Let Go

​HELLO SEPTEMBER,

THE SEASON OF LETTING GO

And so begins the season of letting go,

when Mother Nature shows us all,

how it’s done.

Let go,

free yourself, 

shake it off,

drop it,

give way for the new.

Create space for new thoughts, new ideas, 

new adventures and new connections,

by shedding the dead weight you’ve been carrying around,

for so long.

And whilst you are there, being reborn and renewed, 

let go of old anxieties too.

Let go of any doubts, fears or beliefs which no longer serve you well.

Release bitterness or past hurts which feast on your beauty.

Be brave,

Don’t fear the nakedness as your leaves slip away.

Mother Nature doesn’t,

watch and learn.

Donna Ashworth 

Peaceful

If you are at peace, you are living in the present.

Lao Tzu  🧡

Mom

WHEN YOU'VE LOST SOMEONE YOU LOVE...

Do not make the mistake of living in sadness, or living small to honour their absence.

You owe it to them to live even more vividly than before.

If they could reach you, they would surely say..

“Take the love you had for me and turn it into gladness, 

use the love you had for me to drive away the sadness.”

Love is an energy, so powerful, so all-consuming that when the person you felt all that love for is not here, you are a vessel filled with a boundless source of power that has nowhere to go.

Harness it.

Use it to burn even more brightly and live even more loudly than before.

Share the love you felt for that person with all the other special people in your life, for it is limitless. There is no end to it and there never, ever should be.

You see unlike us, love never dies, it carries on from one generation to the next. A wonderfully comforting thought.

If they could reach you they would surely say…

“Make my time on earth count loudly, so I’ve not lived in vain. 

Use the love we shared to make more love and not more pain.”

If you are struggling to move on, to find the way to carry on. Without them.

This is it.

Use the love. 

Carry them with you in all that you do, using their love as the source.

It is what they would want…

Words by Donna Ashworth 

Brave

​How brave you are for slowing down. For not finishing that to-do list.

How courageous you are for not crossing that finish line, because your body said “enough.” 

How fearless you are for choosing the quiet of your soul over those voices driving you always towards more.

How bold, how rebellious - 

you, out there, 

honoring your own natural rhythm, 

going against the culture’s breakneck speed.

We tend to make heroes of those hungry with ambition, relentlessly doing, producing always more. 

We applaud those who refuse to stop or rest. Who push themselves so hard in the name of achievement, that they sacrifice their body and soul and heart in the process. We celebrate those who are ill or aging but never show it, never slow down, never reveal a moment of vulnerability.

This drivenness can be heroic, at times. It can be necessary for our survival or the greater good.

But,

I want to make heroes of those who slow down.

I want to make heroes of those who listen to their bodies, who do not strive for more than what the soul truly needs.

I want to make heroes of those who do not force or push, but surrender to each moment as it opens.

I want to applaud those who may not be driven towards success as we know it, but instead are nurturing something deep and subtle and needed.

I want to celebrate those brave enough to cease all doing, even for a second, and sit with the ache in their hearts. A task many find harder than summiting the highest peak. 

I want to make heroes of those who honor their limitations. 

Who are unable to keep up with the busy-ness of our times, yet show up to each profound, necessary moment.

It is truly an act of courage and rebellion to do any such thing, in a world demanding you resist your own self, your own rhythm, your own soul.

And the paradox is, that often when we cease our incessant doing, even for a minute, and listen to that quiet voice within, we discover what it is we absolutely must do, and what instead can fall away. 

We finally hear the call towards what serves our soul, and what then will serve the world. Nothing more, nothing less.

A hero is simply someone brave. 

So come, be softly brave. 

Be a new, quieter kind of hero. 

Few may applaud, it’s true, but your soul certainly will ..

~ Leyla Aylin ~

My Mother’s Garden

​My mother kept a garden

A garden of the heart

She planted all the good things

That gave my life its start

She turned me to the sunshine

And encouraged me to dream

Fostering and nurturing

The seeds of self-esteem

And when the winds and rain came

She protected me enough

But not too much because she knew

I'd need to stand up strong and tough

Her constant good example

Always taught me right from wrong

Markers for my pathway

That will last a lifetime long

I am my mother's garden

I am her legacy

And I hope today she feels the love

Reflected back from me.

~ Vincent Tripolone III

​“Parents rarely let go of their children, so children let go of them. 

They move on. They move away. 

The moments that used to define them are covered by 

moments of their own accomplishments. 

It is not until much later, that 

children understand; 

their stories and all their accomplishments, sit atop the stories 

of their mothers and fathers, stones upon stones, 

beneath the water of their lives.” 

Paul Coelho

Women (International Women Day 2023)

Here’s to all the strong women out there

Who stand up for themselves and face the world with a heart of soldier.

