Day 44: Nature’s Candelebra
Little Wormwood Horse Chestnut Candles
Thank God we didnt have the Ryanair On-Time fanfair on Sunday night. The downside was that the flight was late getting in which compounded homeward bound travel plans. It took me longer to get from Gatwick to West London than it did from Cork to Gatwick. By the time I got in I was ready for popcorn and caramel fudge chocolates that had been intended for a friend. No surprise I was still awake at 2am. Wide awake.
Although my diary was clear on Monday the irritation of not being able to get to sleep chewed at me like a dog on a bone. Bleary-eyed I let my 10.30am pilates class slide and eventually rose to meet the day as it started its slide from its zenith and I tumbled with it; letting time tumble like rushing water through my fingers, focused on the frustration of failing to catch and hold it and make it productive, missing out on the tickle of its joyful falling. Eventually as the light began to fade I huddled myself out the door and up to Little Wormwood Scrubs, the knobble of a park at the top of my street separated from its big brother scrubs by Scrubs Lane a gash of tarmacadam running a rivulet of traffic from North to South.
I knew I was irritable. I was struck by how the big letters of irritablity, frustration scratched like a briar across my frontal lobe consciousness tearing up my emotions and fanning the fires of dissatisfaction. I knew I had the power to shift and that is why I had to take each leaden step to somewhere green, somewhere I could be surrounded by nature doing its thing, where anything my small mind could latch on to would be so irrelevant as to be laughable. I wasnt sure that nature would be enough, this park is a familar place, I love its pretend wildness in this rather sedate of neighbourhoods but I wasnt expecting too much awesomeness. I definitely wasnt expecting the rush of joy I experienced when I saw the avenue of Horse Chestnut candles – a breeze of kisses on the wind to blow my cobwebs away and nourish my heart. When I got home I was inspired to check out if the horse chestnut, Aesculus Hippocastanum, has any medicinal properties. It turns out that the chestnut bud Bach Flower remedy is prescribed for those who fail to learn the lessons of life, who find themselves repeating the same mistakes over again. That is a sobering thought but it leaves me grateful for my heart that ensured that I received the remedy.
100 Days of Awe is a playful project I set up to bring my attention to awe in my daily life. I see awe as wonder, a mixture of amazement and respect. I expect the experience of awe to be about perception shifting awareness and that demands a reframing of some sort. I am excited to see what will awe me on this journey.
Anne K. Scott is an imagination technologist, her work to teach, facilitate and deliver innovation for individuals and business. She is the creator of FindYourMojo iPHone app.
Anne K. Scott is an imagination technologist, her work to teach, facilitate and deliver innovation for individuals and business. She is the creator of FindYourMojo a FREE iPHone productivity app. If you are interested in what intuitive coaching can do for you please do contact me. I support clients all over the world.