I keep coming back here. Three weeks in a row. Alone for 10 minutes, sometimes a little more before the pull of work sees me checking the time and moving on. I always leave feeling recharged.
This stretch of beach is small, and almost always deserted. And I think that's why I'm drawn here - to the solitude; all the while listening to my heart, and the sounds of the wind and sea.
xx
Do you crave solitude too?
~ This time alone by the sea {and capturing it in photos} began as a way of putting my guiding word for this year (honour) into practice. It's become a ritual and incredibly nourishing for me. The photos above (images 23, 24 and 25/52) are all taken at the same time of day over three weeks. Elisa x
Last year I got thinking about all the memories I wanted to create with our girls.
All the things we would do together when the timing was better, the things I could show them {and share with them} when they didn't need so many day sleeps, when we weren't selling a house, when when when...
I realised quickly I was pressing pause on life. And in that moment I was done thinking memories up. I wanted to make them. And so we began.
Long walks admiring nature, and gazing at the sky.
Stopping at the sea each chance we got, just to watch the waves {and listen to them too}.
Visiting new places, and exploring them. Together.
And the more we made our memories, the more of them I began dreaming to do.
And so this year {after a late-night conversation in the first week of January about what we really want most} we made a list, my husband and I. Twenty five things in 2013. {That's just where the number landed}.
They're simple, fun, some new, some ordinary. Special because we'll be doing them together.
And while I like the idea of spontaneity, of letting life's adventures come to us {in perfect timing}. I also know that life gets busy and in the busyness life can get scheduled in.
And sometimes those schedules get filled with all the need-to-dos and the should-dos, and sometimes what matters the most never gets scheduled in at all.
Parts of our last year turned out this way. And three months into this year and our weeks are bursting with need-to-dos and should-dos once again. But this time I'm seeing it differently.
For me, it's a reminder that regardless of what's happening, what needs to be done, what's coming up, we can make now our time. {If we choose}.
And we're already well on our way. To creating, loving, seeing, exploring, learning, being and making more memories together.
In a way, our little list is bringing us closer to what we want most this {every} year: fun, love, joy, laughter, time together. It's slowing us down. And it's become a reminder of what's most important. Of what we can create. Of how the simple things can bring so much joy.
Here's our twenty-five for our family of four.
xx
Splash in puddles
Swim at the beach
Watch the ocean's waves in winter
Have a picnic*
Read everyone's favourite books*
Go to a family festival/fun day*
Take a boat somewhere
Visit the zoo
Be a tourist in our own town *
Borrow books from the library*Ride on a steam train
Teach each other something *
See fireworks
Do an artwork as a family
Fly a kite
Have family photos taken
Witness sunrise
Watch the sunset
Look for shooting stars*
Watch the moon change shape over a month
Go to the movies
Go to a kids/mum yoga class
Take a photo a day for a month. Let miss three do the same. Then, get them printed.
Show our girls our wedding DVD *
Go to an adventure playground we've never been to before *
xx
{I should add that these memories are pretty much all simple things. Most of them are free or don't cost much money at all. However, cost wasn't a consideration when we created the list, it was simply a list of fun things and memories we wanted to make as a family. But I do love that it's the little things, the simple things that we crave, that we know will bring us all so much joy. Elisa x}
*These memories we've already shared. Quite a few of them more than once.
What memories do you love to create? Do you have a similar list? xx
Follow my blog with Bloglovin
I've been pondering the happiness of my little girls.
The way they beam and shine when I give them my full attention. {Listening with my eyes and my ears. Listening with my heart.}
I see it in their little cherub faces. How good that makes them feel. {Loved, valued, wanted, wonderful, appreciated}.
I've done a great job of making life busy lately and even though I stopped to slow it all down, I forgot to give myself the time to soak in this feeling too.
That heart-warming heart-filling feeling of I've been heard, noticed, loved, appreciated. {Without any interruptions}.
It fills you up. {Nourishes you}. Gives you energy. {And love}.
It fills you up with more love to give.
Elisa xx
{On Thursday I felt all of this. So this week I'm most grateful for Thursday, and for those that listened to me {with their ears and hearts and without interruptions} My heart and my soul felt heard on Thursday. It put at least a dozen apples in my basket, I'm sure xx}
{Linking with loads more gratitude over at Kidspot's 52 Weeks of Grateful.}
What do you feel grateful for this week?
Years ago a friend asked me how many apples I had in my basket.
I laughed {because I do that a lot}. But I didn't understand what she meant. I wasn't carrying a basket. I don't even like apples.
My friend asked the question again. This time she asked me to visualise my basket.
This time I got it. And I did see a few apples in there {scattered in that basket}. But not a lot. Not an abundance. Not even many.
The basket symbolises our bodies/worlds/hearts/selves. The apples indicate how nourished we are {at any given time}.
Every now and then I ponder this question, just checking in. Sometimes the basket's overflowing, sometimes it's lacking, sometimes it's somewhere inbetween.
I don't ponder the question often, or even regularly. I trust my intuition to pose the question when it's needed.
Today when I woke up {after five hours straight sleep for the first time in weeks} that question popped into my head.
How many apples in my basket?
I cringed when I saw it.
In the past weeks of long days, sick and little sleep, I've been moving as gently as I can but not fully nourishing myself {not for any decent length of time}. Just getting through each day. Slowly at times, franticly at others. There has certainly been gentle moments, but I've felt the rough and rushed ones too.
I've made this week intentionally slower {as I settle back to me}. But today, I set out to put some apples back in that basket.
Little miss two proclaimed it the "best day ever" when I told her our plans: Coffee {babycino}. Park. Library. Beach.
But I forgot about the beach part til we were driving home, and a little voice called out "Mummy, we watching the waves?" My favourite thing to do. And I think it's hers too.
So we stopped, just the two of us braving the wind, watching the waves and the birds too.
She counted the waves. I closed my eyes and listened to their roar.
We walked back to the car hand in hand, a little more nourishment added to our day.
A few more apples in my basket.
Elisa xx
{image by me - made black & white via instagram @withgraceandeve}
Do you check your basket for apples?
