought about, it simply was. How lovely.

The past two years have tempered me with suffering and grief. The past decade has been a century of life in all its paroxysms of both joy and despair. And this birthday felt like moving beyond, moving past, moving into peace.

I'm not sure, but I feel it's akin to knowing your time on earth is getting shorter and shorter; there are more ghosts now that walk beside you than the living - or at least as many. The simple joy I felt today at being made to feel so loved was of total contentment; a joy and wonder that these precious souls care for me; and a deep peace that my life has been full. My life has been full. And I am loved.

So 53 is here now; not necessarily old in the world's reckoning - but ancient as the deepest ocean in the aging of my soul.

I'm grateful for all of you: your birthday wishes; your kindnesses to me; your involvement in my tiny blip of a life in this vast cosmos. What a miracle that I have lived and been loved at all.

What a miracle indeed.
💜☮️✌🏼🕊️💜

PS- love you momma, I feel you now more than ever. You've been dead more than a year, yet you are there in the mirror when I look. I see you in the sunflowers in my gardens; feel you in the love of my children; and your compassion beats in my heart. The daughter becomes the mother, and the mother - the daughter.

'The presence of those seeking the truth is infinitely to be preferred to the presence of those who think they've found it.'
~ Terry Pratchett

Image: Giant Redwood by Myung J. Chung

✨️✨️💛💙💖💛💙💖💛💙💖✨️✨️

I see you! 👀

'What can we gain by sailing to the moon if we cannot cross the abyss that separates us from ourselves?'
~Thomas Merton

How many of the Moon's phases do you actively celebrate in your Druid practice? Do you celebrate 8, or 4, or maybe 3 or only a Full Moon? Maybe you don't work with them at all? If you do, how do you do to celebrate? /|\ 🌝/|\

Image: Crescent Moon by Gary Hart. You can see more of Gary's lovely moon images here: https://garyhartblog.com/photo-tips/crescent-moon/

'When you've come through a bad time, to tell of it takes the thorn out.'
~ Mary Webb, 'Precious Bane'

Image source: depositphotos

Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?
Mary Oliver

'When you recover or discover something that nourishes your soul and brings joy, care enough about yourself to make room for it in your life.'
~Jean Shinoda Bolen
What nourishes your soul and brings you joy?

Image source: Depositphotos