tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88965244080887033562024-03-05T06:58:33.061+00:00Loving GratitudeKlara Darling-Swannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01375240558269473066noreply@blogger.comBlogger178125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8896524408088703356.post-60604381299704629352012-10-17T20:51:00.000+01:002012-10-17T20:51:16.591+01:00What do we really need?<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hello</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I fell out of a tree yesterday! It was very exciting, I was out walking with my partner at Cadbury Castle in Somerset and we were talking about life and how as I have got older I have lost my sense of adventure in many ways; indeed I have become afraid of doing things which might be fun in case I get hurt. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It seems like a sensible course of action, I am after all thirty seven and with three children I am in a position of responsibility, indeed I have a duty to take care of myself, do I not? I should be sensible, prudent, rational, sober, boring.........</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Life is there to be lived, I don't think my children would be proud of me for avoiding anything which could be fun on the grounds that I might end up a bit hurt! Perhaps having responsibilities is just a convenient excuse anyway, "Oh no I can't possibly climb that tree, I have children you know....." </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Having children doesn't stop me from getting in a car and driving about in a metal box on wheels, or from climbing ladders to change light bulbs. There are rather a lot of accidents (statistically speaking) from falling in this country! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No! my mind selects things for doing and not doing in a seemingly rational way, after all I <i>need</i> to drive the car, and I do not <i>need</i> to climb trees. Or do I? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I <i>need</i> to have fun, I <i>need</i> to enjoy my life, I<i> need</i> to feel exhilarated <span style="font-size: large;">I <i>need</i> to feel like I am alive! </span>I am here for a physical experience after all, otherwise surely I would not have a body! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Ipso facto</i> <b><span style="font-size: large;">I need to climb trees!</span></b> Ha! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So there we were and my partner said "climb that tree, it's perfect for climbing." It was a rather beautiful oak tree with many rather conveniently placed limbs for climbing. I got about seven feet up before the world started to swim around me, my belly tingled in an alarming way and I panicked! I hugged the tree tight, I clung to it for safety for a few minutes and then when nothing happened I started to relax! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If I was to climb this tree every day I would probably figure out the best way of doing it, it would become second nature, I would not need to be scared. I relaxed some more and realised it was fun! I decided to climb higher, I looked up and down and started to reach up to some higher branches, I felt excited and brave. I climbed a couple of feet higher and then realised that to get any further I was going to have to boost myself up from one foot while pulling my body with my arms.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That was when it happened! I boosted and the branch chose that exact moment to crumble beneath me! What a surprise! Luckily for me my partner was very close to me and he slowed my fall by pushing me bodily into the tree trunk, so it was in fact more of a slide than a fall! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I landed silently in the nettles! I was rather shocked! I had not been expecting to fall. It was all very very exciting and very exhilarating! I loved it. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Who knew that falling out of a tree could be a good life enhancing experience? Who knew that climbing and falling were missing from my life?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am definitely gong to climb more trees, I probably would have tried again yesterday if I had not been quite so sore! I learned a very valuable lesson: always check the branches before you put all your weight on them! After all it's not actually that easy to fall from a tree, something has to go wrong, one would never simply let go and fall off! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Live life! Live Life ! </span><span style="color: magenta; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Live Life!</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This may be the only one you get! This is my life and I'm going to have fun.......</span><br />
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<span style="color: lime; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Today I have Loving Gratitude for Trees! </b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: lime;">I have Loving Gratitude for the aches and pains today which remind me of the fun I had yesterday!</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: lime;">I have Loving Gratitude for heavy rain</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: lime;">I have Loving Gratitude for herbal medicine</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: lime;">I have Loving Gratitude for books</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: lime;">I have Loving Gratitude for my house which shelters me from the storm</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: lime;">I have Loving Gratitude for my cosy bed where I sleep and recouperate</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: lime;">I have Loving Gratitude for my children</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: lime;">I have Loving Gratitude for wild food</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: lime;">I have Loving Gratitude for the bravery I found for climbing trees!</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">love Klara. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Klara Darling-Swannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01375240558269473066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8896524408088703356.post-87077563764129638692012-10-15T21:29:00.001+01:002012-10-15T21:29:27.496+01:00Saying Thank You Feels Wonderful! <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hello</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There is so much to be thankful for! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have been finding it rather difficult lately to stay focused on that which makes me feel good. Summer really felt rather mediocre this year, and really I am specifically talking about the weather! When autumn arrived this year it was almost indistinguishable from the summer, dull days and plenty of rain all round. I fought autumn for a while but I have to admit that it is really here now, the days are getting shorter and darker and the leaves are falling from the trees......</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Autumn really is one of my favourite times of year! From my kitchen window I can see a very large sycamore tree, two large patches of its leaves have already turned to a beautiful mixture of reds, yellows and browns; the tree is adorned in glorious<span style="font-size: large;"> <b><span style="color: red;">t</span><span style="color: orange;">e</span><span style="color: yellow;">c</span><span style="color: lime;">h</span><span style="color: #38761d;">n</span><span style="color: cyan;">i</span><span style="color: blue;">c</span><span style="color: purple;">o</span><span style="color: magenta;">l</span><span style="color: red;">o</span><span style="color: orange;">u</span><span style="color: yellow;">r</span><span style="color: lime;">!</span></b> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Autumn is a magical show! While falling leaves dance in the wind, those still attached to their trees display a myriad of hues, and those upon the ground crunch beneath my feet in a truly satisfying way! The evenings are drawing in, it is time to put on jumpers and start the heating up, to make big warming stews and dumplings, and bake delicious cakes to munch in the late afternoons.......</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Indeed there is much to celebrate in the autumn. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So here I am again, choosing between different mindsets, I know that I can choose, I have done it so many times before, all the evidence is here in front of my eyes in the form of around one hundred and seventy-five blog posts all about what I have done each day and each moment to motivate my mind into a positive productive way of thinking! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I know that feeling good is a choice, but I am experiencing a stubbornness, a kind of deliberate refusal to do those things which support my good mental health! Indeed, I am feeling rather cynical! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The part of my blogs that I find the most uplifting and the most helpful is (rather unsurprisingly) the <b><span style="color: magenta; font-size: large;">Gratitude List</span></b> at the end! I am reading through each and every blog I have written so far, and when I get to the gratitude lists I imagine each thing as I read it, and for a moment and sometimes for quite a long time<span style="font-size: large;"> I feel really very happy, joyful, passionate, excited, sublime! </span><span style="font-size: x-large;">I smile and laugh, I am moved by the glory of the world.........</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There in black and white at the bottom of the page are ten of the things which I love about being alive, ten things which I feel grateful for. It's all in the <b>focus</b>, <span style="font-size: large;">focus, focus, focus!</span> <span style="font-size: x-large;">Shine a light on the glory, shine a light on the love! We are supposed to have fun! </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Shine a light on the beauty of each moment, here is the beauty of autumn, it is only here for three short months every year, it is my joy and my job to notice everything wonderful about the autumn........</b></span>
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<span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>So today I feel thankful for thankfulness! </b></span><br />
<span style="color: magenta; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I feel thankful for the first frosted spider webs in the early autumn sunshine</b></span><br />
<span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I feel thankful for tea and cake by a cosy fire</b></span><br />
<span style="color: magenta; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I feel thankful for when the penny finally drops and I understand</b></span><br />
<span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I feel thankful for creativity </b></span><br />
<span style="color: magenta; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I feel thankful for wood polished smooth</b></span><br />
<span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I feel thankful for stone polished smooth and shiny by peoples bottoms sliding down it!</b></span><br />
<span style="color: magenta; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I feel thankful for rainbows in my house from sunlight through the fish tank</b></span><br />
<span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I feel thankful for the purr of my cats</b></span><br />
<span style="color: magenta; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I feel thankful for my ability to keep trying even when I feel cynical</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">love Klara. </span>Klara Darling-Swannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01375240558269473066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8896524408088703356.post-83242838508155939232012-09-26T20:00:00.004+01:002012-09-26T20:00:40.752+01:00The Magical Thought Game! <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hello </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Today I have had a lovely day! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What's more, it has been raining pretty much all day long, the sky has been grey and brooding and we have spent most of the day inside. I love to be out doors, and in particular I love to be out walking in the woods and the fields, but today that wasn't an option.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today thinking was easy. Why? I am feeling playful, I have been imagining that thinking is a game, something to have fun with! Today unwanted thoughts did occur, but when they did I saw it as a challenge and I alternated between seeing how quickly I could shift my thoughts onto an entirely different subject, and by attempting not to think. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I upped the game by thinking up the most amusing things possible in the moment, for example I was at the swimming pool thinking a fairly malevolent thought when I noticed that the cubicle was made of material which looks just like the skin of an orange! So, I imagined for a few moments that I was trapped inside a giant orange floating through space! This made me laugh out loud, I was able to draw myself away from the malevolent thoughts and as I did so I realised that although those kinds of thoughts have a certain addictive quality, (by that I often feel compelled to finish thinking them before I can move on to something more healthy), I realised that the addiction is weakening, I would rather think about <span style="color: magenta; font-size: large;">Good Feeling Things. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thinking good feeling thoughts doesn't have to be a serious thing! I have realised that I am as changeable as the weather, (yesterday it was blue sky and sunshine, today it was clouds and rain) and by that I simply mean that my state of mind is rarely constant, there are moods which pass through my being which I often feel as if I have no control over. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The more playful I am about my thoughts the easier it is to cope with negative seeming moods, in the past I took thoughts so seriously, I thought that they<i><b> meant</b></i> something, I thought that they reflected some aspect of me that needed changing (and perhaps they do in some regards). I found them upsetting, disturbing even, I took them far too seriously! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My thoughts were burdensome, they were challenging and they were hard work! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I now believe that much of my thought world is randomly generated. I don't profess to know everything about being human, but I am starting to know quite a lot about how to think myself happy! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am enjoying laughing at my thoughts, the less seriously I take them the less power they hold over me and the quicker they dissipate. I used to tell them to clear off but now I find that a simple giggle at their preposterousness usually suffices to send them packing without too much effort on my part! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I disclaim my unwanted thoughts! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I disown any thoughts which are going to bring me down or hinder me on my path to happiness! Life is too short to spend it feeling miserable. </span><br />
