Gorgeous day to have been on a ferry, managed to get some amazing photos of mainland Scotland.  Incredibly stunning! 

To anyone whom hasn’t been up to the very north of Scotland I invite you to add it to your travel list.  The further up you travel the more beautiful it is.  

Decided this trip to stay in hostels so that I am mixing with plenty people and getting the best input for the art that will follow.  Need this time to start healing deep heartbreak. So far it has been beds have been comfortable I’ve been well catered for and everyone I have met so far has been  kind, helpful, interesting and lovely.  Currently in Heb Hostel in Stornoway and it’s just like a home away from home with plenty comfort.  Feeling privileged for having the opportunity to do this I don’t know where life goes from here but this is a necessary trip. Very much needed. Time on my own to find some sense inside.  This year particularly has been very challenging personally and I’ve been struggling very much in the unsettled waves of the ocean that is existence.  Hoping to arrive on stable shore eventually, this will help. An important point for me was when I opened my mind to see that I was not unique in my pain and although I have my own perception many many others are too facing their own too.  I became curious about how others manage their way through the ups and downs they face.  So I took the trip I was meant to take, but alone.

I’ve had the grace of meeting people from across the world so far from New Zealand, Russia, USA, Finland to name a few and the more people I meet, the more I hear about their lives the more I would like to travel and experience different cultures, beliefs, norms…  I love listening to different accents and languages, to watch body language and see how different people relate.   The way in which the human race, on the majority, co-operates within the context of shared space.  I’m also interested in the times when there is not co-operation, instead aggression and in the extreme war but I’ve no intention of placing myself in such a scenario so for that part of the work I will need to rely on past experience, second/ third hand information, media and books.  Maybe the universe will offer some opportunity in a safe space around this but it’s not something I am setting up specifically. 

This life is not easy for most and excruciating for many, whether it be self or externally inflicted may we each take blessings from our moments of calm in the storms within and around us.  May we find kindness in our everyday moments. 

The following is an except from a poem I found online:

It’s Only After

Roses are so beautiful that we forget that thorns cause pain,

We often forget that rainbows only come after the rain.

Sometimes the sun is hidden when storm clouds are in view,

It’s only after the rose is picked that it will bring great joy to you.

It’s only after the storm subsides that peace comes to calm the seas,

It’s only when the light turns on that the shadow suddenly flees.

Sometimes we only learn, to appreciate the light,

After walking through the darkness, in what seems like blackest night.
It’s often only when you miss someone that their worth is realized,

For iron sharpening iron, is a blessing in disguise.

It’s only when you see you’re lost, that you truly can be found,

It’s when you admit your poverty that riches can abound.

….

Only after a seemingly endless night, comes the dawning of the day, 

It’s only in eternity that the former things are passed away.

…..

~ Jerry Bouey and Angela Trenholm