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Tuesday 31 December 2013

Bring on the new year!!

2013 was a bit of a tough year for me, however also filled with lots of happy moments, love and beautiful people. I must say that I am looking forward to the new year, putting a few things behind me, taking what I've learnt and celebrating what I have.

I've never being very good at resolutions, although I do like the idea of making goals, and I especially love lists, so this year I'm going to try to follow a couple of practical and I think achievable resolutions ...

✅ Not buy any bottled water

I don't buy bottled water very often, however when I do I feel annoyed with myself for a few reasons - the unnecessary cost and the impact on the environment. Hopefully this resolution won't be too hard, and will help me to be more organised by taking my own water with me when I'm going out and well and truly kick the habit.

This article at The Hoopla has some interesting facts about how we consume bottled water and its impact.



✅ Throw out  or give away one thing every day
 
This is a friend's idea that I'm copying, and hopefully we will both be able to get rid of some clutter if we do this. Obviously daily rubbish etc. doesn't count, it has to be something substantial like a piece of clothing, a pair of shoes, an ornament or a box of old bits and pieces.

After writing this I decided to do a bit of research, and I found that of course someone else has been doing this too for a couple of years. The blog '365 less things', has lots of great ideas and inspiration for decluttering which I will keep reading as motivation.


These two simple resolutions go together quite well as they are about consuming and having less as well as letting go. The impact of these small changes will hopefully go beyond the physical to creating more space psychologically as well. Space for a more contemplative resolution that I will write about in the next week or so.

Let me know if you would like to join me in these resolutions for the year - or even a month or a week!  I'll keep you posted of my progress and we can share our success!


"As they say in Tibet, if you take care of the minutes, the years will take care of themselves".

Rick Hanson www.rickhanson.net


May your New Year be full of happiness and peace ... and of course many cups of tea!
Vanna xxx


My beautiful big Christmas tea cup from my son.











 

Wednesday 18 December 2013

All wrapped up


I had to take some photos of this beautiful basket of picture books all wrapped up ready for the end of year party at my preschool. 
 
We use home made paper which I think looks fabulous, and every child receives a book as a present. How lovely to think of the potential fun, learning, and shared moments that each of these parcels contains.



“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.”   

Dr Seuss - I can read with my eyes shut.


Saturday 14 December 2013

Taking the time for tea


This is another of the books that I found at the library. Obviously I couldn't resist this very informative little gem, published in London in 1949, about my favourite addiction - tea. 

I love the following, very precise directions for making a cup of tea ...
(the print is a little blurry in these images, so I hope you can read it)





This is a lovely reminder to take time to make the tea just right. Our days are often so rushed and filled with 'important' things to do that convenience has taken over from quality. I believe that the process and the experience is just as important as the end result.

This afternoon I made a pot of French Earl Grey for my Mum and I which we drank out of lovely old tea cups. I must admit I didn't follow these directions, and I always put the milk in last, but it tasted just right.







Friday 6 December 2013

Nelson Mandela

“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.”

Nelson Mandela


I feel very fortunate to have shared time on the planet with such an inspiring person.

This is one of his quotes that rings so true to me - it is OK to feel fear, and it is how we respond to it that matters. Life will always give us reasons to be scared, however after much practise I have learnt that as soon as I stop resisting fear it loses it's energy and there is space for courage to grow.


Monday 2 December 2013

Beautiful old books

A small library near where I work is closing down and giving away their collection of children's books. After visiting it twice last Monday ( and collecting a box of books for the preschool where I work, as well as a pile for myself) I lay awake that night worrying about the books as I had been told that the remaining ones were going to be pulped. I thought about how I could justify going back to save some more - and I thought of friends who would appreciate the beauty of these books from the 1950's, 60's and 70's and even earlier.

 
 
Old books feel so full of history and as I hold them I wonder about other readers and the different lives they lead years ago. Children's books from the past tell us so much about how childhood, and our beliefs about this time of life have changed, and also remained the same.
 
So I went back for another visit the next day  - there were less books on the shelf, lots of them already packed away in boxes, and I hope that others had been saved by people like me who couldn't bear to think of them being destroyed. (I found out later that many had gone to other collections - thank goodness!)
 
I found some Enid Blyton books for a writer friend, a Maurice Sendak that I had never seen before, a copy of Goodnight Moon that reminds me of my inspiring children's literature lecturer, and beautifully illustrated picture books for my teaching and my artistic friends and my daughter - who I know will use them for inspiration as she draws. 


Trixie - Published in 1978
I was excited when I found a pile of Trixie Belden books and I resisted taking the whole lot, keeping only two. One for me and one for my best school friend - to remind us of the many happy hours spent in the last years of primary school absorbed in Trixie's exciting world.

So now I have a box full of books waiting for me to tie them into little piles with lovely ribbon to give to my friends, and somehow I will manage to find a little bit of space on a bookshelf for the ones that I couldn't bear to let go of. I know that they will be good cup of tea company!

I think this quote from Laura Ingalls Wilder is appropriate:

“As you read my stories of long ago I hope you will remember that the things that are truly worthwhile and that will give you happiness are the same now as they were then. Courage and kindness, loyalty, truth, and helpfulness are always the same and always needed.”


Cinderella - 1972


Published in 1951
A story about 3 boys who work hard to save money
 to buy their mother some red shoes for her birthday.


