The wonderous morning chorus

I woke very early this morning and was unable to go back to sleep. So here I am, sitting at the computer.
The world is absolutely wonderous at this time of the day, with new beginnings and endless possibilities. It truly is amazing to be up before the rest of the world. Not even the birds were awake when I sat down here to write. It was 4am and pitch black. As the light dawned the birds began their sunrise chorus and I felt as if it was a performance just for me.

When my children were little this was my favourite time of the day, (not 4am more like 6), just to have half an hour to myself made such a difference to the way I felt and to the way the day panned out. For me it has always been the best time to meditate, the only time I could guarantee I would be alone and undisturbed. It still holds true today with just my husband, my dog Rosie and me living here. They slumber on while I seem to achieve so much more than I do in the rest of the day. Even when we have guests staying  there is something very special about being the first up.

The other time I found peace and quiet when my children were young, and I still do now, is when I have a bath. My bathing ritual began as an escape from the household and now after all these years it has become an entrenched ritual. I realised just how much it soothes my body, my mind and my soul when I was denied it during the long drawn out saga of the leaking bathroom that has plagued me this year. I am extremely relieved to say that yesterday it was finally finished, the tradesmen left and after smudging, I have claimed back my bathroom … and my bath!

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We were taught that we need to be all things to all people

We were taught that to do something for ourselves,

to think of ourself was selfish … the very worst sin you could commit it seemed

Then you had people screaming that women can have it all

You could have children, be a mother AND have a high powered job

You could do anything and everything a man could do

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and because there is no time or space to focus on ourselves, plus we’ve been taught that to do so is wrong
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