Happy New Year 2014

H ours of pleasure with your family and friends
A bundence of health for all 365 days of the New Year
P lenty of time for your hobbies and having fun and
P ure joy to be able to really enjoy everyone
Y outhful energy for everything new you undertake

N ourishing foods for keeping your vitality and health
E nergy for taking time to work, for it is the price of success
W onder at the beauty of this world be it plant, animal or mineral

Y ou and me getting together sometime
E njoying one of the greatest sources of happiness - friendship!
A llowing time for prayer, for it washes the dust of the earth from your eyes
R emebering to always live within the moment

and may these wishes be delivered to you on the wings of an Angel during the strokes of midnight in the magical crossover time between 2013 and 2014.

with love, compassion and peace

Your Korus

2013 changes into 2014

For me personally, this year was one in which I re-learnt that time is irrelevant.  That life is such a precious gift we take for granted until suddenly we are asked within a split second, to fight for it if we want to hold on to it. That my husband and children give me always-unconditional love for the person I am. That my friends although they might be few, they are truly worth their weight in gold. That my dreams are also important. That I can be heard.  That I have a place here.

Rather simple sentences but monstrous re-connections to understanding that I, as with each of us, have a purpose here to live and it is good so.  It is how we view the world we re-act within that creates our ability to deal with the emotions it rises up inside us.

The earth is like an emotional kindergarten full of small humans busting their britches to be heard, seen and followed. All feel they know this or that from another whom was shown it by another whom got the information from another whom is in contact with the “big source”. Each is bursting with energy to make its happiness, sadness, anger, fear, irritation or relevant emotion both known and taken on, as the ticket to understanding the world we live in, by every other child in the playground. So fists fly, words are spat out, hair is pulled, feet are stomped upon and groups are made which either invite you in or bar you out. Life becomes a roller coaster ride each and every day. You are able to try out which ride pleases you and jump onto another carrousel when one emotion goes into overdrive.

It is how you handle these emotions that is the key to stepping out of the tug-of-war within, to see the beauty of what each of us is given yet missing when we sit tight on one emotional stand only.

A new canvas upon which you can splash all the colours of the rainbow and create a picture to be wrapt up within is not created only from one viewpoint. It is an accumulation of what you have lived through, seen, felt and experienced. The composition is your own personal record of this. The colours chosen relate to the layers of emotions you had at the time. Each supporting or breaking another apart yet working still together for a united goal. To provide a supportive and loving overall scene into which you are able to breath. To sit down in. To find refuge within. To gather strength from.  

Yesterday several small events reminded me of this. As I was paying for my petrol, the woman before me turned around as she was leaving and pressed a coupon in my hand for a 3% reduction on my bill. After paying I saw she was still in the station and walked up to her to say thank you and wish her a lovely new year. She seemed shyly touched yet she had given me something first. As I was going down in a lift in a shopping mall it jolted and stood still for a few seconds before continuing. I grabbed the railing beside me and swallowed. A couple who looked as if riding Harleys were part of their life style asked me was I ok. I shared that I was stuck alone for a day and a half in a lift as a child, due to an earthquake in New Zealand and the experience sat deep within my bones. They both gave me such a loving smile I could feel the tensions releasing within me as the man stated, “well that I can empathize with but if it was happening this time, we are here too with you”. Later while grocery shopping we passed each other again and we exchanged deeply felt smiles as if we had already gone through a doorway of pain and survived. They had changed my memory to one of being protected just by stating the would be there if it happened again. As I was looking for a bottle on a shelf in which a lot of people where blocking access to, as it stood in front of the return section; I noticed one person waiting patiently in the trolley seat. The little angel was holding out her arms to me and laughing. The mother seemed annoyed by this and told her to sit still and put her arms down. The little poppet’s head though followed my path and I waved to her and she burst into a grin so big it lit up the room. I had just received a dosage of unconditional love from one soul to another. There was something in the air in that moment and it was magical.

