Moon Rise

Sunsets on the West Coast
obvious, expected, romantic

Moonrises over winter loch
surprising, rising, uplifting

The water receives the moon
soaks her up, sends ripples through her
but does not, can not, hold her

She rises higher, stronger, sharper
and i am soaked by her lunacy,
ripples cross the surface of my soul
and i am held in awe, in spirit
in love...

Steps

Sunsets...

Nature so often knows the right thing to say...

In perspective...

How can i mind going to an out-of-town retail area when i get to see skies like this?!!!

And then driving home when, instead of being bothered by impatient drivers behind me i see the sun setting...

I do not live blissfully yet i experience many moments of bliss and each of these moments top up by eudaemonia tank (well worth looking this word up if you haven't come across it! (eudaemonia/eudemonia not "tank"!)

Learner

Two days running this was lying on the path as i crossed Bruntsfield Links... The second day, having photographed it, i placed it in the bin... But it really appealed to me. It could simply be the corner of a cardboard box or frame...or it could be an "L" plate! Whose?

What do i still need to wear Learner plates for in my life? And will there ever be a time when i think i don't need them any more?!!!

Do i know how to say this?!

It's a tough one... How do we say no to someone, how do we allow ourselves to have space in our diaries without filling it as if it's a dangerous hole rather than a beautiful sigh... Several folk on a course i was running today talked about spreading themselves too thin, taking on too many new things, feeling stressed. Why do we even feel the need to justify, to apologise, to excuse ourselves?

I will continue to work on this, hopefully gently, lovingly...until i can say "i am choosing not to do this", "i am unavailable", "i would love to do this. What would you like me to drop to make space for it?"!!!!

If i run myself into the ground in order to please everyone else am i being true to myself? Am i growing as a person? And what about those i love and who love me? What space do i create for them?

Friends and family and my darling Gail - walk with me towards the space and bring your sign with you - let's be unavailable to duty and available to love...

Signs on the journey

The writing wasn't on the sign but the thought was in my mind...

What did the green arrow mean? Who was it for? Where did it end?

I didn't see any further arrows. I worried about whoever they were meant for - how would they know where to go after this arrow?

They were gone today...

Widening the imagination

How can i look across such a landscape and then walk through the gates into the hallowed grounds of New College and allow my mind and my imagination to be narrowed? I can't! I have to take the breadth of vision i see in the world and then encourage my academic self to unfold this landscape in my work...

Just when i thought academia had taken over my mind...

...i left New College with Kant's concepts of reason and duty, Milbank's statement that social theory is dead, theology (by which he means radical orthodoxy) provides the answers to everything buzzing round my tired brain...and i was wondering about the value of all this learning when i turned the corner and started climbing the steps and there in front of me in white chalk was the answer:

LOVE IS ALWAYS

Love is always the question
Love is always the reason
Love is always the answer
Love is always
Love is
Love