In this ballad by Walter De La Mare, a little boy is telling us how an Angel passed close to him and his friend as they played in the fields. Tom is so very excited and his childlike expressions add to his profundity, innocence and trepidation of the experience. I love how his experience of the meeting is so vivid, tactile and credible.
What could be simpler?

No one was in the fields
But me and Polly Flint,
When, like a giant across the grass,
The flaming angel went.

It was budding time in May,
And green as green could be,
And all in his height he went along
Past Polly Flint and me.

We’d been playing in the woods,
And Polly up, and ran
And hid her face, and said,
“Tom! Tom! The Man! The Man!”

And I up-turned; and there,
Like flames across the sky,
With wings all bristling, came
The angel striding by.

And a chaffinch overhead
Kept whistling in the tree
While the angel, blue as fire, came on
Past Polly Flint and me.

And I saw his hair, and all
The ruffling of his hem,
As over the clovers his bare feet
Trod without stirring them.

Polly-she cried; and, oh!
We ran, until the lane
Turned by the miller’s roaring wheel,
And we were safe again.

We are all busy caring for others and for many of us we are playing many roles; carer, parent, lover, employer, employee, sibling. We are at the risk of losing our own identity, our own essence of who we truly are. How often are we asked the question in introductions - “who are you?” or “and you are?” and often our reply is - “I’m Sarah, Bart... I am a Nurse, Journalist, Electrician.... I’m Father, Mother etc....” We identify ourselves with a list of names, collective nouns and adjectives but are we something more?

Why is it in our societies that we now identify ourselves with a role that we fulfil? Are we losing touch with our own inner feelings of who we really are because we are busy juggling all our other roles leaving little time for ourselves. This at the outset may seem a very silly premise, even a selfish, introspective point of view but what if more people take responsibility of their relationship with themselves and come to the world in a stronger more centred place. What if more people take responsibility for their behaviours, take ownership of their feelings and true care of themselves by being open to loving themselves more. Is it possible that we may end up living in a more loving society? If I can learn to see the goodness, the purity in myself and love and respect myself, can it be that I then see these qualities more easily in others and therefore be at peace. Peace within and peace without. The real question is am I worth the effort? And only I can honestly answer it.

The unconscious wants truth. It ceases to speak to those who want something else more than truth. A. Rich

Open your arms to change but don’t let go of your values. 
Dalai Lama



Moving On

Primordial life - raw, free, unfettered, carved.

A stranger to this emotion, enslaved by code, expectation, role.

An elder’s pedantic plodding, a heedful, hardy soul.

Servile to all, honour bound.


I long to cast aside this choking cloak of conformity,

Liberate mind and soul ensnared by birth the onerous duty of an elder child.

Aged eyes, righteous nature, forever forthright,

Fastened fist tight in a heart and mind burning to break free.


New age is tempered with courage, honesty, bringing self appreciation,

Freedom and Peace.

The chains though imposed, rusted by time, crust with memories.


It is best to leave all-behind.

"Peace may sound simple - one beautiful word - but it requires everything we have, every quality, every strength, every dream, and every high ideal." - Yehudi Menuhin

PEACE    Practice

               Each day an

               Appreciation and

               Caring of yourself

               Enveloped in the knowledge that Love is all that truly matters.

"Peace is the only battle worth waging." - Albert Camus

This week try picturing yourself and your world in a different light? As we seek our inner peace we seek our happiness, fulfilment and pure joy. To help us all achieve this take:

• Some personal time this week, even as little as half an hour and spend it in Nature-walking, hiking, exercising, reading, journaling, doing any activity that allows your creativity to flow.
  
  
• Try to achieve harmony in everything you think, do and say. This is a big ask. Take the first step by not giving your attention to negative or annoying activities by others. Actively search for the good in all people and situations. Look for harmony.
  
  
• Is seeing believing? Then try viewing your life in a newer way. If your thoughts are creating your reality, try changing your reality one thought at a time.

"Nothing is more precious than peace. Peace is the most basic starting point for the advancement of humankind." - Daisaku Ikeda

Peace     Prepare to meet

               Each day with

               Appreciating, loving and

              Caring for yourself and

              Everyone dear to you.


Try creating your own PEACE poem, it’s easy to do, just find words and thoughts to fill in to the spaces beside each letter- make it personal and poignant.

If you feel like sharing your thoughts then please include them along with your poems below.

"When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace." - Jimi Hendrix

Be inspired this week.

Mary Jo x x