"Goodnight stars   Goodnight air  Goodnight noises everywhere"

 

 



Sunday 17 November 2013

Simple pleasures.

Happiness is going to bed on a cold and rainy night with a cup of tea, a piece of dark chocolate, and Tim Winton's new book Eyrie. 


Luxury! 

Thursday 24 October 2013

Beautiful imperfection and a big dog!

While having a cup of tea with a lovely friend recently we were talking about our family dog Mali - a 44 kg Rhodesian ridge back cross.



While deciding what sort of dog to choose my family had many discussions about the usual things - age, size, breed, hair shedding and so on. Our daughter, who had pleaded with us for years to have a dog was the expert so when she suggested we look at pet rescue we began to search the web. We were amazed and distressed to see so many puppies and grown dogs that needed homes. It didn't take long for us to make the decision to have a rescue dog. 

As we reflected on our choice I began to realise that we needed to let go of some of the expectations we had previously had about our new puppy. With a rescue dog there were no guarantees - we were taking a risk by choosing a dog whose history we would know little about. 

This made me think about the social expectations we have around the search for perfection. We are bombarded with messages to accept nothing less than perfect, and therefore we can get caught up in wanting our bodies, our houses, our jobs, our food and even our pets to be just right, to fit a certain mould. When we have the resources that enable us to make choices I wonder if we take this ability to choose too far and as a result lose the possibilities that chance can give us. I also wonder if we are creating unrealistic expectations for ourselves as life is far from "perfect" and we certainly can't control everything that happens to us. When our lives in general don't measure up it can be a shock that an expectation of perfection certainly doesn't prepare us for. 

If we only look for perfection it can also mean that we may miss out on the wonderful and unexpected joy that imperfection can bring us. Instead we can learn to be flexible, to take some risks, to open our hearts a bit more and see beauty when it's not so obvious. I have found that letting go of the search for perfection has given me permission to relax a bit, to be less critical of myself and others. This has given me more space to see that what isn't so perfect is often just what I need and that often I need look no further than what I already have in front of me. 

We wanted a medium sized dog that didn't shed hair. We ended up with a very large dog whose hair we constantly have to sweep up!! She is also gentle, intelligent, pretty, funny and loyal and has given us so much love and happiness. Mali is not perfect that's for sure, but she is the right dog for us and we are all so happy we took a little risk because there is no way we could have preordered a dog like her! 


Sunday 13 October 2013

Cousins' day

Today was my family's annual cousins get together. It was an outrageously windy day and much of our time was spent trying to keep table cloths and small babies from flying away.  As my children are teenagers I was fortunate enough to be able to relax (no chance of them being carried off ) and enjoy the company of my extended family. I met new partners, went gooey over new babies, and fell in love with my cousin's 2 year old son as I watched him play with my children. I laughed with my great Aunty who proudly declared "I'm 88 and not dead yet!". It was extra special to see her this year, as my precious Oma, her sister, recently died and I loved being with someone so like her - listening to her accent, seeing her smile, and loving her similar attitude towards life, and death.

Our Cousins' Day began after my great grandmother died as a way to keep the family in touch, knowing that without her as a connection it would be easy to lose contact, with our families living further apart and inevitably getting caught up in our own lives. Now 20 years later, I have many wonderful memories and have built connections and friendships with family that I may otherwise never have seen or got to know. My 10 year old second or third (not sure exactly) cousin is now the mother of that gorgeous 2 year old. My kids know that they are part of something bigger than their immediate family, and I hope as they observe all of us together, they learn something about what makes our family unique. I also hope, actually this is more important, that they see that our family is pretty much the same as any other. We all have our good times and bad. We grow up, we find love, sometimes it doesn't last, but it can and when it does we celebrate it, and the family grows. We get old, we admire and support our elders and we grieve together when they leave us.

Taking time to contemplate the sense of belonging that family creates is definitely worth a few cups of tea. I look forward to sharing some tea with my cousins on a less windy Cousins' Day next year as we celebrate its 21st birthday.



 




Wednesday 9 October 2013

Please join me for a cuppa!

Hello and welcome to tea and contemplation.

After playing around for a while with blogger I have finally decided to take the plunge and make a public blog. It is a little scary to put my thoughts out into the world, however I do believe in the power of words and reflection, and hopefully by writing I will be able to sort my own ideas out a bit more and maybe even give you a reason to stop and have a cup of tea as you read and think.

Clearly having a cuppa is to me one of life's pleasures. The ritual of making the tea (even if it is usually only with a teabag!) and then drinking it, gives me a reason to slow down and take some time for myself.  I try my best to drink mindfully - to enjoy the moment, but there are still times when I look into the empty cup and realise I can barely remember drinking and have only just noticed that the tea is all gone. Then I am reminded that everyday routines provide endless opportunities for mindfulness. A cup of tea can be a trigger to stop, clear my mind and make some space for quiet contemplation.

Sharing and making tea for others is a way to show love and friendship. I have spent many hours talking, laughing, crying or just being quiet together over a cup of tea, with the people that matter to me. (My partner tells me that he has made me approximately 16790 cups of tea in our years together!). My hope is that tea and contemplation may become a place where ideas are shared and the every day is celebrated.

Vanna


“Drink your tea slowly and reverently, as if it is the axis on which the world earth revolves - slowly, evenly, without rushing toward the future.” 
 - Thich Nhat Hanh