Here’s to all the passionate women out there

Who won’t let the world stop them from achieving their dreams and doing the things they love.

Here’s to all the independent women out there

Who have been there for themselves and show that they can.

Here’s to all the unbreakable women out there!

Who have been knocked down for countless times but they find a way to rise and stand up again.

Here’s to all the women in this world

You are beautiful, you are worthy, and no one has the power to dim your light ..

~ Samiha Totanji ~ #internationalwomensday

Tiredness

​"Grandma, I'm tired. So tired of this life..."

"Take your tiredness, my child, and wrap it around yourself. Like a blanket in the cold winter months. Tiredness comes to make you a nest, to bring you to wear comfortable clothes, to make you sink into its warm embrace. I invite you to stay within yourself. Without strength, without thoughts, without actions. Like the snow that covers everything to soften the world, to make it muffled, to protect it from noise. Accept the flakes of your tiredness and let yourself be completely covered by them."

"I could die buried under there..."

"You will be reborn instead. Like the seed in the ground. Do not resist your weariness, do not reject it with a thousand actions, a thousand intentions, a thousand feelings of guilt. It just wants to take you by the hand and lead you to sink into the void. Right there, where the source of every inner strength lies. They taught us to be strong by resisting. But it is in surrendering that the true heroes emerge."

"I'm afraid, grandmother. What if fatigue will annihilate me?"

"My child, you are not afraid of tiredness but of losing control of yourself. The time has come for you to give yourself to life. And to generate together with it the most wonderful children: the fruits of your soul!"

Author: Elena Bernabè

A love letter from those who have passed on… 

Take the love you have for me 

And radiate it outwards 

Allowing it to touch and impact others

Take the memory you have of me 

And use it as a source of inspiration

To live fully, meaningfully and intentionally  

Take the image you have of me in your mind 

And allow it to fuel you 

To take action 

Seize the day

And be reminded of what is most important in life 

Take the care you have for me 

And let it remind you 

To care for yourself fully 

And shower yourself with your own love 

And take the pain and grief you feel

Following my loss 

And alchemize it into 

Love, compassion and beauty 

Build a castle

From the wreckage of my passing 

And allow it to unlock your greatness and potential

And empower you to become more than you ever thought you were capable of being 

And know that I can never truly leave you 

And will always remain beside you 

Watching over you in spirit 

And that the love I have for you lives on 

Through the connections you form 

The kindness and compassion you share 

And the future relationships and friendships you cultivate. 

And until we are one day reunited 

I will remain with you 

Through the storms and chaos of life

And am always beside you 

Walking with you, laughing with you, crying with you and smiling with you

And I am proud of you for being strong 

I am proud of you for being brave 

And I am proud of you for being you.

Tahlia Hunter

Calling on the Moon

You are a poem with breath

The wing of a dragonfly

Healing rain from the soul of existence

Calling on to the moon 

To let her magic feel the heart of mother earth

Together, creating ebbs and flows

Manna from heaven falling upon lovers in ecstasy 

The altar of love becoming the cradle of noble souls

Doing the sacred work

Healing

Aligning with the winds of peace

Penetrating roots crawling to crevices that hurt

Oceans overflowing with justice...

Love...

So much love

And forgiveness 

Acceptance of what can't be changed

Becoming whole 

Belonging with skin and bones 

To the evolved human nobility of soul and self...

There is no other way

This is the way

The only way

To survive 

To become

To be.

.....................

Poem by  Corina Luna Dea

Archaeology for the Woman's Soul

Accept

I have come to accept the feeling of not knowing where I am going. And I have trained myself to love it. Because it is only when we are suspended in mid-air with no landing in sight, that we force our wings to unravel and alas begin our flight. 

And as we fly, we still may not know where we are going to. But the miracle is in the unfolding of the wings. 

You may not know where you're going, but you know that so long as you spread your wings, the winds will carry you ..

~ C. JoyBell C. ~

Artist Credit : Holly Sierra

You May Be Gone

YOU MAY BE GONE

You may be gone

but I feel you

when the cool breeze 

brushes past

You may be gone

but I hear you

when the music plays

its last

You may be gone

but I know you 

as a painter knows 

their art

You may be gone

but I feel you

right here in 

my heart

You may be gone

but your laughter 

is still my 

favourite sound 

You may be gone 

but my darling 

you’re ever

all around.

Donna Ashworth

From ‘LOSS: poems to better weather the many waves of grief’ 

 #grief #griefawareness

Some of the sunrises on the Farm I call Sen Acres

​

IN REST THEY REMEMBER

Some people are slowly taken,

to the other realm.

Not physically, but mentally. 

Memory by memory,

they are moved from us,

like a painstakingly slow house-flit.