These small moments within my day are the emotional interactions I have with all the other souls who cross my pathway on the canvas I am creating. I splash love, acceptance, compassion and joy upon the scene I am in and allow others to see the composition created and re-act towards it as they wish. I ask not that they take on my emotional stand but give them the space to live out theirs in the awareness that it will be accepted, embraced and seen on all levels.

So my crossover from one period of time into another this year is with a thankful heart for my life. For being able to live and share it on various levels; with other souls. For seeing that pain, disappointment or worry need not be the emotional crutches, which I need to live. They are only the outer coatings of paint that enclose a deeper layer of work being created in the heart of my life.

My life mantra is “go with the flow”. For life is an endless process of movement towards something unknown. Sometimes taking me around corners or into still pools that seem to be “the end” yet are really only a breathing space before the next current catches me and I am once again moving. The speed or depths to which I move are part of the process but not the main section. That I trust is.

2014 has for me has the following affirmation:

As I now release 2013 to my past and open the doorway into my future in 2014 I am a compassionate being of light, love and awareness. Knowing that I will flow with the current that takes me to higher levels of understanding of who I am, why I am here and how I can allow these to evolve; for the highest good of myself and those whom I interact with. I will allow my emotions to be impulses to creating a wondrous film, in which I play a part but those who pass through are also valued and welcome. Life is good and I step into its energy with joy.

This new year is my year.

Koruswhispers 

closure

Usually when the end of a year nears we often have the feeling certain “things” should get done. It doesn’t matter that we have had almost twelve months since the last change of dates, to get this or that completed. What matters is the fact between Christmas and the stroke of midnight, on the last day of December; we need to erase the tasks still lying waiting for us since …? Well maybe even more than a year but the point is we feel the time is “now or never”. A rather strange inner clock seems to turn and only we feel we can slow it down by getting rid of items on the “I am going to do” list. That pile of books we wanted to give up to the second hand shop or the clearing out of our wardrobe of all items not worn since a year or finishing off the hand knitted scarf we thought would be a breeze to do (if only the fingers and mind could find co-ordination I am sure it would be!) but somehow it got stuck in the cloth bag in a corner.

Then there is another pressure that boils up at this time and it grabs for our attention usually just before we all should be “loving and giving” with the family and friends. It to has a “to be done date” stamped upon it, only the task involves airing off long forgotten grievances and disputes, slights of tongue received or discussions gone wrong but never talked finished.  We find often in the build up to the traditional family gathering we release the pressure ourselves in explosive remarks or poisoned arrows of cattiness. Usually in the totally wrong moment and even at times towards the wrong person whom wonders when were they involved and so begins, their inner clock to tick as they look for an answer.

So here is the ending of our self imposed time period coming up – a year; 365 days. Here are expectations of what a festive season should be. Here are tasks or desires left undone. Here are the unresolved frustrations between you and Uncle John weaving their claws into your minds soft tissue to squeeze it hard. What do you do with all this extra baggage before the New Year?

Become moody. Pull back. Utter “I want to be alone”. Or do you go into over overdrive and volunteer for all the jobs left open at the local youth centre, homeless refuge or animal shelter? Each has a ventricle that we have conditioned to click into action when confronted with the pressure of “closure” which is actually what this time span and its accompanying triggers is all about.

While closure means different things to different people it is something that scares all of us.  Some see it as the end of a productive period while others see it has nailing the coffin lid shut. It can be the end of a learning sequence or the over lap for the start of a new one. It can occur with abruptness or take its time drawing out the actual period into a pleasurable or painful expanse of hours.

In whatever way or form closure is felt by you it is especially prominent now. The business world closes down over Christmas New Year. It tells us clearly you will not be able to get anything done then. Organize yourself now. Schools, offices and work places release you from the daily timetables to be merry and happy at the closing of a calendar year. Plan the new start well. We wish to close down the old order of doing things to give room for a new space for growth.

