This has been a tough time for many, making adjustments endlessly, with the shifts and changes in the alternating lockdown world. Taking solace in the natural world provides time for new ways of thinking, and gives the certainty that the cycles of Nature are there for us, when everything else is uncertain. Keep strong and stay safe!
copyright imogencrest 2020
Some thoughts on the latest extremes of weather, and the terrible events Australian territories have been enduring in the past week. The hot wind of the past two weeks burned the leaves on plants city and country alike. It was a real worry to see healthy plants sizzling in the conditions, unable to do anything about them, due to this hot wind. However, this week a fine show of new green shoots arrived, against the odds. The weather is cooler, though still summer heat, but there is still relief. It didn’t seem there would be any, in the thick of the wildfire period, which devastated the nations’ soul. Prayers went out to all concerned, locally and around the world, and this tree then is a symbol of rebirth, as everything gradually heals with love and time. Blessings also to the people of the northern climates, who have been stricken with such an excess of water as has made life very difficult for them. I hope things improve for everyone as time goes on. Truly a land of extremes, these weeks have tested everyone completely, and compassion has shone through, just like the persistent green foliage coming through.
(copyright Imogen Crest 2009.)
This little statue is in a hidden corner of the Chinese Gardens of Friendship in Sydney. My children love this baby Buddha, we took them to the gardens often and always had to seek it out so they could stroke his head and sit with him for a while.
I place him here in gratitude – Buddha for us is the essence of goodness and all we try to follow in our lives. And I have so much to be grateful for. Our Lana, our treasure, our lovely girl and her beautiful children were spared their lives – so many miracles combined to save them. And our gratitude overflows for another narrowly avoided tragedy on that terrible night. What can I say for all these blessings?
I wanted to come here to the Temple of Solace, where so many broken hearts have lain, and say thank you, thank you to the angels who watched over them, thank you for the love of friends and family, thank you most of all for reminding us that angels and miracles do exist and that life is filled with purpose and meaning. There is so much sadness and loss, and we grieve endlessly for those who go on ahead, but sometimes fate is kind – and for this reprieve I am truly, truly thankful.
Uplifting and inspiring, this anthem “If Everyone Cared” from the group “Nickelback” courtesy of You Tube, pays homage to some amazing people who have done a lot to lift the collective spirits. People might think there is nothing they can do, but it appears the opposite is true. This clip pays homage to these amazing people, particularly Bob Geldof, whose work has been a real inspiration to Heather Blakey, Soul Food Cafe’s creator, because they were able to create positive change. The lyrics are brilliant and say some profound things. Certainly enough to lift the spirits.
(Note: Copyright on this material rests strictly with the creators of the media shown.)
“SARK is a sparkler who jump-starts the creative process. Her ideas are user-friendly, innovative, and pragmatic.” -Julia Cameron, author of The Artist’s Way
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Soul Food Feature
SARK’s new book features, amongst other things, the work of Heather Blakey at the Soul Food Cafe. If you are a fan of Soul Food or just want to learn more about writing, make sure to pre order a copy of your book today!
Amazon Price: $12.89 (as of 08/27/2008)
My internet connection was down for a week and thereby shut me out of the Temple of Solace and Soul Food Cafe. After a few days I realized that anywhere in Soul Food is my Temple of Solace from my surroundings. The whole world seemed to get stuck on the “ugly channel” for a while. And then somebody switched it to the “Seanna” channel again, and though that channel is a painful one, it is anything but ugly. There’s so much love and beauty to be discovered in there.
One of the reasons for getting a ferocious looking dog, and a dog who indeed would be ferocious if anyone broke in while I was asleep upstairs, is the lovely addition to the neighbourhood of the crack house on the corner of my block several houses to the right of mine. They of course are not to be outshined by the neighbours three doors to my left who left such an enormous number of bags of garbage outside the city refused to take them away and the tenants let them rot by the sidewalk until they were overrun with rats. Yes, rats. Neighbours called to yell at The City, and The City called to yell at The Building Owner, and The Building Owner threw The Tenants out and there was quite a scene.
The rats came from the hazardous waste site that my property nears. I say “nears” because there is an alley between my backyard and their storage yard. It’s really called an “environmental waste storage facility“, but they are moving and the land being redeveloped into something friendlier. I think.
I know everybody likes Spring, but winter’s snow covered the garbage in the alleys and streets and gulleys and ditches. The snow has receded to reveal the same mess only now with colours muted slightly from last year’s garrulous hues.
The brightest display this season was put on not by a showy flower but by flames shooting skyward from what we thought was the old St. Vincent De Paul building. Coming home from dinner two nights ago we saw thick black smoke rising in the sky and followed it down to its obvious source:fire. The fire appeared to be coming out of the building next to Beasley Park just around the corner from my house (inner city version of a “park”). No fire trucks or police cars were on the scene so we called 911 and got through just as the first fire truck arrived on the scene and said “Never mind. They’re just arriving.” We drove around the block to park well out of the way and came back to discover that the building was not on fire, but just a car that was parked in front of it. Totally engulfed in flames. Must have had a full tank of gas. Welcome to the neighbourhood!