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<span style="color: orange; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Today I am Thankful for the way smiling makes me feel</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: orange;">I am Thankful for the smell of freshly baked bread in town</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: orange;">I am Thankful for the sound of people laughing</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: orange;">I am Thankful for the small things which help to bring my mind to happier thoughts</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: orange;">I am Thankful for the love in my life which holds me close</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: orange;">I am Thankful for fairy lights</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: orange;">I am Thankful for flapjacks</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: orange;">I am Thankful for swimming pools</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: orange;">I am Thankful for mossy rocks</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: orange;">I am Thankful for the sound of rain through leaves</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">love Klara. </span>Klara Darling-Swannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01375240558269473066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8896524408088703356.post-89524469139353049322012-09-20T21:17:00.000+01:002012-09-20T21:17:14.604+01:00Parenting Myself! <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hello</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today I have been noticing just how often I don't do the things for myself which make life enjoyable! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What an utterly crazy notion! To know what it is that makes me feel good, and on so many levels, physically, emotionally and spiritually, and to not do them! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="font-size: x-large;">Surely this is utter insanity! </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What on earth is going on?<i> I do wonder!!!</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I got to thinking about this because I was sitting upstairs, leaning over and writing on the laptop which was perched on such a low table that poor posture was the only thing which would allow me to continue! I was reading a past post <a href="http://klara-darling-swann.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/recipe-for-joy.html">A Recipe For Joy!</a> and was realising that I have not been following my own advice (!?) and that I would definitely benefit from sitting up straight and having a glass of water. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So what did I do then? Absolutely nothing! Yes, I know it's bonkers........ I continued to lean, dehydrate and write until my back hurt so much that I could no longer ignore it, and then I got up and moved downstairs to a higher table, made a hot water bottle for my back and drank a large glass of water. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is just the kind of thing parents nag their children about every day (or at least I imagine it is and that is the important thing here). Stand up straight, it's good for your posture, drink plenty of water, it flushes out the system, eat some fruit, it's better for your body than sugar..... and the list goes on. Why do parents do this? I believe we are hoping that it will help our children to make informed decisions about their lives so that they grow up healthy and strong and live long and prosper, or is that Star Trek? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Star Trek or not we all grow up (at least physically) eventually and leave home (in most cases) where we live without our mums and dads and have to follow our own guidance. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So why don't I do the things which I know are good for me?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here I am again back on the endless whys! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Can I skip the whys? Is it important to know why things are as they are? Surely it is better to simply move on to the solution (if there is one), or simply forget about it?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When I ask myself why, I only come up with the lame answer of "I can't be bothered" or "I don't care enough". So why is entirely unsatisfying. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It just zipped into my brain that <span style="font-size: large;">perhaps I am afraid of what I could become</span> if I did all the things which I know would enhance, enliven and make juicy my experience of life!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I don't have all the answers, I haven't suddenly changed because of this knowledge, no merging of realities has occurred, no bells are ringing in sheer joy at my discovery.....</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I would like to start parenting myself, perhaps now is the time to start being my own mum, at least when my mum is not around! Perhaps now is the time to experiment with doing all the things which I know are good for me?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Adolescence is generally regarded as the stage following the onset of puberty, wherein the person develops from childhood into adulthood, adolescents are famous for taking risks and neglecting the things which they could do to look after themselves. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Help! Am I a thirty seven year old adolescent? Yeah, but no, but seriously.........</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I like the idea of the initiation into adulthood which tribal people are known to still practice, it seems to me that there does need to be some kind of marking of the moment when it becomes the time to look after ourselves to our best ability. As a mother I do a great job of looking after other people, but up until recently I have neglected my own needs. Perhaps I can create a little ceremony to mark my graduation to adult life, even if it is a few years later than it could have been. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I can't be bothered, is a cop out. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Doing my best is always a reward in itself! Now is the time to do the things which I know will benefit me! </span><br />
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<span style="color: magenta; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Today I have Loving Gratitude for the water which hydrates me</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: magenta;">Today I have Loving Gratitude for all the tribal peoples of the world</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: magenta;">Today I have Loving Gratitude for my children</span></b></span><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: magenta;">Today I have Loving Gratitude for paper lampshades</span></b><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: magenta;">Today I have Loving Gratitude for my hearing</span></b><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: magenta;">Today I have Loving Gratitude for love and kisses</span></b><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: magenta;">Today I have Loving Gratitude for sunshine through prisms</span></b><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: magenta;">Today I have Loving Gratitude for rainbows</span></b><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: magenta;">Today I have Loving Gratitude for the power of thought</span></b><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: magenta;">Today I have Loving Gratitude for my mum! </span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">love Klara.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Klara Darling-Swannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01375240558269473066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8896524408088703356.post-67522698664552403032012-09-18T13:34:00.001+01:002012-09-18T13:34:59.206+01:00Do Something Great For YourSelf Today! <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hello</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Spending time away from writing my blog is showing me exactly how valuable my blog is for my emotional wellbeing! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My partner was away for a couple of weeks and he has now been back for just over a week, during which time I have spent zero time on my blog.........</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Gradually over the time since I last worked on my positive writings poor, thought patterns have set in, gloom has entered the room, in fact an entire herd of spiny lesser spotted doom mongers have taken up residence in my thought world. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Why? <span style="font-size: large;">Why?</span> <span style="font-size: x-large;">Why?</span> Why can't it be simple? Why should <span style="font-size: large;"><i>I</i></span> have to work so hard at being happy in the world? Why is there no magical cure, no Panacea? Eh?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Of course being poor thought forms I could waste masses of time on the whys, I could whittle away hours, days and weeks wondering why and wishing I was different, better, more suited to modern life; and what would I achieve? Most likely Nothing, <span style="font-size: large;">nada,</span> <span style="font-size: x-large;">zilch, </span>other than perhaps a whole entourage of increasingly menacingly negative thoughts and feelings beseeching the world to magically alter my faulty, infuriating, defective brain.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Blah blah blah <span style="font-size: large;">blah.</span>..... <span style="font-size: x-large;">Boring Boring Boring,</span> it's so boring. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What is so boring? Allowing myself to focus on everything that is wrong, and at the moment in particular wondering <i>why</i> things are wrong, because mostly likely <i><span style="font-size: large;">I will never find out</span></i>, so as his holiness the Dali Lama says:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"If there is no solution to the problem then don't waste time worrying about it. If there is a solution to the problem then don't waste time worrying about it. "</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So goodbye <i>Why</i>, have a nice day, see you again soon but hopefully for a more enjoyable reason.....</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Because I do have a solution! <span style="font-size: large;">How fantastic</span>, I really do have something that helps, something on which I can depend when I need to find a way to feel better. I have my blog. My little tiny bloggy woo.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ah! Now I am having warm feelings towards myself (a rather drastic improvement on yesterdays thoughts), Thank you me of the past, thank you me of last year. I did a great thing! I started looking for ways to feel good and now I have a resource to help me. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I thought that I was going to write about something quite different today, but as so often happens the moment has taken over! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is all too easy for me to take myself for granted, and to miss all that I do which is great, </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"> <span style="color: red;">Focus is so utterly crucial for me!</span> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am sure the list of what I do that is great is very long, part of me doesn't want to make one incase it is short but that is just another thought, thoughts are not real, (what is real? That is a question for another day, here is one of my favourite thought on reality from a past blog post: "</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #585858; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Take me or you for example, when I touch you physically, I am not really touching you! this is because we are all mostly space; imagine our bodies, in fact every physical thing, being made of molecules, and each atom in our molecules is a bubble of electrons around a infinitesimally small nucleus, all chained together to make a frogs spawn like structure of mostly space. We are an atomic sponge which when we come in to contact with other physical things, like each other, our electrons repel each other giving the illusion of touch. In reality (if you'll excuse the pun) we do not touch at all and if electrons did not exist we would all just blend into one and other. we are all mostly space and the space we all occupy is connected, a little like being in one infinite ocean all together</span>.")</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ah yes, Focus, I could focus on why, or all that is wrong with me, or I can focus on what I can do to feel great and what better way than by focusing on my own greatness. At times this could seem like an impossible challenge, like slaying a minotaur or snogging Medusa, so on those occasions I could start small, for example, I cook a great pasta sauce which my children always eat all of without complaining, indeed they usually make happy eating comments! I can be relied upon to make a delicious chocolate cake at the drop of a hat! I am very good at finding things my children have lost, and so on. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I think what I am trying to say here is that we are in control of what we think, our thoughts are the one thing in life which we can reliably choose, and however minor my successes are when I think about them I feel <i>better</i> than when I think about what I might term my 'failures', and when I focus on something which feels good I am on my way to feeling great. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Feeling great is a place which I can visit, it is a place where I can stay, I am welcome there, I am happy there and it belongs to me</span>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">I deserve to feel great. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We all deserve to feel great. </span><br />
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<span style="color: magenta; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Today I have Loving Gratitude for my blog</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: magenta;">Today I have Loving Gratitude for choice</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: magenta;">Today I have Loving Gratitude for my ability to make delicious food</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: magenta;">Today I have Loving Gratitude for the food in my cupboards</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: magenta;">Today I have Loving Gratitude for the courgettes growing in my garden</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: magenta;">Today I have Loving Gratitude for my garden</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: magenta;">Today I have Loving Gratitude for the rain</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: magenta;">Today I have Loving Gratitude for the sun drying my laundry on the washing line</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: magenta;">Today I have Loving Gratitude for my friends</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: magenta;">Today I have Loving Gratitude for my baby's smiles</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">love Klara.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Klara Darling-Swannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01375240558269473066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8896524408088703356.post-71339538740804278922012-09-06T21:39:00.000+01:002012-09-06T21:39:36.062+01:00Progress is more Beautiful than Perfection! <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hello</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This week has been going really well so far! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Two very exciting things have happened to make my life more juicy and joyful!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Firstly</span> I have started a new bedtime routine with my baby which has had miraculous results; I had been struggling away each night spending an hour putting my baby to bed and then breast feeding her up to about nine times throughout night, it was really beginning to wear me out! However the other day a friend explained a way I had not heard of before where one does not have to leave the baby to cry to get her to sleep, <span style="color: magenta; font-size: large;">hallelujah!</span> I cried and immediately went home to try it! Quite frankly I'm stunned by the results, it is a sweet and gentle way to put a baby to bed, tonight being our third night I actually really enjoyed bed time!<span style="color: red; font-size: large;"> Thank you Universe! Thank you Zoe!</span> (my wise friend, mother of five, who told me the method and helped me to have the confidence to try!). Astonishingly my baby also slept eight hours straight, breast fed and then went straight back to sleep until morning! <b><span style="color: cyan; font-size: large;">Hooray! </span></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How wonderful! What a life changing event that was for me, it almost feels too easy, which makes me laugh! Why shouldn't life be easy? Life can be easy and life can be beautiful! The first night I tried the new method I had to be extremely patient, I had to sit calmly and quietly, I gave lots of cuddles and kisses and I experienced the feeing of really <i>knowing</i> that I was doing the right thing for the right reasons for both me and my baby. What a relief! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Secondly</span> I am thoroughly enjoying the work I have started, I am writing a kind of hand book from my blog! At the moment I am reading through and making notes on each and every blog post I have written, starting from the very beginning. At first I thought it might be a rather laborious task, I had even been putting it off, but it turns out I am absolutely loving every minute of it.<span style="font-size: large;"> I love my own writing!</span> and not only that but it seems that I actually wrote a lot of really great advice for little old <i>me</i>, lots of which I had totally forgotten about. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Revisiting my blog has rekindled the enthusiasm which was blossoming when I started out on my adventure! All the learning and experimenting with thought techniques seems to be starting to consolidate in my mind and now positive thought patterns appear to be coming to me in a rather automatic way, and by that I mean unprompted and effortlessly. In the past I had to be determined and will-ful in order to persuade, cajole and guide my thoughts into better feeling places! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At times it was effortless (so it says in my blog!) but now it seems to be a rather predominant behaviour of my thoughts to look for the positive in situations and I am loving it! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Progress, progress, progress! All I am looking for is progress (even tiny fairy footsteps will satisfy me) not perfection! Progress is delicious, delightful and wonderfully pleasing! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So here I am today, <span style="font-size: large;">I am proud of my writings, I am impressed by something I have done</span>, I don't mind that it is unfinished and I don't mind that I have a lot of work left to do! I have a delicious feeling of enthusiasm and I simply can't wait to get cracking with my work! ..........</span><br />