Closure is being sure you allow no room for anything to get out. For containing what ever it is you want completed, gone, dealt with forever in a non-opening box preferably without a lid! This is what we have been told and conditioned to believe. It is what we re-act upon in the handling of the crossover from one calendar year to another. That is why we love affirmations and resolutions to guide us into the start of something new, as the first of January makes its presence known. They give us an opening out of a closeted situation, of not having completed or risen to our self imposed tasks or expectations in the past twelve months. “I am” or “I will” statements become the new spoken form of introduction to an opening set of possibilities.  Stifling the precious “maybes” that arise. Yet do not forget “maybes” for they are the mixtures of two colours to create something new. Even black and white has its shadings.

Try to be with yourself less strict and more exact with your closure. Take a moment’s time when you seem to feel your not being heard to listen to the wind amongst the trees – this is the voice that gets pushed under and lost often in the tone of the moment. Perhaps lies within its whisper a gentle note, that helps you reset the energy that has been spoken and the conversation can once again become clearer for all to hear. Your seen and understood therefore you can move forward.

We often sing along to the children's ditty - "Red sky in the morning shepherds warning, red sky at night shepherds delight" and marvel at how it usually is natures warning system that things are constantly in movement. When we voice out our opinions and views to friends and foe perhaps there should also be a warning system laced upon our tongues to block cutting remarks, damaging slights or hard hitting truths that need to be shared under two pairs of eyes and not more. The sense for closure has the tendency to loosen our words and often we are then fighting to repair the damage into the New Year. If this has occurred to you this year grab today as the chance to hug the one you inflicted pain upon and say your sorry for the hurt; perhaps at another date you can explain, just not now. For that is the secret of closure. It allows you to change in this moment leaving open a pathway for development.

Sometimes we feel washed out, a shadow of ourselves only, as we take the step to shut the past year down. Our form looses definition and becomes part of the substance around us. We stand on solid ground but our environment does not nourish us. Instead we are not really seen and feel out of touch with ourselves. Why is this? We are so often in conflict with what, how, when and where in regards to closure we forget who is responsible for it. Ourselves. Not a clock or timetable and most definitely not anyone else. Just you. Just me. We all have to bring an end to events, bad decisions or collapsed projects, not completed tasks or unwished for situations. That is why closure is there. It gives us an action upon which to act.

Stepping out of your closet to close these uncomfortable mishaps is just plain scary. We all feel the fear. We all have the moment in which we would rather not approach the bench and own up for our stuff up. Knowing we all go through closure means we are experiencing the same pain - each of us, not just one person. Closure is given in the dictionary as the state of experiencing an emotional conclusion to a difficult life event. That means it is something we will all continuously have to deal with, as long as we live if we regularly combine it to our personal "clean up" before each new year!

So start now practicing compassion. Be gentle to yourself. Live your life within this embracing and loving position of kindness and you can then practice closure with a soft action of concealment. Be it with your partner, your children, your pets, your work colleagues, your car, your garden, your computer or your body. Within this haven of gentleness, in your handling of yourself, you will feel re-born. There will be still hiccups along the way but you will give yourself the space to create a you, that fits within your spirits desire of how you wish to see time and not that of another’s. You will have closure with a chance for change if needed. You will see closure as an opening to expanding to being the grandest vision, of the person you where born to be.

Release the tight grip you have on what you think needs to be done. Open one after the other your fingers and allow the blood to flow back and circulate once again. Bringing the hand into a natural position, leave the palm flat so it can receive gently something new or carry something old for a closure with another supporting embrace.

As you take your first step into the new calendar year, make the closing contact of it to the ground below you be soft yet steady.  Then all the steps that follow have the chance to rise above the first; giving closure instantly to the way behind you therefore allowing you gently to verge into unknown territory of magnificence within yourself and towards others.

Koruswhispers 

Christmas 2013

Today is Christmas Day.

