The Universe.

Perspectives from my garden. 

Holly the friendliest cat in the world.

Sustenance smoothie style.

 

Finally confident to be barefaced. The healthy eating is fighting the blemishes and slowly winning. 

 

Green tea, acai, porridge, fruit and hemp the super foods making it happen!

For the loveliness of honey bees. 

Evidence that the UK occasionally sees blue skies. 

Mail from Marseille

Newborn Idris Matai, the picture inside the letter. Congratulations to my dear friend Slaven and his beautiful wife Mara.

6 miles into a 12 mile bike ride with Poppa Hobbs. 

The Universe seems strange to me at the moment.  Another dear university friend passed away in a frankly horrific accident and this is in the same week as the Woolwich attack. It's at times like these that I struggle to understand life and feel frustrated wondering why bad things happen to good people - where is the justice? 

It is now that I listen to my Buddhist practice the most. 

The Dalai Lama quotes: 

 

"One could say that it is our experience of suffering which connects us to others. It is the basis of our capacity for empathy..." 

Perhaps in the instances when I question humanity, this is the time to extend my hands and embrace our humanness, our fragility and be of service to others. On the day I discovered my friend Sarah McClay had died I had to go into work. I didn't want to be there, I wanted to wallow and try to come to terms with the utterly surreal situation I found myself in. Having to be cheerful and energetic in order to support the service users was exactly what I needed however and regardless of my own personal state, being a care worker and helping someone else enjoy their day always gives me a sense of satisfaction. 

There is a moment after love making that I lie with my partner lucid and sleepy. In this time we conspire together, talking at length sometimes about nothing but often about life's truths. In this small slice of life magic exists, we talk about our plans (mine are usually fantastical and involve emigrating) or about problems that bother us. Suddenly in the wake of all this loss and violence I treasure these precious little specks of ordinariness. I look upon my man and and feel wonder that I could be so in love with someone as exceptional as him. 

Today the sun shone and a bee landed on my toe and stayed there for fifteen minutes. Initially I wanted to flick it off but after a while I stopped being scared and had an opportunity to examine how gently it cleaned itself. I was almost sad when it left my sandal. 

My neighbor's 6 year old daughter came to talk with me, a blonde little thing with a hippie air and a penchant for talking. We made daisy chains together and talked about how much we loved animals - we even like gorillas the most. She told me how she wanted to be a vet and I was so moved I immediately went to fetch her all my childhood books about animals and told her she could have them. Abigail reminded me there is still hope and dreams left in the world. She's also made me remember the determined little girl I once was and how working with animals was always my dream. I need to fulfill this, even more so because of the constant mortality reminders I've been having lately. 

For now I'm concentrating on contentment, of finding the small everyday blessings I already have whilst working towards my big dreams. I'm eating fresh, keeping my body healthy, I'm valuing the dear people in my life, learning from the ignorant and trying to find the silver linings.

This is life I guess. 

I hope for you dear reader there is happiness in your own life, I wish for you good health and want you to know my blog is a respite for you, so tell me your dreams and we'll conspire together. 

Stay strong, surf well

Love Sophia 

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