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<span style="color: magenta; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Today I have Loving Gratitude for my blog posts old and new</b></span><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: magenta;">I have Loving Gratitude for the moment when my baby saw the moon in the sky and asked me to get it down! </span></b><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: magenta;">I have Loving Gratitude for the sleep which is coming my way later on</span></b><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: magenta;">I have Loving Gratitude for enthusiastic feelings</span></b><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: magenta;">I have Loving Gratitude for the cycle of the seasons</span></b><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: magenta;">I have Loving Gratitude for change</span></b><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: magenta;">I have Loving Gratitude for the sharing of information amongst the human family</span></b><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: magenta;">I have Loving Gratitude for babies for being so incredibly sweet</span></b><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: magenta;">I have Loving Gratitude for my baby's trusting nature</span></b><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: magenta;">I have Loving Gratitude for my life! </span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">love Klara.</span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Klara Darling-Swannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01375240558269473066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8896524408088703356.post-64862223486165592412012-09-01T21:12:00.000+01:002012-09-01T21:12:57.546+01:00Perfection Lies Somewhere Inside Imperfection!<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hello</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So I am back writing my blog! I am not sure how often I am going to write, but at the moment I am planning to write two or three times a week, and the rest of the time that I would normally be blogging I shall be consolidating all that I have learnt so far on my quest to <span style="font-size: large; font-style: italic;">think good feeling thoughts </span><i>and </i><span style="font-size: large; font-style: italic;">achieve self-mastery</span> in order to write some sort of hand book to which I can refer during the dark times of my soul (which of course I am hoping not to have any of, but it can't hurt to be prepared just in case!).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So today is going pretty well so far! and considerably better than yesterday, which is always a good sign! Yesterday I was tetchy! I couldn't quite put my finger on it but I was short tempered about pretty much everything! No particular reason! Days like that trouble me, when I can't figure out why I feel irritable I can often end up feeling a bit confused and unsettled. I get caught up in the 'why?' </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Surely it must mean something? Why must it? Of course along comes the 'Everything happens for a reason' school of thought, which I must say where I live is more than just a school of thought, it's more like a belief! I'm on the fence about that one, however if everything did happen for a reason it's also highly probable that one may never find out the reasons for half the things that happen! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><b><span style="color: purple;">Life the Universe and everything is so complicated!</span></b></i> and yes, it is rocket science! Apparently yesterday the blue moon in pisces was to blame for pretty much everything! And that is exactly my point, if my moods are subject to things like the moon or astronomy I really do have a bats (or was that rats?) chance in hell of divining the 'why' for which I might be jolly, irritable or imaginative at any point in time! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, yesterday I was irritable, and it would have been a darn sight easier if I had remembered to just give my self a break! I could have allowed myself to be irritable, perhaps I might have then been able to see the funny side of it (it probably was quite funny from the outside anyway). I am always trying to be so damn <i>nice!</i> Mustn't upset anyone after all, I would always like to put other people's feeling first. So I felt ashamed of my short temper, I felt embarrassed and clumsy. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So here I am again, learning to be kind to myself! I can't always be perfect, likeable and serene! Sometimes the stars simply have other plans for me. <span style="font-size: large;">In this experience there lies a whole beautiful selection of lovely learning! </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Each moment I could accept myself exactly the way I am right now! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Each moment I could take myself less seriously!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Each moment I could be kind to myself and allow irritability as part of life's dance</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Each moment I could simply go with the mode of the day, hour or minute and see what I become.......</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am sure perfection lies somewhere inside imperfection and beauty cannot exist without its flaws. I am told that perfect symmetry is not as beautiful to the human observer as asymmetry! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Ha! This surely means my irritable days are just as important for my wholeness and my beauty as my serene mother Theresa days, and everything in between! Hooray I have just found a reason to be pleased with my irritation! We are not supposed to be perfect all the time, life is a dance...........</span><br />
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<span style="color: purple; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Today I am thankful for Divine Inspirations</b></span><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: magenta;">Today I am thankful for my glasses even though they are bent broken and squashed!</span></b><br />
<b style="color: purple; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today I am thankful for well written inspiring books</b><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: magenta;">Today I am thankful for the moon</span></b><br />
<b style="color: purple; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today I am thankful for the stars</b><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: magenta;">Today I am thankful for candle light</span></b><br />
<b style="color: purple; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today I am thankful for electricity</b><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: magenta;">Today I am thankful for the reclamation yard so full of quirky things</span></b><br />
<b style="color: purple; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today I am thankful for statues</b><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: magenta;">Today I am thankful for Love </span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">love Klara.</span><b style="color: purple; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Klara Darling-Swannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01375240558269473066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8896524408088703356.post-59864232630729996452012-08-30T12:53:00.001+01:002012-08-30T12:53:31.455+01:00My Focus is on the Flowers!<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hello</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hooray, at last I am back after what seems like ages of not writing my blog! Well I'm glad to be back writing. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have had a really fun time this summer even with the rain, after a while it ceased to bother me and I pretty much dispensed of waterproof gear and just got wet! It turned out to be all a matter of attitude for me! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This rainy summer has inspired me and interested me a great deal! Having suffered so much from depression in winter I feel as though I have been supplied with an extra challenge of a super wet and reasonably gloomy summer! Thank you so much Universe! Do you detect a note of sarcasm? No? Well you should because there certainly was one! The irony of a miserable summer on a weather dependent moody being such as me, has not escaped me! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So how has it been for me? Really and truly, it has been a challenge of epic proportions! However I also think it has been a very <b><span style="font-size: x-large;">great blessing!</span></b> Instead of the usual scenario where I just about make it through the winter and am able to entirely forget the trauma of my depression, this cycle of seasons <span style="font-size: large;">I made it through the winter in style</span>, with the help of my blogging I found my way each day to good feelings and good feeling thoughts, and then the wet and windy summer has meant for me that the challenge has been continuous for me. Instead of summer arriving and me joyously leaping aboard the sunshine train and forgetting my troubles for a few months, the bizzarre weather has meant that the challenges I face in winter have never been far enough away to be forgotten. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well, I hear you say, that doesn't sound so great! But that is where you are wrong, if indeed you are the voice in my head! Sticking with the <span style="font-size: large;">challenge to think good feeling thoughts </span>has actually been an opportunity to grow and to learn, and I really feel that I have grown and learnt! Hurrah! I am not saying I have all the answers or that I am healed, and here is the instant solution, because I believe self mastery does not happen in a day, a month or even a year. I wish that it would, but then what would be the point?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Learning to think good feeling thoughts, or indeed learning how to actually <span style="font-size: large;">use the mind, </span>(and by that I mean being the captain steering the ship, rather than flailing around on board a ghost ship crewed by crazy pirates simply allowing whatever thought worlds that happen to arise to lead me into stormy seas) is an act of <span style="font-size: large;">self mastery.</span> Unfortunately nobody instructed me in the use of my mind as I was growing up, perhaps nobody bringing me up knew that <span style="font-size: large;">we are in control of our thoughts</span> and that they do not control us? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We have the absolute power to choose what we think about and what of that hat we choose to focus on, and I would even go so far as to say all of the time! I would like to see some sort of <b><i>school of thought</i></b> (if you'll excuse the pun!), where people can come to relearn how to really think, to return to the realm of God, and really enjoy the life that they are leading regardless of how poor thought forms might perceive it! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On the last day of the last festival I was at this summer, this whole point was beautifully illustrated to me (or comically!) My very great friend Vicki Looked out of her van and upon seeing a friend approaching carrying a beautiful bunch of flowers she said: "ah you've brought me flowers, how kind!" and somebody else pointed out that the lady carrying the flowers had in her other hand a bucket of pooh and said "how do you know she wasn't bringing you the pooh?"</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I have a choice<span style="font-size: large;">: I can focus on the <span style="color: magenta;">flowers</span>, </span>or I can focus on the pooh!</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are flowers in all seasons, they glow and shine out of the darkest places, their beauty speaks volumes on focus. I love the flowers, I give great thanks for the flowers, sometimes I may have to search for them, but they are there to bring me joy.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: magenta; font-size: x-large;">My head is full of flowers.......</span></b> </span><br />
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<span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Today I give Great Bouquets of Thanks for Flowers!</b></span><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: orange;">I give Great Bouquets of Thanks for dandelions and daisies which brighten up my lawn</span></b><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: yellow;">I give Great Bouquets of Thanks for the foxgloves which rocket their powerful blooms in the braken</span></b><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: lime;">I give Great Bouquets of Thanks for the english rose which daintily colours my hedgerows</span></b><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: cyan;">I give Great Bouquets of Thanks for the delicious cornflowers</span></b><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;">I give Great Bouquets of Thanks for the chamomile flowers which reclaim the wastelands we create</span></b><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: purple;">I give Great Bouquets of Thanks for the sunflowers reflecting the glory of the sun!</span></b><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: magenta;">I give Great Bouquets of Thanks for the snowdrops heralding the coming of spring</span></b><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;">I give Great Bouquets of Thanks for the bluebells filling the woods with the hues of the evening skies</span></b><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: orange;">I give Great Bouquets of Thanks for all flowers everywhere which fill our world with colour and beauty!</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">love Klara.</span>Klara Darling-Swannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01375240558269473066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8896524408088703356.post-20187604992273464432012-06-15T21:53:00.000+01:002012-06-15T21:53:28.874+01:00It will all work out well in the end.....<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hello</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is the end of a very long and very busy day! We are getting ready for a festival which we are going to tomorrow, we have been setting up our camp today in strong winds and generally racing around trying to get every thing finished in time.......</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is just a little post as I have decided to be kind to myself over the summer and not make myself write posts when it would be a difficult job to get it done. Today is one of those days, where getting it done to my usual standard would mean unnecessary stress for me! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So my lesson for today was simple: when things are not going so smoothly, when it looks like I will be late I just say to my self " it will be as it is" and I stop worrying! Actually this worked extremely well for me today, it really helped to reduce my stress levels, after all <span style="color: orange; font-size: large;">everything usually works out well in the end, </span>and life in itself is perfect. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Learning not to worry is of course part and parcel of choosing good feeling thoughts, so off I go now into the new horizon full of the intention of <span style="color: magenta; font-size: large;">making peace with everything </span>and the knowing that <span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">it will all work out well in the end. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Today I have Loving Gratitude for mice and their little noses</b></span><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have Loving Gratitude for my yurt</b><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have Loving Gratitude for the fields waiting for the festival</b><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have Loving Gratitude for the trees which watch the festival and the world as it passes them by</b><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have Loving Gratitude for moments when sunlight catches random things made of metal and sends light reflecting around rooms</b><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have Loving Gratitude for the Great Mystery of Life</b><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have Loving Gratitude for all the good yet to come</b><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have Loving Gratitude for colour</b><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have Loving Gratitude for sound</b><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have Loving Gratitude for the world</b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">love Klara. </span>Klara Darling-Swannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01375240558269473066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8896524408088703356.post-82879651411173607492012-06-14T13:19:00.000+01:002012-06-14T13:19:52.626+01:00Beautiful Aspirations<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hello</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I wrote a week or two ago about <a href="http://klara-darling-swann.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/making-peace.html">Making Peace</a> with exactly where I am in my life right now. <span style="font-size: large;">Making Peace </span>with myself and the continuous stream of interactions which I have every day is now never far from my mind! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Of course, like everything else in my life, it is a work in progress, and I guess today I just feel to write about it again! It is where I am at right now! My baby is crying, <span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: orange;">make peace</span>. </span>My house is a mess, <span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: orange;">make peace</span>. </span>I am late for an appointment, <span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: orange;">make peace</span>. </span>I didn't get enough sleep again last night, <span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: orange;">make peace</span>. </span>I would like more friends, <span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: orange;">make peace</span>. </span>Perhaps you get the idea! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Life contains seemingly endless opportunities to practice making peace! Perhaps after practicing it for long enough it will become automatic? And as I am often hearing maybe there will be fewer and fewer occasions to<i> need</i> to make peace with?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What I like the most about the process of making peace with whatever comes my way is that once I have made peace with whatever it is I need waste no more thought on whatever it was, which means that I am able move on much more quickly than I may have done in the past. Additionally I find that when I am interacting with another being if I am able to make peace quickly it is much easier for me to act with compassion and so avoid further upset, and I find that I am much happier with the outcome and my place in it. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I really think that the best way to find and spread Peace in the World is to become what we want to experience. Making peace with myself and all my encounters will help me to become a peaceful person, when I become a peaceful person I will spread peace throughout the world just by my very presence. <span style="color: red; font-size: x-large;">What a wonderfully beautiful thing to aspire to.........</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: magenta; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Today I have peace in my heart and I am thankful for all the people who have showed me the way</b></span><br />