Last night I dreamt that I was looking for my Seanna, sure that she couldn’t really be gone, that she must be around here somewhere. Where’s my beautiful girl? Where’s my beautiful babe? Where’s that pretty smile hidin’? Where’s she tuckin’ away them pretty hands? I dreamt that I broke into her birth mother’s house, where Seanna died, to look for Seanna there. Thinking that I’d been misinformed. But no. There was no sign of her. Life had gone on with all of its kid stuff but not with Seanna. They went on without her.
The world was such a pretty place when Seanna was here. But then…I wasn’t living in this house…then. Here. This is a sad place. I have been planting trees and ducking the bees buzzing the gorgeous scent of the blossoms on my apricot tree. Tomorrow I will take pictures for you, but today is a migraine headache day. Damn the sun! Ow!!!! I took a small wayward seedling of plum from the back corner and planted it in the front. And in the corner of the postage stamp lawn (where people throw garbage…argh!!!!) I dug up a section for a wee patch of garden. There are peonies, something that will reveal itself when it blooms, and a tiny tree replanted from the kitchen garden.
My eyes are filled with ugly images and the promise of beauty alike. I wonder which will follow me into my dreams tonight. I’m looking for something. I need something. I need solace. This house, this home, must become my own temple of solace.
steph
A Boab near Derby, Western Australia
Every boab tree is unique. They have character and personality as you would expect of such an ancient creature. Some individual boab trees are 1500 years old and older, which makes them the oldest living beings in Australia, and puts them amongst the oldest in the world.
Aboriginals used the giants as shelter, food and medicine. For the white settlers they served as easily recognisable land marks and meeting points, and not to forget as impromptu prison cells.
To read more about the Boab Tree check out this Outback Travel Guide and visit the Dig Tree at Soul Food
We all Need a Tree!
I hired a plumber to help me restore an old farmhouse, and after he had just finished a rough first day on the job: a flat tire made him lose an hour of work, his electric drill quit and his ancient one ton truck refused to start. While I drove him home, he sat in stony silence.
On arriving, he invited me in to meet his family. As we walked toward the front door, he paused briefly at a small tree, touching the tips of the branches with both hands.
When opening the door he underwent an amazing transformation. His face was wreathed in smiles and he hugged his two small children and gave his wife a kiss.
Afterward he walked me to the car. We passed the tree and my curiosity got the better of me. I asked him about what I had seen him do earlier.
“Oh, that’s my trouble tree,” he replied “I know I can’t help having troubles on the job, but one thing’s for sure, those troubles don’t belong in the house with my wife and the children. So I just hang them up on the tree every night when I come home and ask God to take care of them. Then in the morning I pick them up again.” “Funny thing is,” he smiled,” when I come out in the morning to pick ’em up, there aren’t nearly as many as I remember hanging up the night before.”
God Bless, Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we are here we might as well dance. We all Need a Tree!
Some words of wisdom…
Loss and Gain
“When I compare
What I have lost with what I have gained,
What I have missed with what attained,
Little room do I find for pride.
I am aware
How many days have been idly spent;
How like an arrow the good intent
Has fallen short or been turned aside.
But who shall dare
To measure loss and gain in this wise?
Defeat may be victory in disguise;
The lowest ebb is the turn of the tide.”
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Friends forever
in the currency of soul,
abiding, thriving,
in infinity,
in gold.
No beginning,
no end,
blessings sent,
love
received.
A currency of
gold,
not sold, tainted,
or left bereft.
Friends in gold
live in an abundant
state of knowing,
oak-like,
forever.
In reciprocity,
in gold,
ever after,
evermore.
(copyright Imogen Crest 2007.)
“All the birds have flown up and gone;
A lonely cloud floats leisurely by.
We never tire of looking at each other –
Only the mountain and I.”
by Chinese Poet, Li Po.
…see more Li Po here at Poet Seers wonderful poetry site.
Heather–while you are surrounded by friends, and sending Darryl to his next ride, Kent and I showed Darryl the Potomac River in Winter. Riders are never strangers, they are just friends who haven’t met yet. I took some pictures, and one of them is below. The others are on a page on my website. It’s not a page accessible to the public, you’ll have to use this link: Darryl’s Long Goodbye. For people who want to cut and paste: http://www.quinncreative.com/id35.html
Kent waved goodbye as the Wolf Moon grows into the Snow Moon.
Heather, I am so happy that your dearest friend and lover has found an end to his suffering. I am calling upon the Medicine Buddha to help you during this time.
This is the Medicine Buddha Prayer:
May all beings be auspicious! I make my prostration to you who destroyed the enemy of negative life cycle changes, who has thus gone to the state of enlightenment like other Buddhas, who perfectly accomplished the quality of the Buddha, the supreme physician who is fully liberated and awakened, the enlightened one, Medicine Buddha. Bedurya, King of the physicians.
om namo bhagawate beshajye guru
vaidurya prabha rajaya tathagataya
arhte sammyaksambuddhaya tadyatha
om bheshajye beshajye maha beshajye
beshajye rajaya samungate svaha
“If one meditates on the Medicine Buddha, one will eventually attain enlightenment, but in the meantime one will experience an increase in healing powers both for oneself and others and a decrease in physical and mental illness and suffering.”
—Lama Tashi Namgyal
*hugs, Literary Bohemian (Ninjacat)*
Dear Heather, may beauty and love abound
to bring you peace and comfort.
With Love, Lori
Temple of Solace 