Whether you are religious, follow a spiritual path or are an atheist, my desire to wish you a very Merry Christmas for you and yours comes from my belief that we should all experience love and compassion during this time. May you be embraced by family and friends with joy for the person you are - for we would be lost without you!

Spend this Christmas gathering precious moments to remember as the year draws to an end and however you are embraced this festive season remember, it is the fact you are seen, which is so important.

You were born to shine. You are a gift to me and I see the creators sparkle within you and love you dearly.

I also see enormous potential for going beyond the expanse of space you have so far ventured into. How could that be possible you ask? Perhaps all you need to do is take on a few new ideas into the approaching New Year.

Release anger for it holds bitterness and stiffens your life.

Share more of what is important to you, for it creates a strong foundation of trust for the one standing over from you listening.

Love with a passion for it gives your heart wings to fly above normality.

Give generously with thoughtfulness for that creates a world one wants to walk in with you.

Plan for the future, for that allows for hope to be part of your daily life.

Embrace that which you treasure now, for it is the only time that really exists.

Be yourself for then every event you undertake is one worth celebrating.

Celebrate your life for it is truly the greatest gift of all.

Reach out for inspiration from other souls, to expand your understanding of how it works for us all, when we dare to think larger than our self-imposed boundaries.

It takes only a small amount of belief in your potential to awaken a wealth of possibilities. I believe in you. Step forward this Christmas and open the gift of life you have been given. It is the most precious present you could ever have received.

  

Koruswhispers 

luck is for everyone

So you feel it is not possible to learn the art of being lucky because it cannot be taught but rather needs to be brought? Oh you are way off track there. Luck - she is for each of us to enjoy. Sometimes he shows himself in a pompous manner. At other moments it is small and quite.

It is our view of luck that changes over time, as we walk our own pathway of life gaining understanding of why we are the creators, of our own treasure chest of lucky moments.

Often I say to myself upon greeting a new day: “This morning I am so lucky to be able to stand up and start off with a clean slate, into a twenty-four hour cycle of new possibilities.  Life is good”. Then I “re-ego-mind” (my word for connecting my ego and mind together) myself to focus on gathering the lucky stones awaiting me and not tripping over them.

Where does one find "luck"? Is it hidden under a pile of books, tucked away in a corner of a draw or does it hide inside a wallet? Mmmm ... I think luck is there right before your eyes, in the small daily things you do day in and day out; just you have forgotten how it looks; all sparkling and dazzling. How it feels; like a smooth brush of a feather against your cheek. The smell of it is enticing and you feel a giggle rising up within you as you breathe luck deep inside into your being before taking on a new adventure.

Recently while out running I watched my boarder collie sit for some moments in the sun, nose twitching and face lifted upwards to the sky. I could literally see him living luck and I imagined if I asked him where luck is hiding he would have answered; “I am actually giving you a perfect example here without any touch ups, just being me and enjoying with all my senses the luck of the moment; taking a sun bath. Taste, smell, touch, sight and hearing. Without them I would be thrown to the wind, a gorgeous young stud without a strut. Honestly my senses allow me to catch the smell of a sexy female dog or know when tag-a-long girl has those running shoes in her hand for she makes a racket banging the cupboards about getting ready. Your senses mean your open to experiencing the world on so many levels it can be devastating when suddenly one is taken away from you. If I couldn't feel Korus's ear rubs my world would crumble. Hey how'd' I do explaining your lucky to have your senses to you?” Does my dogs explaination make sense guys; that luck lies in what you actually have to use in every day moments?

We are actually all "lucky ducks” indeed in having complete freedom. The possibility to be able to express my views and opinions on a variety of social, political, religious and holistic ideas is such a stroke of luck. This freedom is taken by so many for granted as we have had over sixty years of peace in Europe so there has already been two generations whom have lived under this umbrella of protection that so many others have had a bitter, sweet relationship to. Freedom is a precious gift indeed. Take this luck never for granted, as the light of its flame can be blown out with just one breathe!