<b style="color: magenta; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have peace in my heart and I am thankful for the opportunity to change</b><br />
<b style="color: magenta; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have peace in my heart and I am thankful for the opportunity to grow</b><br />
<b style="color: magenta; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have peace in my heart and I am thankful for joy</b><br />
<b style="color: magenta; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have peace in my heart and I am thankful for love</b><br />
<b style="color: magenta; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have peace in my heart and I am thankful for the sun</b><br />
<b style="color: magenta; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have peace in my heart and I am thankful for the moon</b><br />
<b style="color: magenta; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have peace in my heart and I am thankful for my family</b><br />
<b style="color: magenta; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have peace in my heart and I am thankful for all the friends I have met</b><br />
<b style="color: magenta; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have peace in my heart and I am thankful for all the friends I have not yet met</b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">love Klara. </span>Klara Darling-Swannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01375240558269473066noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8896524408088703356.post-71852845190558461292012-06-13T22:01:00.000+01:002012-06-13T22:01:31.911+01:00Give Yourself A Pat On The Back!<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hello</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today I sang a lot! I drove into town singing and then I left my van and walked home through the fields singing all the way. It was a beautiful walk, made all the more beautiful by the fact that I was singing. I was not just singing for pleasure, I was also practicing and learning words to a song which I will perform a few times over the next couple of weeks; it is a song which I wrote about ten years ago, but I have always felt it was unfinished until today! As I walked along I wrote a chorus for it and now I really feel that it is a whole song. Good. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I sang for a while after I got home, and then I began to think about how great I was feeling. During my singing I had to concentrate very hard, when I practice I sometimes go over the same part of the song several times, I often need to iron out trouble spots where I go flat or hit the wrong note. I was completely absorbed in what I was doing, I forgot about the rest of the world and everything else I have to do, <span style="font-size: large;">it was blissful. I felt complete happiness. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Being the parent of a small baby I find it easy to forget what it is like to be absorbed in an activity which engages my entire brain! The majority of my time I need to attend to my baby's needs, or I am doing house work, which means that there is plenty of time for me to contemplate the nature of the Universe or my own personal dramas! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I do my absolute best to either be completely present with whatever the task is at hand or if it is more a matter of observing my baby and facilitating her then I try my best to simply be in the Now, which is perhaps the same thing. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The phrase "the devil makes work for idle hands" came into my mind today. I had been completely absorbed in a task, working hard to make a good job of my singing, and when I stopped a whole queue of negative thoughts came trooping in! I think that phrase would be more apt for me if it said "the devil makes work for idle minds" ! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I don't think there is a moment in my day where I am idle, but the nature of mothering a small baby means that my mind is often only partially occupied, and therefore could be described as idle! To me the devil is simply a word meaning disruption, craziness or negativity, and they are the aspects of thought which I am on guard for! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So today I am giving myself a pat on the back for doing so well at avoiding the crazy thoughts which can come so easily to people who are not fully occupied. I'm sure that every one is different , perhaps some people thrive from idleness, but I am not one of them. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My work here is about <span style="font-size: large;">being kind to myself, </span><span style="font-size: x-large;">opening my heart to love myself</span><span style="font-size: large;"> as much as anyone can love.....</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Knowing myself and never underestimating the path down which I walk is a very important part of learning to choose good feeling thoughts, it can be all too easy to fail to notice what a tough job we do in life, failing to notice what a triumph we are making at being ourselves. </span><br />
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<span style="color: purple; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">I am doing a great job of being me! Learning to still the mind and think positively is an act of </span><span style="font-size: x-large;">self mastery. </span><span style="font-size: large;">I </span></b></span><span style="color: purple; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">wholly give myself permission to take my time learning all that I need to know to be </span><span style="font-size: x-large;">at peace in my life. </span></b></span><br />
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<span style="color: orange; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Today I have Loving Gratitude for the old idioms which highlight the Universal truths about life</b></span><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: orange;">I have Loving Gratitude for sweetness</span></b><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: orange;">I have Loving Gratitude for salt</span></b><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: orange;">I have Loving Gratitude for spices</span></b><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: orange;">I have Loving Gratitude for vinegar</span></b><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: orange;">I have Loving Gratitude for sea water</span></b><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: orange;">I have Loving Gratitude for sand</span></b><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: orange;">I have Loving Gratitude for buckets and spades on the beach</span></b><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: orange;">I have Loving Gratitude for the phenomenon of talking online to someone I have never met before in another country</span></b><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: orange;">I have Loving Gratitude for <span style="font-size: large;">the sun</span></span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">love Klara. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Klara Darling-Swannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01375240558269473066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8896524408088703356.post-21202949321416488242012-06-12T15:52:00.001+01:002012-06-12T15:52:24.933+01:00Yin and Yang.......<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hello</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I just looked out of the window and to my surprise the sun is shining merrily away and at the same time the sky is very dark grey as if waiting to drench the earth again! It is a very beautiful sight and an inspiring one too! For me it feels like a reflection of how one can feel so many conflicting emotions at any one time, which makes me wonder whether they are conflicting at all? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The sun is shining but it looks like rain; really sun and rain do go very well together and when they do the most beautiful thing of all happens: <span style="font-size: large;">a <b><span style="color: red;">r</span><span style="color: orange;">a</span><span style="color: yellow;">i</span><span style="color: lime;">n</span><span style="color: blue;">b</span><span style="color: purple;">o</span><span style="color: magenta;">w</span> ! </b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And double wow, the word rainbow has seven letters just like the rainbow has seven colours! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So what? So perhaps conflicting emotions are a sign that something beautiful is about to happen! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The sky is clearing now and the grey has become a rather beautiful shade of purpley-orange it reminds me of how I imagine the colour octarine to be (Terry Pratchets' imagined colour). A kind of orangey purpley sparkly violet! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Actually right now I keep noticing things which are neither one thing nor are they another. It seems like a lesson. I am reminded of the YinYang a symbol which my understanding of it is that there is a duality in life but it is an eternal dance where there is always a blend of one with the other, and without this blend and this duality there can be no balance. Yang without Yin is incomplete and one-sided and of course vice versa. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That seems to be the way with so many things in life, why should thoughts be any different? When there are too many negative thoughts it should be no great surprise that the accompanying feelings are miserable and eventually all consuming. But I am not so sure that that would be the case if the predominant thoughts were all good feeling positive thoughts? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When I think good feeling thoughts, when I concentrate on that which <span style="font-size: large;">I am grateful for </span>I feel wonderful and I also feel balanced. I don't know everything and of course I am just speculating on how the world is.......</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have met people in the past who think that we must have bad in order to appreciate the good other wise we would become complacent. Personally I think that is total nonsense! For me it it more that bad experiences help me to hone my preferences for what I would really like to experience. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Additionally I have experienced those who believe that what goes up must come down, that every high is followed by a low, and indeed I have encountered such experiences but I am certain that it is more like a pendulum which we can bring into balance by learning how to choose our thoughts, therefore reducing the swing of the pendulum......</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Life is supposed to be fun, we are here having a human experience to grow and to experience <span style="font-size: x-large;">joy and wonderment</span>. We are not supposed to suffer, I don't believe that suffering is necessary........</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I believe that <span style="font-size: large;">our happiness is within our control, </span><span style="font-size: x-large;">we can choose to focus on that which brings us joy, </span>or we can focus on that which does not....... </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I know what I will be choosing! </span><br />
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<span style="color: purple; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Today I have Loving Gratitude for the beautiful things I found today in the charity shop</b></span><br />
<b style="color: purple; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> I have Loving Gratitude for my children's artwork</b><br />
<b style="color: purple; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> I have Loving Gratitude for tickling</b><br />
<b style="color: purple; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> I have Loving Gratitude for cuddles</b><br />
<b style="color: purple; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> I have Loving Gratitude for kisses</b><br />
<b style="color: purple; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> I have Loving Gratitude for singing</b><br />
<b style="color: purple; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> I have Loving Gratitude for music</b><br />
<b style="color: purple; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> I have Loving Gratitude for the sunshine</b><br />
<b style="color: purple; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> I have Loving Gratitude for the rain</b><br />
<b style="color: purple; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> I have Loving Gratitude for all the contrast which helps me to find balance</b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">love Klara. </span>Klara Darling-Swannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01375240558269473066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8896524408088703356.post-3642591850702113382012-06-11T15:55:00.000+01:002012-06-11T15:55:21.073+01:00Ten Things I love About Myself.....<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hello</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today I feel the need to remind myself about <span style="font-size: large;">being kind to myself! </span>I started this blog partly as a way of getting through the winter, which has always been a troublesome time for me, and partly as a way of sharing my new found joy in life. Now it is summer, although you would be forgiven for not believing that if you are in England as it has done nothing but rain for a very long time now! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ah yes, so now it is summer, our busiest time of the year! We tend to spend much of our summer camped out at festivals across the UK, far from computers and electricity, blissed out whatever the weather soaking up the gloriousness of <span style="font-size: large;">living outdoors. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Being outdoors is the single most important thing to me in the whole world! OK that was a slight exaggeration, however you get the idea. Quite often when I am in a bad mood all I need to do is go outside to relieve the feelings, and my partner frequently says "it's the house! you were fine until we came into the house." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So where am I going with this? Ah yes <span style="font-size: x-large;">being kind! </span>I have to laugh at myself as I have been spending an extraordinary amount of time trying to work out how I will write my blog everyday when I am away from home, I have actually been rather stressed about it. How ridiculous is that? Very. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The whole point of writing my blog is a stress relief, so in the name of giving myself a break I have decided to write my blog when I am at home! The Pure Genius of this idea astounds me! I have also decided that as writing my blog serves me so well when I am struggling with my day to day life, that if I am away from home and I need to write, I shall do it the old fashioned way with <span style="font-size: large;">pen and paper! </span>How quaint! And perhaps I will find some way of sharing it here when I return home. This means that for a while my blog will not magically appear every day! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So I have found that the <b style="color: purple; font-size: x-large;">being kind to myself </b>aspect is rather lacking at the moment and I need reminding what it really means. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At the moment I have been experiencing outbursts of the inner critic; the inner critic is the voice which tells me I am a failure, I am too messy, too disorganised or whatever hook it can find it will go with. I suppose I had taken down my guard and I was feeling so supremely positive that I forgot that the inner critic could still be there working against my positivity. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So what should I do when that small sardonic voice starts telling me I am doing a bad job? Firstly I should ignore the things it would have me believe, and the second thing which I find useful is to <b style="color: orange; font-size: x-large;">shine a bright light </b>like that from a lighthouse on all that I do which I am proud of. Highlighting my own strong points and talents is a very valuable activity for me. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Each time the critic rears its ugly head I would like to say ten things I love about myself.......</span><br />