Boxes full of life,

chapters, people, loves.

All packed into a van, 

to wait their arrival on the other side

And as these parts are removed,

those left feel lonelier daily. 

As though their love is already leaving them.

It is a painful departure, my friends,

this much is sadly true.

But I like to think of the person we knew, 

reaching the other side,

finally, 

once more whole. 

And upon arrival they see their boxes, 

awaiting them so long,

and they open them up, 

the chapters, the memories, the loves,

and reunite with them again.

I can feel that heartfelt joy 

and it brings me joy too.

They are not lost for long, 

though it may feel so.

In rest, 

they remember it all.

Donna Ashworth

Mothers and Daughters

👉Daughters are not responsible for the emotional stability of their mothers. 

🔥When we are able to face the fact that we are powerless, as daughters, to heal our mothers, we can do the mourning that is necessary to move on and finally step into our power and live authentic, joyful, abundant lives... without guilt. 

It’s a tragedy that some mothers actively manipulate their daughters out of their own unconscious feelings of deprivation and fears of abandonment. 

And it’s a tragedy that some daughters miss the opportunity to step into their empowered selfhood out of a feeling of paralyzing guilt toward their mothers. 

💡The deprived child within a mother may be looking to her daughter for the emotional nourishment that she never received from her own mother. 

This is one of the ways that the Mother Wound gets passed down. 

👀 Mothers are not served by their daughters’ self-sacrifice and codependency with them. It perpetuates their stuck-ness and denial. 

And it is detrimental to the daughter; it directly hampers her ability to confidently embrace her own separate self.

Each adult daughter in this situation must reflect on what she is and is not willing to do and accept in relationship with her mother and respectfully communicate that. 

It is an individual choice, and it can take time to figure out where your boundaries lie. 

💜Ultimately, the daughter has to be loyal and true to herself first and foremost. 

Ironically, this is what every mother in her healthy state would want for her daughter: to be good to herself and do what is best for her. 

When a mother has unresolved trauma and early unmet developmental needs, it can be difficult for her to see this. 

🖤 But the truth is ALWAYS that her adult daughter is a sovereign, separate, independent adult who has the right to say no without guilt.

AS TIME GOES BY

As time goes by,

You will loosen your grip on that rock,

The one you always thought was home,

And you will realise that home is not a place,

It’s a state of mind.

Let it go.

As times goes by,

You will learn to see yourself more clearly,

The girl who was always too much of one thing,

And too little of another, was actually

Everything she needed to be.

Let her out.

As time goes by,

You will let the simple things become the big,

And you will allow the big things to become the simple,

And that readjustment will be, 

The day you really start to live,

Let it be.

As time goes by,

You will be forced to say goodbye many times,

And your soft little heart will shatter but,

It will still beat and that will bring you,

All the purpose you need.

Let it beat.

As time goes by,

You will stop choosing wealth over peace,

You will stop choosing money over time,

And you will see that the treasures you need,

Are in the smiles and the laughter.

Let them in.

As times goes by,

The moments you remember when your life flashes past,

Are never the awful memories my friend, it’s the joy,

The summer nights, the lazy days with loved ones,

The midnight chats and the morning hugs,

Let them happen.

Let them all happen.

Donna Ashworth 

    

will you

Will you...

Hold my hand for a little while?

I don’t need you to save me

No need for you to fix anything

No need for you to hold my pain

But will you simply hold my hand?

I do not need your words

Your thoughts

Nor your shoulders to carry me

But will you sit here for a while with me?

Whilst my tears they stream

Whilst my heart it shatters

Whilst my mind plays tricks on me

Will you with your presence let me know that I am not alone, whilst I wander into my inner unknown?

For my darkness is mine to face

My pain is mine to feel

And my wounds are mine to heal

But will you sit with me here, while I courageously show up for it all my dear?

For I am bright because of my darkness

Beautiful because of my brokenness

And strong due to my tender heart

But will you take my hand lovingly, when I sometimes journey into the dark?

I don’t ask for you to take my darkness away

I don’t expect for you to brighten my day

And I don’t believe that you can mend my pain

But I would surely love if you could sit for a while and hold my hand, until I find my way out of my shadowland!

So will you...

Hold my hand until I return again?”~

~Zoe Johansen

@Archaeology for the Woman's Soul

The seed said to the tree 

"Do not look at me

For I am not worthy of being seen”

And the tree replied

“I look at you with pride and admiration

For I see your potential 

And capacity for growth and transformation 

For I was once as small as you are 

But am now fully grown

I was once submerged in darkness   

But am now anchored toward the light 

And I was once buried underground 

But have now ascended to greater heights  

And everything you are 

I once was 

Everything you are experiencing

I once experienced 

And everything I am

You will one day be.”

Words by Tahlia Hunter