We are so lucky in many other small every day ways that perhaps you never thought about! How lucky is it to be able to open your wardrobe and choose what to wear from an over abundance of items? How lucky is it to be able to have every day a meal of your choosing? I am not talking about luxury items here. Just the fact you can have a bowl of cereal or warm trousers to wear. If you are reading this, you are honestly one of the lucky ones, who have money, for a computer or an iPhone. I can not see you working in the African diamond mines carrying dirt away in rusty, metal buckets to a dump area to be sifted or in India chipping rocks down to the size of pavement squares for transportation to a western company for sale for the swimming pool patio. These dear souls are struggling to survive and luck is for them breathing fresh air or having a decent sleep when they are so bone tired their bodies scream out in agony. Yet they too have moments when they sense, that luck is there for them as well. They probably even live more in step with luck than we do. Why?

Because they know luck often knocks us down again and again until we realize that humility is also part of her coat fabric. She is a hard mistress. We need to understand that to wear the fibers of her cloth upon our being, we should stay with our feet upon the ground. Knowing what it is that we need for survival and happiness against that which we mistakenly visualize is required. 

Luck is not money, property or high status. He is rather the thief in the night that can take your health away in an instant or destroy your processions in a fire, to bring you with a jolt back to reality. It is seeing with suddenly opened eyes that we are the vessels in which luck can be created and held within. It is our view and compassionate treatment of a situation that determines if you say “gosh you where lucky or what bad luck”. It is our undertaking of the moments within our day that make the curve to a pleasant situation go upwards.

Luck is to be found in so many situations, people or places. Just look for her without saying how she should present herself. He will find you. It is something you can learn by seeing the vibrate essence of life in everything you come into contact with. Be open to experiencing it on various levels and life becomes a color wheel of magical moments that luckily can be relived again and again.

Koruswhispers 

small ritual of love

I came across a few words the other day which basically said that when we are able to realize that we all come from the same God like source (please understand God here as you see fit: the Universal energy, life giving force or my personal favorite "Grand Organizing Designer") then nothing in life can ever hurt us, be it thoughts, words or actions. Woh, what a statement! 



I thought at first that is fine if you haven’t suffered physically or verbally under an abusive person(s) or are dealing with intense mobbing or ... then I had to gather myself for a second and reflect upon where I was going with this statement.

I have received from various levels abuse physically and mentally. The scars can sit deep. The healing requires all levels of my being to be involved. One of the first questions I ask myself when it is verbal is what is the person over from me, reflecting back to me. Something within me that I give out, something I have a strong sense of dislike towards or something the other is struggling with and I mirror the opposite for them? Then I do the following small ritual:

 



I close my eyes, go within my heart nest (this is my name for the area surrounding and protecting our emotional heart, that lies in our breast bone area) and see me as a small innocent child, with wide eyes of wonder at all the life and love around me. There before me stands another child. A little angel just as excited by all that it sees. It is the person whom has hurt me deeply, verbally. I reach out my left hand and they do the same towards me. We grasp hands and suddenly a beautiful yellow light surrounds us. I then ask if perhaps they are having just as much fun looking at all this wonder like I am. I listen to their answer - they are. I then ask if they will remind me when perhaps we are not in this place of love, to show me again how to get back to it, that I may re-member this moment. For we are both from the same source and I will at times need to be reminded of that. I will forget. Then I embrace the small child and they me and say a deep, loving thank you. For I know I will need "small jolts" to make me aware when perhaps I am stepping off my pathway and I want to see these as stepping stones as helping me go forward, not there for me to fall over and scrap my knees upon them. I then release the small child; take several deep breaths coming back to the present moment with compassion and more understanding of what is actually happening.



This is never an easy process but it gets easier each time you place it into motion and it helps you both "heal" and not remain in a place of hurt or pain from the words or actions spoken or done from the person over from you.

The festive season is well documented for the verbal fights and abusive situations that occur in what should be a loving, family gathering.  The past and present expectations of various persons are brought into a single moment in which all should “glow”. Sadly the glow can burn badly as the sparks, of a few hurtful words, ignites the moment into a flame and then raging fire.