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<span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I love my wonderfully vivid imagination</b></span><br />
<span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I love my own cooking</b></span><br />
<span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I love how beautifully I can organise a room</b></span><br />
<span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I love my sense of style</b></span><br />
<span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I love the sound of my voice when I sing</b></span><br />
<span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I love my ability to write songs</b></span><br />
<span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I love the stories I have written</b></span><br />
<span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I love the way I can make other people laugh</b></span><br />
<span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I love how affectionate I am</b></span><br />
<span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I love my ability to listen to other people</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Wow that actually felt really good! I don't think I have ever written down ten things I love about being me! If you are reading this now I would highly recommend that you try this right now! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Being kind to myself means accepting my self exactly the way I am right now, expecting no more of myself than I am capable of, and by that I mean that in my heart <span style="font-size: large;">I know that I always do my best! </span>My best will be different from day to day, I believe that human beings are different from day to day, there are so many factors which affect our equilibrium and our orientation each day, so what was my best yesterday is very likely to be different to what my best will be today. I am by no means excusing myself for poor behaviour, more that I am aware that planet Earth is a complicated place, <span style="font-size: large;">we are energetic beings </span>and as such must be subject to the energetic forces of our Universe.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So there it is, I shall continue to do my best to turn up here every day and tell the world about my life! How grand! And when I don't turn up it is because I am having a good time in a field somewhere playing music and thinking up new ways of making myself happy.......</span><br />
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<span style="color: magenta; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Today I am Thankful for my exercise of thinking up what I love about being me</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: magenta;">Today I am Thankful for swimming pools</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: magenta;">Today I am Thankful for love </span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: magenta;">Today I am Thankful for exciting visits from old friends</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: magenta;">Today I am Thankful for laughter</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: magenta;">Today I am Thankful for my beautiful children</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: magenta;">Today I am Thankful for all the beautiful children filling the world with laughter</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: magenta;">Today I am Thankful for bees</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: magenta;">Today I am Thankful for trees</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: magenta;">Today I am Thankful for ancient giant redwoods</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">love Klara. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Klara Darling-Swannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01375240558269473066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8896524408088703356.post-44778083426478586432012-06-10T22:27:00.000+01:002012-06-10T22:27:47.683+01:00Waiting for an Avalanche of Positivity.<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hello</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm having a quiet day, it is raining again and I am considering becoming an aquatic creature like a mermaid or a frog, just until the rain stops, either that or I might just start building an ark and collecting together two of everything......</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We have all been stuck inside for days on end, it's not that I don't like rain, because actually I do but I have totally inadequate clothing to deal with the wetness that occurs when I spend time out in it! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was feeling quite rubbish for most of today, I ate food which disagreed with me yesterday, I slept late this morning and by seven thirty this evening I still had not done the three things <span style="font-size: large;">I love to do each day: <span style="color: magenta;">sing and play a song, </span><span style="color: lime;">go for a walk, </span><span style="color: orange;">and write my blog! </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My mood was plummeting and I was about to give in totally and just go to bed, which was what I thought my baby needed, but somewhere from within me came the small voice which told me not to give up or give in, <span style="font-size: large;">I had made a commitment to myself: </span>I had made a commitment to do the things for which I have great passion! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So I got back up, went downstairs and played a song, which of course brought me quite far back into myself. Then hooray and pretty much hey presto: my baby fell asleep, so I set off on my walk. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was an evening walk in the rain, not heavy relentless rain but that soft kind of rain that gets you really wet without you realising it's happening! It was a strange walk as I did not pass one single human being in forty five minutes which is odd because I live in a town and although I went into the fields I did not go far from the town. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The birds were singing their evening song and I was struck by just how much everything has grown over the last week! All the pathways are becoming overgrown, the plants heavy with lush verdant growth, I particularly love the smell of rain soaked vegetation. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So now here I am writing my blog. I feel enormously grateful for the small voice which made me get up and do the things I love. I was feeling very sorry for myself, I don't know what inspired such a despondent mood but it was beginning to consume me. Thoughts reproduce in their own likeness and in my experience it does not take many to start an avalanche of negativity.........</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Hooray! I am feeling much more positive than I was earlier! </span>and hooray for the fact that thoughts do reproduce in their own likeness because of course that works in my favour too; I am looking upwards with bated breath waiting for the <span style="font-size: large;">avalanche of positivity.....</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Today I Give Thanks for the sweet rain</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">I Give Thanks for my commitment to do what I love every day</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">I Give Thanks for ancient trees in the town</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">I Give Thanks for the rampant overgrowth fed by all this rain</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">I Give Thanks for the proliferation of rainbows fed by the rain</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">I Give Thanks for my lovely white guitar</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">I Give Thanks for my rich voice</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">I Give Thanks for my legs which carry me near and far</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">I Give Thanks for bedtime</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">I Give Thanks for the morning to come full of possibility</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">love Klara. </span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>Klara Darling-Swannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01375240558269473066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8896524408088703356.post-82427895661829219152012-06-09T17:36:00.000+01:002012-06-09T17:36:29.343+01:00Throwing anger to the wind.......<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hello</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For a while now I have been harbouring anger around an old hurt! I was going to laugh at my choice of words then: <i>harbouring</i>, but then I realised that as an analogy harbouring is excellent. I went out for a walk today and began to think about the anger that I feel and what I can do to shift it; I thought about what anger is in general and where it resides about my being. Every time I visualised it it fell somewhere around the left side of my body, it is not inside me, it is more around me waiting patiently for opportunities to be activated and cause havoc! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Everywhere I go the anger goes along side me, perhaps I pull it like an old fashioned horse drawn coal barge, darkly it follows me not doing anything in particular apart from being there. Most of the time I pay it no attention but from time to time things happen which activate it, and then there it is rearing its ugly head disturbing my equilibrium. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So here I am on my <span style="font-size: large;">mission to choose good feeling thoughts</span> doing my best to <span style="color: orange; font-size: large;">make Peace with the world exactly as I find it</span><span style="color: orange;"> </span>and somehow I need to find a way to make peace with the anger which I am harbouring. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My anger surrounds another person, as I am sure anger so often does, but it does not affect them as far as I know. It belongs to me! It is a mixture of hurt, a faint desire for revenge, a feeling of unjustness and a strong desire to be free of it. Some parts of me would like to bundle it up and fling it at the other person, but I know in my heart that the best thing I could do with it were it something solid and flingable would be to throw it to the wind to dissipate.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Strong negative emotions are a burden and by themselves they do not achieve anything, when I think of the <a href="http://klara-darling-swann.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/image-of-peace.html">Image of Peace</a> I know that harbouring a body of anger can only hurt me. I like to imagine that if my body had a colourful aura the anger would appear as a bright red bulge on my left side. I feel anger towards someone else, but <span style="font-size: large;">I and I alone am the one who suffers. </span>The anger is mine, I own it. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I know how to make peace with small disappointments and annoyances, in fact I find it very easy to do so, but making peace with such a large thing, a thing which seems to have taken on its own characteristics is a big challenge for me. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Firstly I own the anger, I forgive myself entirely for allowing it to grow to such proportions without dealing with it, I made a mistake, I am a human being and mistakes can be beautiful. As a human I have no instruction manual to tell me how to deal with intense emotions so how could I expect myself to do any better until I have learnt through experience how these things work? Who knows what great blessings could come from my anger once it has flowered into a beautiful blossom?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Secondly I trust that my urge to find a way to make peace with the anger I hold will bring exactly the solution that I need straight to me. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Finally I do not let this problem or any others which I encounter take up too much of my time! When the time is right the solution will come and for the rest of the time I shall <b style="color: magenta; font-size: x-large;">focus on that which fills my heart with gladness! </b>I have spent enough of my life allowing problems to take up too much of my time, before I was able to choose my thoughts difficulties would consume my attention like hungry wolves and I was frequently miserable turning them over and over again in my mind to no avail. Now I know that there is a time and a place for dealing with problems, they need not mar my everyday life or stem the beauty of my world. </span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Today I am Thankful for all the opportunities I have to grow</b></span><br />
<b style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am Thankful for the beauty which is to come when I have healed my anger</b><br />
<b style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am Thankful for walking in the fields bare foot</b><br />
<b style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am Thankful for the feel of mud between my toes</b><br />
<b style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am Thankful for invitations to sit by a fire in a cave</b><br />
<b style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am Thankful for new horizons</b><br />
<b style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am Thankful for sunbeams through water</b><br />
<b style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am Thankful for the sound of laughter coming from peoples houses as I walk past</b><br />
<b style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am Thankful for passion</b><br />
<b style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am Thankful for love </b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">love Klara.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Klara Darling-Swannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01375240558269473066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8896524408088703356.post-83234151832944950882012-06-08T14:12:00.002+01:002012-06-08T14:12:42.059+01:00What is my Truth?<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hello</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I stayed up late last night enjoying myself and then got woken at about four thirty by my baby who was full of the joys of spring! She stayed awake for a couple of hours and then fell back into a peaceful sleep. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I forget how tiredness can affect my equilibrium, or perhaps not so much tiredness but the half asleep half awake state which occurs when I remain in bed but don't manage to fall back to sleep. I am a great believer that tiredness is partly an emotional state; I believe I have not had the right amount of sleep to refresh me and therefore my orientation is affected by that belief and I demonstrate the signs of tiredness. There is no real way of knowing for sure! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So in my stupor I decided it was probably safe to allow my mind to wander! <span style="font-size: large;">Ha ha! I laugh out loud at the very idea now! </span>There is a time and a place for a wandering mind, and that place is when I am <span style="font-size: large;">creating!</span> Fully conscious my mind twists and turns with a subject I have chosen, one for which I have a great passion. Beautiful stories are created, delicious tunes come from my wandering mind; in that moment I have chosen to let my mind drift in imaginations playground, stories and songs growing from my consciousness in a delicious <span style="font-size: large;">burst of colourful creation!!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My recent successes at choosing my thoughts and having a quiet mind had lulled me into a false sense of security about allowing my mind to drift! Perhaps for some people with a more natural positive outlook, those lucky people who do not have to learn productive safe ways of thinking, allowing their minds to drift is a pleasant experience, but not yet so for me! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I regret to say that a whole entourage of malevolent, disorderly, maladjusted, malignant thoughts began to assemble themselves in my unsuspecting mind! Quietly they began tearing shreds off my peaceful story telling me tales of how dreadful everything is for me, trying to persuade me that life is awful and that I have been making terrible mistakes left right and centre! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, I hear you say, how do I know the difference between the <i style="font-weight: bold;">truth</i> and the fiction which I claim my mind presents to me? What surprised me today was just how easy it was to see which thoughts were authentic and which were the product of negative thinking. The predominately negative thoughts didn't quite feel authentic, I faintly recognised them as being from an entirely different part of my life. After a while I examined them to see whether they felt true for <span style="font-size: large;">who I am right now, </span>and I was relieved to find that my joys and passions outweigh any of the negative aspects of the life choices I have made for myself. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tiredness, whatever it is, is a danger area for me, I have to be extra vigilant with myself when I am tired, which of course is harder than when I am not tired. I'd like to say that once I had recognised that my mind was running amok that I stopped it and moved back into a profoundly positive place, but I am afraid I did not! I continued to generate negative thoughts for much of today until I noticed again what I was doing, interestingly these thoughts were also easily recognisable as rather antiquated! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Who knows how I will fare for the rest of the day? Of course I will be doing my best to think about that which I am thankful for, and I shall be being <span style="font-size: large;">kind to myself as I would be to anyone else! </span>One thing I am glad to say is in full working order is my ability to laugh at my own negativity and <span style="color: red; font-size: x-large;">love myself all the more for being human and making mistakes.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: purple; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For the rest of the day I shall be treating myself to a large pinch of not taking myself too seriously, eating nice food, drinking plenty of water, adopting a winning stance and singing the songs I love! </span><br />
