A good friend told me at the start of this week to make sure it was full of things that were extraordinarily kind to my soul. Which led me to a place where I wanted to write down all those things this week which have been kind to my soul.

Sitting drinking tea in my grey chair
Book in hand
Sun streaming through the windows

Noticing my feelings
Noticing what my body is doing
Noticing the places of tension
The anger, frustration
Noticing what brings peace.

Walking in the hills.
Sun on my face
Big rolling downs
Slopes full of sheep
That made me cry at
All the beauty in this world

Conversations with wonderful friends
Uninterrupted
Enjoying the presence of
Those who know me deep.

Lamenting. Noticing loss
Noticing the gentle touch of
Hope as disrupted narratives
Get altered and reformed
As the Other comes and breathes
On this pain.

Noticing the change
The empty quiet house
The swirl of emotions as I see
Less of my boys
Less of their wonder and more of their pain
Noticing the call to love
And love again.

Noticing my desire to go tender
To quieten the old authoritarian voice
And enter their world
Feel their pain and
Love them through
This fragile world

Being aware that I am loved
That the simple is all I need
I am loved
Held
Known
Seen.

Gazing at big crashing waves
stopping the tv that was bad for my soul
Enjoying fun tv
Enjoying the call of Mary Oliver
To sit and enjoy this beautiful world
To know I don’t have to be good
To love this soft animal of my body

Napping. Reading. Holding in this space.
Singing loud in the car
Grinning big at the sky
More tea, more reading, more sitting still
More being loved.
More peace.

Smiling at my favourite and best
Laughing in the space time off supplies
Sitting in silence together.

All these things and more have brought kindness to my soul this week.

And you?