"In a real dark night of the soul, it is always three o'clock in the morning." F.Scott Fitzgerald
Sleep is the last great unfettered refuge to many of us, particularly to those with worries. But what happens when that precious sleep is interrupted and taken over by thoughts that we cannot seem to control. We end up with worries that pile in on us, unrequested and yet - here.
Charles De Lint said - (author) "Problems are not something you should try to solve in the middle of the night." Problem solving in the night, whilst you are awake, is often one of the greatest causes of misery.
So should we stop trying to problem solve? How can we solve this dilemma?
I think that we are best to leave it to sleep time. In sleep, what dreams may come...I find that for every problem I have, my dream consciousness has the answer. It may not be the answer that I want, but it is the answer that I need.
When I am lost, when I am floundering, I ask my mind to give me the answer. Sometimes it takes a day, sometimes it can take a few days, but the answer does come.
Sleep - that precious gift that does more than just refresh the body. It also refreshes the soul.
Blessings,
Carmel Bell
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Monday, April 18, 2011
Challenges in our lives
Each day when I awake, I open my eyes and my heart to the world with no expectations.
But being a mother, a wife, a friend, and a Medical Intuitive I soon discover that there is some some problem, awaiting me.
This is inevitable and it is inescapable.
This is life. Life is a series of problems given to us to solve. Life is a series of challenges for us to run, jump and leap over. Life is painful and messy and dirty and delightful. Life is the way that I look at it.
And I can look with fear or I can look with awe.
I can look with wonder and delight or with sheer, cold horror.
I personally meet with people each week who are sick, who are dying, who have lost heart, lost faith, lost purpose, lost path. I hear them speak about their world and their life. Some speak as if they were the only one who has stood where they stand or has trod where they tread.
Their daily expectation sets the tone for the day that they are about to live through. Some of them take all the slings and arrows in their stride, and some of them crumble under the weight. I have compassion for both responses. I have had both myself. But I know that the belief that life is moving as it should is the one that will sustain you.
Because life truly is a series of choices and you are what you choose to respond to.
But being a mother, a wife, a friend, and a Medical Intuitive I soon discover that there is some some problem, awaiting me.
This is inevitable and it is inescapable.
This is life. Life is a series of problems given to us to solve. Life is a series of challenges for us to run, jump and leap over. Life is painful and messy and dirty and delightful. Life is the way that I look at it.
And I can look with fear or I can look with awe.
I can look with wonder and delight or with sheer, cold horror.
I personally meet with people each week who are sick, who are dying, who have lost heart, lost faith, lost purpose, lost path. I hear them speak about their world and their life. Some speak as if they were the only one who has stood where they stand or has trod where they tread.
Their daily expectation sets the tone for the day that they are about to live through. Some of them take all the slings and arrows in their stride, and some of them crumble under the weight. I have compassion for both responses. I have had both myself. But I know that the belief that life is moving as it should is the one that will sustain you.
Because life truly is a series of choices and you are what you choose to respond to.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
What I have learned today
This morning I sent 3 of my four children out the front door together, each armed with a camera. These three incredible souls are in the Autism spectrum and I spend time working out how I can see the world as they see it, and how I can also encourage them to see the world as other people do - or at least for them to understand it.
Autistic children view the world in such a different way to most people.
An hour later, full of pride and eager to share, they walked back in the door where I was entertained and educated by many photos. I saw what they had seen as they walked, from the angle that they had viewed the world. Photos taken from down low, up high, through trees, around corners, from young men sliding down mud soaked embankments rushing towards an overly full lake, to a beautiful young lady with delicate hands photographing the corpse of a duck that she had discovered. The beautiful, natural decay of a body no longer needed by the soul that had flown within it. No sorrow, loads of compassion and bundles of curiousity.
The luminous and unbelievable BRIGHT pink of a dahlia filled one frame completely, as did the sign warning of slider turtles filled another - displayed with equal pride.
Each step charted. Each tree that these three beings walked past was looked at, examined, and sometimes photographed. The world spread before me through the lens of their eyes was lush, green, fertile, sometimes dangerous. The path that they had trod was wet, muddy, slippery and full of intrigue.
This is their world. This is their day. They hold on to nothing that does not matter, they see each step as new. Each of these three children have been bullied so badly in the past that I wondered how I would recover, much less them. But all three of them recovered.
And now all of them see the freshness of a brand new day.
This is living.
This is not just surviving.
This is being present and being open to joy.
This is what my children teach me.
Blessings,
Carmel
Autistic children view the world in such a different way to most people.
An hour later, full of pride and eager to share, they walked back in the door where I was entertained and educated by many photos. I saw what they had seen as they walked, from the angle that they had viewed the world. Photos taken from down low, up high, through trees, around corners, from young men sliding down mud soaked embankments rushing towards an overly full lake, to a beautiful young lady with delicate hands photographing the corpse of a duck that she had discovered. The beautiful, natural decay of a body no longer needed by the soul that had flown within it. No sorrow, loads of compassion and bundles of curiousity.
The luminous and unbelievable BRIGHT pink of a dahlia filled one frame completely, as did the sign warning of slider turtles filled another - displayed with equal pride.
Each step charted. Each tree that these three beings walked past was looked at, examined, and sometimes photographed. The world spread before me through the lens of their eyes was lush, green, fertile, sometimes dangerous. The path that they had trod was wet, muddy, slippery and full of intrigue.
This is their world. This is their day. They hold on to nothing that does not matter, they see each step as new. Each of these three children have been bullied so badly in the past that I wondered how I would recover, much less them. But all three of them recovered.
And now all of them see the freshness of a brand new day.
This is living.
This is not just surviving.
This is being present and being open to joy.
This is what my children teach me.
Blessings,
Carmel
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