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<span style="color: magenta; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Today I have Loving Gratitude for laughter with old friends</b></span><br />
<span style="color: magenta; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I have Loving Gratitude for being fortunate enough to have old friends</b></span><br />
<span style="color: magenta; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I have Loving Gratitude for the local swimming pool</b></span><br />
<span style="color: magenta; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I have Loving Gratitude for the return of the sun</b></span><br />
<span style="color: magenta; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I have Loving Gratitude for the work I am doing to restore myself to positive thinking habits</b></span><br />
<span style="color: magenta; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I have Loving Gratitude for ladybirds</b></span><br />
<span style="color: magenta; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I have Loving Gratitude for room 101</b></span><br />
<span style="color: magenta; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I have Loving Gratitude for flying beetles</b></span><br />
<span style="color: magenta; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I have Loving Gratitude for fizzy wine</b></span><br />
<b><span style="color: magenta; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have Loving Gratitude for you, </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;">Madi Bliss! </span></span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">love Klara.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;"><br /></span></span>Klara Darling-Swannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01375240558269473066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8896524408088703356.post-2237415835539275662012-06-07T17:04:00.001+01:002012-06-07T17:04:48.044+01:00Revelling in the Rain!<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hello</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We have been having quite a spectacular amount of rain over the last few days! The South West of England (where I live) is the wettest part of England, the mendips cause major precipitation coming in from the atlantic...... and so I have learnt to love the rain! I frequently hear people complaining about rain and the weather in general, I hear it is a favourite British pastime, but really for me it was a case of learn to love it or stay indoors all the time! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So yesterday we went for a wet walk in the woods, this was something we used to do as children all the time. My father would get us all dressed up and we would go trudging off into the undergrowth and of course come home totally soaking wet and covered in mud. I don't really remember whether it was something I loved, liked or hated, but I certainly remember it and in particular my fathers obliviousness to the mud and water which my brother and sister and I would inevitably find and immerse ourselves in, I even lost a shoe one day while out with my dad!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Off we went in our waterproofs, wellingtons and umbrellas, the baby strapped to me peeking out under her hood smiling at the rain which only she escaped! Within five minutes we were all thoroughly soaked and striding across a field knee high with dripping grass. The woods looked fantastic; great plumes of steam were rising from them into the sky, the trees all clothed in the most vibrant luscious greenery I ever remember seeing. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was stunned by the verdant vibrancy brought about by so much rain. We climbed up a gorge which I have been to many times before and this time I was really struck by the utter natural beauty of the place which was so enhanced by the sheer volume of growth that must have occurred over the last few days of rain. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Britain is a temperate climate and yesterday Ebbor Gorge felt, smelt and looked just like a tropical rainforest! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The stunning beauty of my world never ceases to amaze me,</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">I am hypnotised by the natural glory of </span><span style="color: lime; font-size: x-large;">wild vegetation. </span><span style="font-size: large;">The woods smelt wonderful, so many different shades of green and brown, yellow and orange! </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Again I felt the wonderful joy of the quiet mind! I am so glad to be able to say that it still amazes me that having a quiet mind enhances my enjoyment of the world to such a very great degree. It poured with rain over the whole walk, but I didn't notice, so captivated am I by the <span style="color: orange; font-size: large;">beauty of the world. </span>With my new found ability to hush my chattersome mind, choosing simply not to think has enabled me to be present in a way which was not available to me before; the smells and sights and sounds of the woods so entrance my senses, so that I am now able to revel in them. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There is no such thing as bad weather, only inadequate clothing! and the rain is all the more glorious when it finally stops and we can all be outside enjoying the sunshine! </span><br />
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<span style="color: purple; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Today I have Loving Gratitude for the rain, which has just got harder! </b></span><br />
<b style="color: purple; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have Loving Gratitude for the lushness of new growth</b><br />
<b style="color: purple; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have Loving Gratitude for my waterproofs</b><br />
<b style="color: purple; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have Loving Gratitude for my dry cosy house</b><br />
<b style="color: purple; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have Loving Gratitude for the sun which is to come</b><br />
<b style="color: purple; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have Loving Gratitude for the ever changing world</b><br />
<b style="color: purple; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have Loving Gratitude for change</b><br />
<b style="color: purple; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have Loving Gratitude for growth</b><br />
<b style="color: purple; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have Loving Gratitude for wild garlic</b><br />
<b style="color: purple; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have Loving Gratitude for spring smells</b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">love Klara. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />Klara Darling-Swannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01375240558269473066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8896524408088703356.post-29512096573736933592012-06-06T09:33:00.000+01:002012-06-06T09:33:38.701+01:00A Magical Awareness<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hello</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Over the weekend I spent quite a lot of time getting to know the trees which surrounded the event which I attended, the bushcraft show was at a place called Elvaston Castle Country Park in Derbyshire in the UK. The area which had been chosen to host the event was a very large round field entirely encircled by trees. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This image shows the area rather well! The woods which surround the large field near the top of the photograph are a selection of mature trees which are almost all native, well spaced and vibrantly healthy. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On sunday after I had spent nearly all day shut inside the van with my baby I came out into the field and noticed for the first time that it was completely surrounded by trees, it had an interesting feel to it, as if the woods were some sort of sentient audience silently watching and listening to all that was occurring in the clearing. What perhaps added to this affect was the set up of the event itself which was also a full circle of exhibitors all facing inwards. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There was a magical tension in the air to which most people seemed oblivious, I did ask a few people if they had noticed the trees and how they felt about them but most people perhaps unsurprisingly seemed more interested in the bushcraft show! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I spent some time investigating the woods while my baby slept on my back, the tension which I had experienced in the field was also present within the woods, there were quite a lot of visitors walking around the woods and to my surprise this did not alter the magical quality of the air. Often I have found that on visiting magical places (although I do believe the whole world to be magical) that the more people present the more dilute the magical feeling becomes, I think perhaps it has to do with how present people are in their consciousness if they are thinking of mundane things and not of the beauty which surrounds them the vibration they emit is bound to change the surroundings. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What of it? Together with my feeling of peacefulness brought about by my continuous remembrance of the <a href="http://klara-darling-swann.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/image-of-peace.html">image of peace</a> I found myself in an altered magical consciousness! <span style="font-size: large;">The air fizzled and popped at times, the birdsong was amplified, the beauty was astounding! </span>I don't know if my perception of the beauty was enhanced by the peaceful state I found myself in or whether the magic of the place aided my peacefulness! Either way it was <span style="color: purple; font-size: x-large;">a wonderfully inspiring experience......</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The ancients spoke of the magical nature of this land, the presence of the fairy folk and all the magical creatures, I really feel that immersed in the thought world we switch off a part of ourselves which is sensitive to the magical nature of our world. <span style="font-size: large;">I believe that in order to move into a really magical way of being where we fully appreciate the astonishing nature of the world it is vital to learn to use our thoughts as a tool, a resource and not a way of being. </span>Constant thought closes off our awareness to other things. </span><br />
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<span style="color: purple; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I choose magic in my life, I choose Joy, I choose beauty.....</span><br />
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<span style="color: orange; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Today I have Loving Gratitude for the good fortune I had to start choosing my thoughts</b></span><br />
<b style="color: orange; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have Loving Gratitude for magical experiences</b><br />
<b style="color: orange; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have Loving Gratitude for the love I feel for trees</b><br />
<b style="color: orange; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have Loving Gratitude for all the trees in the world</b><br />
<b style="color: orange; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have Loving Gratitude for the memories I hold of just how magical the world can be</b><br />
<b style="color: orange; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have Loving Gratitude for the possibility that I will have many more magical experiences</b><br />
<b style="color: orange; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have Loving Gratitude for birdsong in magical woods</b><br />
<b style="color: orange; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have Loving Gratitude for my eyes</b><br />
<b style="color: orange; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have Loving Gratitude for my ears</b><br />
<b style="color: orange; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have Loving Gratitude for unexpected adventures</b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">love Klara. </span><br />
<span style="color: orange; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>Klara Darling-Swannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01375240558269473066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8896524408088703356.post-42477404271633452892012-06-05T13:38:00.000+01:002012-06-05T13:38:25.069+01:00An Image of Peace.....<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hello</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have had an astonishing weekend! I have been away from the drawing board, so to speak, for the weekend, again my blogs which I programmed to publish while I was away went sky west and crooked but never mind because it is of small consequence in the grand scheme of things....</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So why was my weekend so spectacular? I went to a bush craft show with my partner for one of his jobs, I was expecting it to be interesting and of course it was, but that was really an aside to the joy which I experienced over the weekend. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On the 31st of May I came across an image which has changed the way I deal with that which I encounter to a very interesting degree, it is an image which encapsulates the ideas that we project out into the world a vibration which matches the way that we are feeling. This is an idea which I have been familiar with for many years but I have always come across it before in either a vocal format, on film or in writing. Somehow seeing it as a still image made it enter my mind in a very different way. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7fpybWOBCstCAmyIhPrb4YFa4TsIDnGn0r_HcDaspldN7lhw0Fpb5o8TpFQSvOaVanxC3vtPvP_uc3_-OdeJxXVu9y2sM9oSL27D60L4YKN4WjnpdtBON_r4vYhRxC8W-kOiQYq6doJBL/s1600/374894_2897293872300_1258953366_33286234_1031614252_n.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7fpybWOBCstCAmyIhPrb4YFa4TsIDnGn0r_HcDaspldN7lhw0Fpb5o8TpFQSvOaVanxC3vtPvP_uc3_-OdeJxXVu9y2sM9oSL27D60L4YKN4WjnpdtBON_r4vYhRxC8W-kOiQYq6doJBL/s320/374894_2897293872300_1258953366_33286234_1031614252_n.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Wow I am astonished with the ease with which I managed to upload that image! Clearly I am supposed to share it here! The artist who I would very much like to thank and Credit this <span style="font-size: large;">work of art </span>for is called <span style="font-size: large;">Tony Koehl </span>you can find a link to his website <a href="http://www.tonykoehl.com/The_official_site_of_TONY_KOEHL/HOME.html">here!</a></span><br />
I downloaded this image from facebook so I don't know to whom the words belong....<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">However it is the image which interests me the most. </span>Over the weekend, which certainly had challenges for me of a mothering nature, every time I encountered a thought or situation which disturbed my equilibrium this image came to mind, I saw myself as a being emitting a frequency matching my feelings which in turn set me up to receive a similar frequency, <span style="font-size: large;">almost like a reply from the Universe! </span>So each time I remembered the image <span style="font-size: x-large;">I made peace with my life at this moment in time exactly the way it is! </span><br />
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The rather amazing effect of this was that halfway through the second day of doing it a <span style="color: orange; font-size: x-large;">delicious peace settled over my being</span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: orange;"> I felt a divine calmness unlike any I have known before</span>. </span>I was able to move swiftly through upsetting or uncomfortable situations, I let them go at an incredibly fast rate.<br />
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By the end of saturday I felt <span style="color: magenta; font-size: large;">unusually magical! </span><span style="font-size: large;">Peace was reigning in my mind, </span>I was able to enjoy nothing in particular. In actuality I spent the majority of my weekend following my baby round a rather muddy field or shut in a very small campervan simply playing with my baby, in the past this would have been a very challenging scenario for me, but with the help of this image it was a <span style="font-size: x-large;">delightful experience. </span><br />
