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Chapter One: A worthwhile read

You know the story. The one about the little boy on the seashore, tossing back, one by one, washed up starfish. A man happens by and says to him, "Boy, its not going to make any difference, there are too many." And as he selects the next one, tossing it in, he replies, "It makes a difference to that one." And then picking up another and tossing it back he says again, "It makes a difference to that one." One by one, he picks a starfish up and returns it to the sea. That story has always resonated deeply. As it challenges the belief often held, that the little we do, doesn't really make much of a difference in our immediate world or the greater world we are apart of. It's a danger to believe that our time on this earth may be of little importance, that our everyday choices are insignificant. As of late, I have become increasingly aware of something. Our propensity towards sharing negativity. The latest headlines, loc...

Water

Meet my little friend. It goes with me nearly everywhere. Perplexing to some and to the annoyance of most. There is nothing worse then feeling thirsty, dry and in need of a sip of water. And, nothing quite like the refreshing drink of clean, cool water. My little friend has saved me many a times from the thing I dislike. I fill it up multiple times throughout a day, without thought or question to the safety and cleanliness of  the source. The source. At my fingertips everywhere I go. Water. Readily and abundantly available to me. No effort required. Turn the tap. Water. Clean, pure and available. Photo by  Artem Beliaikin  on  Unsplash I recently came across a video about an organisation called  Charity Water  (Watch it  here !!) ( Music  score by my favourite, Sleeping at Last!) Beautifully crafted, this video was both moving and horrifying. Bringing me to tears, as its founder shares his s...

Love is in the air...

                                                                 Photo by  Tim Marshall  on  Unsplash Love is in the air.          An internationally recognised day to show love by the giving of flowers and chocolate. Valentine's Day. Another holiday for a minority of people. Strictly speaking as someone who has never had a 'valentine' or been someones 'valentine' (yes I just owned that fun filled fact.) I can honestly say it doesn't really bother me, it's just another day. Well actually it's my cousins birthday ;) (Shout out to Miranda, Happy Birthday!) But for many it's a reminder of what they don't have. Which can be a painful reality and often times with good reason. Social media is a great one for throwing relationships and grand gestures of love in ones face. Images everywher...

Peace

With every breath we inhale the present. With every exhale we breath out the past. Present. Past. At war with one another For the past is a distant memory of what was. Its sound echos all around trying to distract, trying to drown out the present. Breath in. For the past is only as powerful as you allow it to be. A choice. To make peace with our past. In the beautiful exchange our past becomes what was. And what is... becomes the choice we enter into. A new rhythm. A new sound. From strength to strength we grow and we change. Peace with one another. Peace with God. Peace with ourselves. For His peace that passes understanding guards our heart and minds. (Philippians 4:7)  Or...will we be victims of our past, for life, prisoners to disappointment and pain? Viewing it as the enemy we will battle until we draw our last breath? All the while missing out on the life we have in the present where the past cannot touch it, unless we allow it to, robbing us o...

It's the most wonderful time of the year

Photos taken by  Kelly   in partnership with  APA   http://www.memorycake.co.uk/ Not what you typically expect to see with the words, "It's the most wonderful time of the year." To be honest, I hoped you would notice the contrast. Click. And read. Okay. Maybe it is a rather manipulative approach. Or is it...? It's the most wonderful time of year... For some of us. But for many in the world that's not the case. Difficult. Painful. Lonely. Afraid. Rejected. Hungry. Homeless. Abused. Sick. Living without. No access to clean water. This is a horrendous reality. It's just wrong.  None of us would accept it.  We would fight for our right. Demand it. Because we can.  But what if you could literally do nothing to change your reality. Whose responsibility is it then?  In the land of plenty (yes that is where you and I find ourselves) We take this time of year to give and...

I ate salmon

I ate salmon. Yes, earth shattering news. In the midst of so much going on. This is truly insignificant and meaningless. Or is it. Here is the thing. Change, relative to each individual and their world. But... it means the difference between growing or staying the same. Fish, makes me sick. I had a bad experience. (We won't get into it) I vowed to never, ever , eat it ever again. These sorts of decisions are limitations. Simple declarations. But give it time, and they gain a powerful hold on our mind, Change can't just be desired. It has to be experienced. And generally that means a breaking of something... Of behaviours, barriers, limitation, decisions, fears... Which can be physically or psychologically painful. Like the build up to putting a fork full of pasta filled with salmon past my lips. It literally forced me to a place that caused so much fear. I was so convinced for so long about it being one thing. I didn't like challenging it. I w...

Simplicity: What travel is teaching me.

Simplicity: The quality of being simple; freedom from complexity; absence of pretentiousness What travel is teaching me... Life becomes complicated far to easily.  How quickly we can become slaves to things we never intended to be enslaved to.  We can be taken in so easily by an 'ideal life', career, relationship, consumed by the desire for possessions & titles. Only to find ourselves in the midst of something we never fully intended to be in. Suddenly asking the question, 'How did I get here?' Lost in the cycle. Meeting people, hearing their stories and listening to the wisdom from those who have chosen to learn & grow from the things that happened in their life. These people, their stories, their friendship has truly been one of the greatest gifts in my life. I am inspired, encouraged, challenged and overwhelmed. Life is a teacher if we are willing to be a student, admitting 'I don't know it all.' With open heart and mind, the wisdom and...