Maybe you could be the cooling influence if you practiced this small ritual in the heat of the moment and then your festive season could be really only of a loving, healing time of bonding for all involved.

Then peace upon earth and a happy New Year could actually be real possibilities!

Koruswhispers

time to listen

How much time does it take to really listen? Or say ok to being there for a family member or friend just so they know you care? In reality hardly a second once you have decided to. Yet for many the answer would be “too much time”.

The thought to allow space within your day for hearing what another says – I mean really hearing, is too bothersome. It requires your attention. Your stopping what you have planned, thought should be done or feel is required; to actually doing what is the only thing really needed – being present. It is the greatest gift you can ever give.  It needs only for you to stop. Do nothing physically exhausting. Not prepare anything. Just be there. In person whether it is in the flesh, on skype or on the phone.

So many avenues of communication are open to us today, so why does one hear often “I am not heard” as the reason many people give up trying to strive for a better educational stand, try out for another occupational job or under take finally a long desired guitar course, as just a few examples.

We feel time is well invested when hunting for an item that gives us a “lift”. What about the rising up of a friends self esteem when you hear of the desire to try their hand at a new language so as to converse when they go on holiday next summer, to that country? Is that not a worthwhile layout of your time, to be involved in the process of someone finding out who they are and what their hidden potential could be?

Christmas time is a known time period for tension, fighting and pressure. The time each person should give to visiting the various sets of parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents or “patchwork” family members can seem mind-boggling. Then each visit should be given a certain amount of time. If possible equal in length and quality and desire, of the persons participating! Listening to what is being said is rarely the case. Old issues of frustration are pulled to the front. Feelings of being short changed, raise again their ugly head, causing a fresh set of disputes to fill the room.

What would happen if you where to take the time beforehand, to listen why your partner felt the need to visit both sets of parents with their new partners, back to back, on the same day and then leave your family out? Would you see the tug and pull dilemma your partner stands in, not wishing to let anyone feel put before another, as more important. Or do you see just them wanting to put their own interests in the foreground? Could the time invested before the festive season in exchanging visualized frustrations and expectations, of you as a person in this situation give way to finding a new solution to time management within this period?

Taking the time to play through a scenario before the time it occurs can be like laying down a strong foundation for a house to stand for years to come. The “catches” which could hold up production, make-work difficult or the shortage of items causing a stand still could be hindered when dealt with before hand.  Knowing why you partner feels like tearing their hair out by every family gathering could be understood if you took your emotional input out of the situation and just listened. No valuation. No re-call of how it was done in the past. No but this is how I see it. Just hear what really is being said. Place the shoes of the one you’re listening to on your feet and see if you like the fit.  Could you walk in them? Then ask perhaps the simple question of “how would you like to solve this dilemma and can I be there of any help?” If the immediate answer is one of frustration as in “crawl under the bed covers and stay there the whole Christmas”; only smile. Perhaps state, “yeap would be restful” and wait. That is what really listening is all about.  Holding your tongue. It gives the other person time to “get it all out”. To release all the built up tension, anger and pain. To find once again, a momentum of balance. A safe haven from which to view the situation and make plans to move forward.

Giving your time is not about you. It is about being aware of what happens around you. What can also influence you or have an effect upon you. It is about opening up the potential you have to support another to be the grandest version of which they were born to be. It is about having time for what happens in your world and treasuring the time that you are given.

Waste not the opportunity to stop, listen and give the most precious gift you have to give –YOU!

Koruswhispers 

words are such "little things"

Words can cut you like a knife. They can be either invigorating or destructive; up lifting or destroying you into a thousand little bits. 

Thoughts can be a way to ponder upon the future or reflect on what lies back in your past. They can be a figuration of inner forms, which then become your reality.