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Being able to be at peace with whatever is occurring in my life is something I have been striving to do for a very long time, being able to enjoy the world around me exactly the way it is in the moment is a wonderful experience. <span style="font-size: large;">The world has a new</span><b><span style="color: yellow; font-size: x-large;"> light</span></b><span style="font-size: large;"> for me.......</span><br />
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<b><span style="color: #0b5394;">Today I am Thankful for the inspirational artwork of friends I have yet to meet</span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #0b5394;">I am Thankful for the smiles of strangers</span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #0b5394;">I am Thankful for the joy and laughter my baby brought to others this weekend</span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #0b5394;">I am Thankful for the feeling of success</span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #0b5394;">I am Thankful for the astonishing birdsong in the woods at the camp</span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #0b5394;">I am Thankful for the magical trees which circled the camp</span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #0b5394;">I am Thankful for my brilliant campervan</span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #0b5394;">I am Thankful for my ability to drive and see new places</span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #0b5394;">I am Thankful for the stunning sun set last night as we drove home</span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #0b5394;">I am Thankful for having a warm dry space to come home to </span></b><br />
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love Klara.<br />
<br />Klara Darling-Swannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01375240558269473066noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8896524408088703356.post-30142244865447819752012-06-05T12:43:00.000+01:002012-06-05T12:43:10.861+01:00Happiness is a deliberate act of Self Love......<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hello</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It seems that I am on a constant search to find ways to <span style="font-size: large;">feel good</span> about the incredible experience of being alive. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Life is so simple in so many ways! <span style="font-size: large;">Get born, <span style="color: red;">share love</span>, grow up, discover your creativity, create, love, laugh, <span style="color: red;">share more love</span>, walk the Earth, immerse yourself in the beauty of the world, </span><span style="color: red; font-size: x-large;"><b>Share more love.......</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Indeed life is so simple! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So what happened? How did I end up so entrenched in negative thought that I have had to relearn how to share love, not just with the rest of the world, but also with myself???</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The answer to that question is of course complicated, </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">probably long winded and definitely a multifaceted layered onion of a lifetime of stories. Put in short I don't think that looking at the intricate infinite causes will necessarily cure the ailment! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Coming to terms with my own story is an important part of feeling good, knowing myself and my history helps me to let it go, <span style="font-size: large;">live in the present, </span>and view life against a backdrop of infinite possibilities not hampered by limitations set by past experiences. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is my intention to <span style="font-size: large;">be deliberate with my thoughts, and to </span><span style="font-size: x-large;">deliberately feel good, </span>I do this by DELIBERATELY CHOOSING TO THINK GOOD FEELING THOUGHTS! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have written in the past about the act of using my Will to actively think good feeling thoughts, <span style="font-size: large;">good feeling thoughts </span>are not just thoughts about beauty or love, passion or warmth, good feeling thoughts are those thoughts which facilitate moving forwards in our minds and in our lives. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">" I shall think deliberately" is a <b><i>good feeling thought</i></b>, "I shall make peace with my life" is a <i><b>good feeling thought</b></i>, " I shall turn my face towards the sun" is a good feeling thought. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I used to think that GOOD FEELING THOUGHTS had to be utterly joyous, thoughts which were filled with love and magic, and of course those thoughts really do feel wonderful and if they are on offer then I will certainly think them. However I also gave myself a hard time when those thoughts were not accessible to me! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sometimes in life it is necessary to work through uncomfortable feelings and situations and when that happens the best feeling thoughts may not be joyous, but <span style="font-size: large;">deliberately choosing the best feeling thoughts which are available, and actively deliberately looking for those thoughts is </span><span style="font-size: x-large;">an act of self love. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Learning to choose good feeling thoughts is about <span style="font-size: large;">demonstrating self love. </span>If I do not love myself I am not going to thrive! <span style="font-size: large;">When I show myself love and respect I can only thrive.......</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: orange; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Happiness is a deliberate act of Self Love.....</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I intend to thrive, I intend to choose good feeling thoughts in whatever way is accessible to me at the time, deliberate thinking is my way of getting the most out of my remarkable life. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Today I Give Great Thanks for the evening song of the birds</b></span><br />
<b style="color: #274e13; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I Give Great Thanks for the days I get woken at 4am and get to hear the first bird song of the day</b><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;">I Give Great Thanks for the excitement which thunder and lightening inspires within me</span></b><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;">I Give Great Thanks for the joy of singing</span></b><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: purple;">I Give Great Thanks for my musical instruments</span></b><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: purple;">I Give Great Thanks for the bounty of good food in my home</span></b><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;">I Give Great Thanks for fruit</span></b><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;">I Give Great Thanks for vegetables</span></b><br />
<b style="color: #274e13; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I Give Great Thanks for seeds and grains</b><br />
<b style="color: #274e13; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I Give Great Thanks for Self Love</b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">love Klara. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Klara Darling-Swannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01375240558269473066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8896524408088703356.post-57189341373662810752012-06-05T12:39:00.000+01:002012-06-05T12:39:29.104+01:00Conscious Active Awareness.....<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hello</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Parenting is tough! Looking after a newly walking baby is a labour of love! At the moment I find myself with two options; either I hold the baby and try to get things done, and she doesn't always agree to this option, or I put her down and follow her around whilst trying to get things done. The rather unsurprising result is of course that not much gets done! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The one rather incredible thing that I can do, the one thing I have a veritable bounty of time and potential for is focusing on that which is Great, Beautiful, Delightful, Delicious and Wonderful in my life! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The rather wonderful thing about looking after a small baby is the very thing which can make it so hard; when looking after a small baby my mind is not fully occupied because it is not intellectually challenged, nor is it able to relax entirely because I have to be vigilant. I hold in my hands a double edged sword, a forked path and I continuously have the choice to make about where I focus my attention.<br />I can <span style="font-size: large;">choose </span>to notice how untidy my house is, how little time I get to myself, how other people are having a better time than me, how I have not written a song in nearly a year (it's all there in my mind waiting for an opportunity to spill into my consciousness and pollute my experiences),</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Or I can choose to notice the blueness of the sky, the light reflected on a new leaf, the sparkle in my babies eyes as she tries a new flavour, the sound of birds singing in the trees behind my house, the burst of zingy juice as I bite into a fresh strawberry, the love I have in my heart for my wonderful family.....</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am fortunate enough to have so much greatness in my life to focus upon!</span><br />
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<span style="color: orange; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I call this process a meditation of awareness, conscious active awareness of the world around me! </span><span style="color: orange; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is a process which can be learnt through the practice of actually doing it! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is a blessing from which I have no idea what will grow from within me, I would love to say that I am winning, that I do this meditation of awareness with ease, but it does not come easily to me! I have to be vigilant in so many ways; it is my intention to give my loving attention to my child, but I also need to focus part of my attention on all that FEELS GOOD in my life.......</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Of course in the moments that I am fully focused on my baby I forget all about thinking and focusing and challenges, I forget about the humdrum everyday realities which bring about the need to focus on GOOD FEELING THOUGHTS in the first place! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The power of noticing the incredible wonderment of the world around us is not to be underestimated, ironically I am learning from a true expert about being in the moment and seeing and appreciating the minute intricacies of just about everything; my baby! </span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Today I give Great Thanks for my baby and the opportunities for personal growth that mothering provides</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: blue;">I give Great Thanks for meringues and cream</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: blue;">I give Great Thanks for loneliness</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: blue;">I give Great Thanks for the sad beauty of crying</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: blue;">I give Great Thanks for cherries</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: blue;">I give Great Thanks for relaxing</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: blue;">I give Great Thanks for the flow of wellbeing</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: blue;">I give Great Thanks for this computer</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: blue;">I give Great Thanks for our paddling pool</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: blue;">I give Great Thanks for new beginnings</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">love Klara. </span><br />
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<span style="color: orange; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Klara Darling-Swannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01375240558269473066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8896524408088703356.post-21943996314384476392012-06-05T12:35:00.000+01:002012-06-05T12:35:29.172+01:00Relax and Move With The Flow of Life!<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hello</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At the moment I am totally fascinated by the possibilities available to me to learn how to be happy! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I believe that one of the most fundamental things to understand and learn in order to be happy is how to <span style="font-size: large;">relax and move with the flow of life </span>exactly the way it is right now. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The minute one has a negative reaction to the way things are, or how they appear to be going, then one is stepping out of the flow of wellbeing and into the struggle of resistance. Resistance to the flow of life is easily recognised by its telltale symptoms of FEELING BAD and MISERABLE! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I believe that my reactions are habitual, and therefore there is a certain amount of challenge inherent in moving to react in a <span style="font-size: large;">new or different way </span>to my habitual ways. The way that one is used to behaving or reacting is usually the first thing to spring to mind when faced with something which seems undesirable. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So, I propose to allow my first reactions to surface, to </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">observe </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">them, and then to take a </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">deep breath, Relax </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">and accept the new situation and make an attempt to run with it......</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This sounds easy! Why haven't I tried it before? Well I have, but like I said it is a matter of habitual reactions taking over! There is a lot to learn in life, there is also a lot to remember. I tend to forget that I have a <span style="font-size: large;">choice </span>as to how I react to circumstances and situations, perhaps as yet I do not have any choice as to what my initial reactions are, the automatic brain pulses, but I do have a choice about whether or not to follow them. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">My choice lies in my ability to Observe, Relax, and Accept the status quo. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The next thing to do when that task is done is to wrap my awareness around something that I love, this act enables the GOOD FEELINGS TO FLOW, aligning me with who I really am, setting me gently back into the flow of wellbeing.............</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Happiness is within everybody, it is a state of mind, it is freedom, it is love, it is peace.......</span><br />
