Day 308/366 days Towards Self-Mastery.
A secret place. A place for secret thoughts and unravelling life's mysteries.
Do you have such a place? A place where to retreat to, to spend time alone with your thoughts? To plan and dream and figure things out?
If you're living in a busy household I hope that you have a space to call your own. Or a garden or a park that provides a space of solitude. I'm sure we all need time with our thoughts to go just a little deeper than the busyiness of life.
When I was younger my time was spent planning and reviewing and revising and planning some more. Not a lot of time was spent reflecting and delving just a little deeper. Eventually I woke up to the fact that I was busy chasing my tail, running around in circles.
My analytical brain fooled me into thinking that I was really thinking more deeply. In fact it was trying to problem solve at a time when I wasn't paying attention. We call it the monkey mind!
Nowadays I am truly grateful to live alone and have A LOT of time to myself. So my secret place is indeed my home. A space where I can close out the world and dive deeper into self-reflection and inner work.
Earlier, when I lived with family members, I had a spot in my garden, a paved area with a rock wall seat surrounded by ferns and wildflowers, on the edge of my rainforest garden. With a little imagination and a lot of hired muscle I place a very large ceramic container there and planted a water garden. It wasn't long before water lilies were flowering and gold fish were enjoying the trickle of the solar powered fountain.
In that space I could sit and allow the worries of the day to wash over me as I relaxed into a more serene frame of mind to bring to caring for my family through the evening.
Surrounded by nature and accompanied by birdsong, a deeper reflection was possible as time stood still and presence and awareness filled the gaps between household chores and childhood demands.
Do you have a secret garden that you can call your quiet place? It doesn't have to be in your own property. I have discovered hidden nooks in many parks and gardens in cities around the world. I'm on the lookout for a quiet space to allow my soul to land and my mind to settle.
Gift yourself a secret garden.
366 days Towards Self-Mastery
When I considered my New Year's intentions for 2020 I had just one: To allow my heart to love what it loved...and let it lead me. (If not now, then when?)
I've spent months working on integrating my life. To live life more fully with my home life, my interests, my work, my responsibilities, all coming together, all connected. I want to give each the attention that they desire and need, and still have time and energy for the others. That means living and working from the heart.
As I was clearing out my bookshelf over the Christmas break I discovered Simple Abundance. I set it aside to explore it on New Year's Day as I lazed through another delicious day of nothingness. Sarah, the author, says this book is about living in grace. Living in grace I realised, is about Self-Mastery.
My thirst for understanding the human condition has driven me all my life, and hand-in-hand with self-mastery it has been a life-long goal. And seeing as I love to write, that living in grace is about self-mastery, and I love a bit of a challenge, then if I am truly going to let my heart lead, I really don't have any other choice. So scary as it feels, I'm starting out on a daily mission of leaning into the suggestions of this daybook and making a daily post to keep me accountable. If not now, then when?
I'm Josie. You can find out a little more about me here.
Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy: by Sarah Ban Breathnach.
This book is written for the Australian and NZ market because it refers to seasonal changes. It's available on Amazon here if you'd like to follow along.
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