Pictures in your mind are creations from combined words and thoughts, pulled together, taking you to lands not yet seen. Yet they can be unsettling too, as what we often imagine from what we see in our inner mind, can at times have a more damaging effect upon us than we realize.

And then we have our memories that are made up of pictures from our past in which our thoughts pull us back into the words that then were spoken and exchanged. A right tangled ball of yarn I have created here. Are you still with me?

This is all going around in my head as I prepare to write my Christmas cards and construct a small overview of the months held within the year almost past, for my family and friends. I wonder which words should I use or leave our to describe 2013.  What kind of effect do my words then have upon the thoughts and pictures I create for those reading them?

My reminiscing of what has occurred this year brings up for me a mixed bag of memories. Some even cannot be put into syllables let alone words, which would give a complete picture. You would need my presence to really hear them, not read them. While other words could easily give you a picture but based upon the memory of the person you knew. That could also be deceiving if we have not seen each other in over twenty years.

I have since boarding school had a passion for conversing in writing. The words I formed upon the then airmail paper with my fountain pen or now on the keys of a laptop are for me a small piece of both the person I was and now am. They have expressed my developing and ever changing ideas over the years. They revealed my dilemmas of coming to live in a foreign land without an inch of knowing the language. They showed my joy over all the stages of our children’s development. They expressed my horror or shock at various life events I experienced away from family and friends. I would write individual letters, pages long on a variety of occasions. To my joy I always got lovely informative letters back for years until the e-mail made “series letters” or repetitive "you tube" film cards all the rage.

I have stayed rather old fashioned in this area though. I continue to place down my passage in time in the hand written form, sometimes on homemade cards or specially purchased paper.  Even while I have found friends from thirty years ago have made large changes in their communication means, there is something for me that warm the cockles of my heart when I see a foreign stamped envelope in the letterbox. I read how a friend has recalled items I can relate to hence I find a common thread even when they are describing a new hobby or thought process that has captured their attention.  I hope my letter finds perhaps the same resonance.

Yet this year I have a struggle with what to tell and what to withhold. I have had to deal with the words being almost squeezed out of me forever and it changed how I see family, friends and the world as a whole. So I made the first step of doing something a little different in summer while visiting England and purchased fun cards of Santa taking a bath for my Christmas cheer. Then I composed a short poem about noting the “little things” in life. For they are truly the gems I have gathered today which sparkle in my memories of tomorrow, reminding me why life holds such a wonderful taste. A taste we would truly miss, if freedom were not a natural part of our pathway, upon which we walk. I then gathered my old fountain pen and made a list of who really would even want to perhaps hear from me and wrote them a card. I added to some, who are very far away, a short letter telling of a few highlights. I did not enclose what my memories always brought up. I concentrated on what I have learnt  - were my thoughts reached high into the sky and my soul soared with me and exploded in joy at the view I saw.

There were many times this year in which I sort to be alone along my pathway in life so as to gain a better perspective of where I stood in the whole picture of things. It was necessary so I could again join the crowds with love, compassion and peace in my heart.

I believe that words can heal not only harm. Thoughts can be released not held on tightly to. Pictures formed from the two can give you hope not terror and my memories are just that – items from the past that I can choose not to take with me into my now. My sight is always reaching up into the heights. I will keep my eyes focused there for - 

It is the “little things”

which make a moment

shine and end the day

upon a note of good cheer!

Like Santa in a bubble bath

drinking a whisky or cold beer

or giving your Darls a smooch

under the mistletoe

while singing ho, ho, ho.

A smile from a stranger,

An unexpected thank you,

A card from afar,

are also little things

that remind us we are seen

or felt in someone’s heart

even if distance keeps

us apart.

May you experience loads of “little things”

in the New Year to come

such as these few items I have told Santa

you should have on your list:

2 kegs of happiness

0 worries

1 bucket full of health

and 3 tons of good news

with perhaps a sprinkling of some wealth.

Oh and one of the “little things” that

means the most to me

is that I know you

and never get tired of saying

 I love you!

Your Korus