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<span style="color: orange; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="background-color: white;">Today I have Loving Gratitude for Abraham and Esther Hicks</b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: orange;">Today I have Loving Gratitude for Ella Fitzgerald and all the old greats</span></b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: orange;">Today I have Loving Gratitude for music</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: purple;"><b>Today I have Loving Gratitude for dancing</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: purple;"><b>Today I have Loving Gratitude for jumping</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: purple;"><b>Today I have Loving Gratitude for the continuous flow of wellbeing</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: purple;"><b>Today I have Loving Gratitude for my life</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: blue;">Today I have Loving Gratitude for my baby</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: blue;">Today I have Loving Gratitude for my children</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: blue;">Today I have Loving Gratitude for Joy</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">love Klara. </span>Klara Darling-Swannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01375240558269473066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8896524408088703356.post-36645552124042001802012-05-31T09:01:00.000+01:002012-05-31T09:01:12.039+01:00Open Your Eyes and Your Heart To Your Divine Life!<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Good morning </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We are up bright and early this morning, perhaps not through active choice but sometimes being woken early by an excited baby works out for the best! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I lay in bed last night thinking about how much happier I am than I was before I started out on my mission to deliberately be happy! One of the things which I enjoy the most is my renewed enthusiasm for each day. I can remember not so long ago waking up with a feeling of despondency or exhaustion, I had no enthusiasm for my life and each day it felt as if I had no time to rest from life, the sleep I did have did very little to restore me each night and my days were often spent just feeling upset about feeling upset! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Last night it occurred to me just how far I have come, it is six and a half months since the day I had my <span style="font-size: large;">revelation that </span><span style="font-size: x-large;">happiness is a choice, a state of mind, </span><span style="font-size: large;">an attitude available to everyone, no matter their circumstances, </span>and I have now been writing my blog for five months! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have moved from a struggle with seasonal depression to <span style="font-size: large;">choosing an abundance of great feelings about my life, </span><span style="font-size: x-large;">a broad focus on that which I love, </span>and making sure I do my two most favourite things every day; walking and playing music. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I would love to say that I never have a moments doubt, sadness or anger, that would indeed be a bold statement. In truth I still have my struggles, the chief thing that has changed for me is my attitude to my life and my commitment to <span style="font-size: large;">finding a way to move as swiftly as possible through the awkward moments in life. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">When I wake in the morning now it is with a </span><span style="font-size: x-large;">real enthusiasm for my day! </span><span style="font-size: large;">I know that everyday holds moments of joy and fun, </span>even when I have had very little sleep, last night I was woken five or six times, I feel renewed and glad to have woken up! Sometimes the tiredness of parenthood creeps up on me in late afternoon and then I start to look forward to bedtime. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I am amazed </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">to find that energy and exhaustion are a spiritual thing. I am sure plenty of people could have told me that, but I needed to experience it for myself!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> I am a great believer that what comes to us in life matches that which we are, and although my circumstances have not changed a great deal since I had my revelation the way I view my life is entirely different. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By quieting my mind and focusing on that which brings me pleasure (instead of constantly noticing all the annoying and sad things in life) I have been able to <span style="font-size: large;">really open my eyes to the plethora of blessings all around me! </span></span><br />
<span style="color: purple; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I cannot emphasise enough how this change of focus has altered the way I view the world !</span><br />
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<span style="color: orange; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Where I saw only misery before I now see Joy, where I saw lack before I now see plenty, </span><span style="font-size: x-large;">where I saw anger I now feel Love....</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red; font-size: x-large;">We are divine spiritual beings and we possess the greatest gifts imaginable, we are powerful beyond belief and one of our main powers lies in our ability to </span><span style="font-size: x-large;">Focus <span style="color: magenta;">on that which we find </span><span style="color: red;">B</span><span style="color: orange;">E</span><span style="color: yellow;">A</span><span style="color: lime;">U</span><span style="color: cyan;">T</span><span style="color: blue;">I</span><span style="color: purple;">F</span><span style="color: magenta;">U</span><span style="color: red;">L </span><span style="color: magenta;">and inspiring.......</span></span></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Today I have Loving Gratitude for my inspiring friend Jen who catalysed my mission</span></b></span><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">I have Loving Gratitude for my breakfast </span></b><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">I have Loving Gratitude for all the loving and kind acts of my partner</span></b><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">I have Loving Gratitude for the world of infinite possibilities</span></b><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">I have Loving Gratitude for every morning </span></b><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">I have Loving Gratitude for every night</span></b><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">I have Loving Gratitude for all the abundance in my life</span></b><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">I have Loving Gratitude for everything I am learning</span></b><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">I have Loving Gratitude for my cosy house</span></b><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">I have Loving Gratitude for moving on </span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">love Klara.</span><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span></b>Klara Darling-Swannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01375240558269473066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8896524408088703356.post-35624896366692453552012-05-30T21:09:00.000+01:002012-06-02T07:52:30.826+01:00My Rewards Are On Earth!<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hello</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is roughly thirty days since I set myself the new challenge of <span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b>doing that which I love daily!</b></span> At first I simply challenged myself to either talk about, meditate on or actually do the things I love daily, and then I realised that wasn't enough! So I challenged myself to go for a walk somewhere beautiful every day and to sing a song and play my guitar every day. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So how has it been for me? So far it has been <span style="font-size: large;">incredibly rewarding! </span>Since I began I have had only two days off from my challenge as I had to go into hospital to have an operation on my neck (which was a challenge in itself!). The rest of the time I have managed everyday to rise to my challenge. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Musically I have really enjoyed the enforced song a day, I have some gigs coming up and playing everyday, even if it is only one song, is really helping me to get back into practice after a long break when I had my baby. Playing my guitar everyday is helping to re-form the callouses on my fingers which stops the steel strings from hurting me, and the extra practice is helping my musical confidence and my self confidence alike! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am re-discovering my own music which is turning out to be a far greater Joy than I anticipated! <span style="font-size: large;">An unexpected Joy! </span>I think I had begun to take for granted my own achievements, I had stopped noticing how beautiful my own songs are, my enjoyment had gradually been replaced by a mixture of disappointment and boredom mostly due to my musical ambitions not coming to fruition so far. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It no longer seems to matter to me why I am playing, <span style="font-size: large;">I simply play music because </span><span style="font-size: x-large;">I love it, </span><span style="font-size: large;">for the pure joy of the feeling of singing and playing! </span>I am relieved by this development in my story, I would like to believe that the Universe will support me in doing that which I love, that following my passion will bring everything I need into my life, and the fact that I no longer hope for anything other than <span style="color: orange; font-size: x-large;">Joy </span>to come from my music means that I really do now play simply for pure enjoyment. <span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Walking everyday</span> has been quite a challenge, so far the weather has been very good, I have had quite a few evening walks which has turned out to be an unexpected pleasure. The main thing which hampers me in my challenge to walk somewhere beautiful everyday is actually remembering to do it! When I do remember I experience and mixture of pleasure at the thought of going out to nature and occasionally a pinch of anxiety at the thought of not managing to meet my own challenge! The irony of this usually makes me laugh as I set the challenge myself to enhance my enjoyment of life! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I would highly recommend this practice I have adopted of setting challenges for oneself to complete, </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have found in the past it so easy for days and even weeks to go by without a walk or so much as a single musical note being played, <span style="font-size: x-large;">if we allow it the mundane realities of life can get in the way of beauty and Joy! </span>If today is my last day in this incarnation, then it is a fine time to pass; I can say with a happy heart that today and every day <span style="color: red; font-size: x-large;"><b>I have done something that I Love! </b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: magenta; font-size: large; font-weight: bold;">What a gift I have given myself, </span>what a wonderful thing to be able to say about my own life! By making a small commitment to myself I have made my life beautiful and joyful everyday! And every morning I wake up with an enthusiasm which was missing from my life for a very long time........</span><br />
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<span style="color: purple; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Today I am Thankful for the challenges I set for my self</b></span><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: purple;">I am Thankful for my perseverance</span></b><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: purple;">I am Thankful for my magical songs</span></b><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: purple;">I am Thankful for my musical ears</span></b><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: purple;">I am Thankful for my vibrating vocal chords</span></b><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: purple;">I am Thankful for my remarkable feet</span></b><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: purple;">I am Thankful for the woods near my house</span></b><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: purple;">I am Thankful for the stream I love to cross</span></b><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: purple;">I am Thankful for the ancient giant trees I love to visit</span></b><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: purple;">I am Thankful for Living a Life of Joy</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">love Klara. </span>Klara Darling-Swannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01375240558269473066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8896524408088703356.post-19316401802812183832012-05-30T14:31:00.001+01:002012-05-30T14:31:05.732+01:00Instinctive decisions!<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hello</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yesterday I was reminded of the necessity of inspirational reading, and so I went into town and went to the bookshop! I love bookshops, I grew up in a house with thousands of books so bookshops are somewhere that I feel very at home. I didn't really have time to browse and even if I had wanted to browsing is hard with a small baby, and when I arrived I met a friend and got into a very inspiring conversation. After a while a book caught my eye, I asked to look at it and found that it was by and author I know and love, the book is called "The Alchemist's Journey" by Glennie Kindred.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Of course I know the old adage "never judge a book by its cover" however there are some occasions when I believe<span style="font-size: large;"> too much thought can hamper instinctive decisions! </span>I bought the book immediately and began reading it later that day. It is the perfect book for where I am in my life right now! I am not at all surprised! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There have been so many occasions when I have gone to look for a book and apparently impetuously bought the first book that I have picked up and I can honestly say that I have always been pleased with the outcome. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I believe instinctive acts are too often either overlooked or underestimated in our society. Following the heart instead of the head has been discouraged to the extreme in Western society. People seem to believe that the using intellect to make decisions is more sensible and reliable than using our feelings. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I would be inclined to agree with this idea if it were true that the mind does not mislead us at times. <span style="font-size: large;">Thought is not infallible! </span>I have talked here many times now about bogus thoughts; thoughts which convince us that life is a certain way, but they are not accurate. The easiest bogus thoughts to spot are the overtly negative ones, the self deprecating, self destructive, or just plain falsehoods, but there are plenty of other inacurate or misleading thought forms.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To me this is an indication that thought is not a reliable way to make dec</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">isions. <span style="font-size: large;">There is another way to make choices! The power of instinct!</span> Despite what many people believe we are instinctive beings, we are highly capable of making good sensible (if you will pardon the irony of the word) practical decisions simply by using our instincts.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am moving into a phase of my life where I am learning to <span style="font-size: large;">put greater trust in my instincts </span>and to use them as a practical tool for making choices.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How are instinctive choices made and what is the difference between an instinctive choice and one which is thought out? Generally as a rule of thumb I can explain an instinctive decision simply with timing, with the example of the book, the book caught my eye I liked the title and on seeing who had written it the decision was made; this was therefore an instinctive decision and my proof is in that I now know it was the right one! I could have spent time looking at the book reading excerpts and thinking about the writing style or the content, perhaps I could have looked at a few other books too, and that would have been a <i>carefully considered choice! </i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am sure that with careful consideration I can choose good books too, but I have experienced many occasions, particularly when I am in a hurry or distracted (usually by impatient children), when I have chosen poorly using this the thought out method. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Instinctive decisions are satisfying and enjoyable by their very nature! </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am following a path where thinking less is desirable, the less time spent on unnecessary thoughts the better. I am learning to CHOOSE GOOD FEELING THOUGHTS, and to <span style="font-size: large;">engage with the only thing which really exists: </span><span style="font-size: x-large;">Now! </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Instinct is a powerful tool, it is easy and convenient to use, and I find it empowering to use. My confidence is at making useful choices is growing with the use of my instinct, it is a<span style="font-size: large;"> subtle power</span> which resides in all of us. Thought is a very useful tool but in my opinion it is over used by western society. <span style="font-size: large;">I believe we will all grow Spiritually through the development of the use of instinct. </span>The more connected we are to the instinctive self the <span style="color: orange; font-size: large;"><b>happier we will become......</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: magenta;">Today I am thankful for my powers of thought</span> </span></span><br />
<span style="color: magenta; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I am thankful for my instinct</span><br />
<span style="color: magenta; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I am thankful for all my senses</span><br />
<span style="color: magenta; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I am thankful for my sensitivity</span><br />
<span style="color: magenta; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I am thankful for gentle rain</span><br />
<span style="color: magenta; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I am thankful for powerful rainbows</span><br />
<span style="color: magenta; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I am thankful for shooting stars</span><br />
<span style="color: magenta; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I am thankful for all the stars in the sky</span><br />
<span style="color: magenta; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I am thankful for the sun</span><br />
<span style="color: magenta; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I am thankful for </span><span style="color: magenta; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">the return of the moon each night</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">love Klara.</span>Klara Darling-Swannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01375240558269473066noreply@blogger.com0