I am living with a chronic illness, this poem resonates with me, I hope you take something from it.     Written by John O'Donoghue


Now is the time of dark invitation
Beyond a frontier that you did not expect;
Abruptly, your old life seems distant.

You barely noticed how each day opened
A path through fields never questioned,
Yet expected deep down to hold treasure.
Now your time on earth becomes full of threat;
Before your eyes your future shrinks.

You lived absorbed in the day to day,
So continuous with everything around you,
That you could forget you were separate;

Now this dark companion has come between you,
Distances have opened in your eyes,
You feel that against your will
A stranger has married your heart.

Nothing before has made you
Feel so isolated and lost.

When the reverberations of shock subside in you,
May grace come to restore you to balance.
May it shape a new space in your heart
To embrace this illness as a teacher
Who has come to open your life to new worlds.

May you find in yourself
A courageous hospitality
Towards what is difficult,
Painful and unknown.

May you use this illness
As a lantern to illuminate
The new qualities that will emerge in you.

May the fragile harvesting of this slow light
Help you to release whatever has become false in you.
May you trust this light to clear a path
Through all the fog of old unease and anxiety
Until you feel arising within you a tranquility
Profound enough to call the storm to stillness.

May you find the wisdom to listen to your illness:
Ask it why it came? Why it chose your friendship?
Where it wants to take you? What it wants you to know?
What quality of space it wants to create in you?
What you need to learn to become more fully yourself
That your presence may shine in the world.

May you keep faith with your body,
Learning to see it as a holy sanctuary
Which can bring this night-wound gradually
Towards the healing and freedom of dawn.

May you be granted the courage and vision
To work through passivity and self-pity,
To see the beauty you can harvest
From the riches of this dark invitation.

May you learn to receive it graciously,
And promise to learn swiftly
That it may leave you newborn,
Willing to dedicate your time to birth.

Onwards....Forwards...Upwards

A day at a time, little steps

into an unknown world that lies ahead.

Stretching out into a void of anticipation.

Cautious, excited, fearful, scared.

Will it be a future with friends who love and support

or one where I find

yet more love and romance?

Will there be someone who can love me,

as I crave?

One whom I can trust, with my heart

and with my hopes.

Is this possible? Dare I hope? Dare I?

But I have no choice...

Sit back, and take those little steps

A day at a time

and.......mmmm, let's hope.

June 16^th 2015 

Revivalism.....

What is this thing called Revival?

What is this source of energy and passion?

Why has it touched lives and souls?

Why is it continuing in this crazy fashion?

When will the dream start to fade?

When will the people get bored and staid?

Where is this journey taking us

Where do we find the continued energy and drive?

Wont it take us down crazy paths?

Wont it make us for greater things strive?

Wonder then how magic can happen!

Wonder then what people can do!

Whereas we could just sit and wonder.....

Whereas it could be just me and you.....

‘Want’ is where we are at right now

‘Want’ is for Revival to blossom and flourish

Wherein we find the more we push harder

Wherein we know Revival will thrive!!

Angela

July 12th 2014 

Just a few shots from the last couple of months that have made me smile 

London/Scilly Isles/Stones Place/Manchester

A Time and a Place

So, where does this time take me,

to lands, and dreams, far from the comfortable homestead.

To take on challenges and to learn

to be daring, for courage to be my new ally.

For challenges of strength, of stamina, of patience,

for challenges of understanding.....

With time, my friend, a gift I am given

of opportunities to strengthen the resolve

and character that I carry.

I can benefit from this gift and

rise to each occasion,

or fall, and fail, or lose my strength in spirit

and be lost in misunderstanding.....

The choice is mine, in each and every action

to be a victor, or a victim

only time ....will tell you

the outcome......

The Journey of Two Lovers to Santiago

Two lovers set out on a journey

there is anticipation and a wonder

for the adventure that lies ahead.

From an initial step, a thousand

more follow and the journey takes

shape into the unknown,

with chance encounters, scenes of delight,

rest stops to refresh and local delicacies to devour,

with painful steps and tired feet

and beds to find to sleep.

The journey presses on,

each day a new challenge, a new high, a new low,

and a destination a little nearer.

The journey is not an easy one,

others have had more joy,

have given the travellers memories that

now are sacred and treasured.

But onwards must this journey go,

along an ancient path.

The pilgrims journey on Camino

is a journey into self,

to discover and to challenge and

to reawaken inner strength.

And so the lovers journey presses on,

for strength is needed now,

and precious memories reawaken the dream

once held so dear.

The challenge to the pilgrim here

is to take each painful step

towards the final destination,

where one is left to rest.

And so we reach Santiago and the

lovers journey must end.

A promise kept, a vow not broken,

a journey re discovered.

But only two feet were on that path,

for one was carried along.

For the lovers vow was to take his

love once more, a final time,

within his heart

and within his hands,

as he carried her along the way,

along Camino that together they once trod,

when full of life and hope.

He now steps out, alone once more

into a new adventure, satisfied, yet

full of sadness, and even a little anger,

but with a heart full of Camino love

and hope for a new future,

for he has tasted true love

and his journey

is not yet over.....

For Emilio and Holly

the love he has lost

but for hope and happiness once more xxx

16th June 2014

the day before arriving in Santiago

a message seen written on the wall of an underpass, left the day before

tears flowed.....

A Journeys End

A start, a promise, an adventure

to tread paths yet unknown,

with optimism and hope and anticipation

of a journey that lies ahead.

Time lays out before, with an end

hardly in sight and mind,

but day by day the time trickles by

and each precious moment

slips through without realisation.

The days are filled with fun

with laughter and appreciation,

plus the ying yang of pain, sorrow and fear

and fill those seconds with living,

with the end gathering ever nearer.

Life itself is as this journey,

each day comes and goes,

some will embrace the opportunities they bring

others will simply feel

them a drudge and a bore.

It is up to us to embrace life’s journey,

to fill to capacity the

memories we take along,

for all to soon we will find....

we are at the station

ready to depart

19th June 2014

La Caruna train station and train