Seize the Day

Don't take life for granted, go out and seize the day,

so often, we waste precious time, in senseless and frivolous ways.

Tomorrow is not promised, we don't know what lies ahead,

so instead of deferring those plans and dreams, do it now instead.

Life is for living, so make each and every moment count,

It's the quality of life that matters, not the quantity or amount,

Get busy living, stay curious and enjoy the fast paced ride,

try to worry less and take everything in your stride.

Fill your life with fond memories, to be treasured always,

these you will cherish for the rest of your days.

Live and let live, forgive and forget,

leave no room in your life, for bitterness and regret.

The big moments are great but the little ones count too,

every single moment matters, not just the special few.

Do your best to stay strong, amid all life's troubles and its strife,

these too play a vital part, in the rich tapestry of life.

With life, so very fleeting, participate fully in the dance,

live life to the full, you only get one chance.

~ 'Seize the Day' by Mary Anne Byrne

Spirit of a Hippie

Last night, a drop of your Soul fell on my lips

It spoke to me of the rain you smelled yesterday...

The sun that wouldn't shine

The door that wouldn't close....

It kept me up until the day spoke to my eyes

It lingered in my body,

Scripting the story we have forged together

A wave of silence in the skies

A longing in the heart...

A firing passion I just can't describe,

For mortal words too poor to explain

The ocean of feelings...

The soulful river flowing through our hearts...

Bowing to each other in the dark of night

Whispering in silence

The secret language of the stars...

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

Poem by Corina Andronache

Archaeology for the Woman's Soul

Choose

Choose to make today a good day. Be grateful for each new day. Our capacity for joy is not in what we look at but in what we see. Look with fresh eyes and the world will offer itself to you over and over again in new and exciting ways. Each day has the capacity to be beautiful when we are open and receptive to life and all it has to offer.

~ Mary Anne Byrne

Feed your soul and nurture your mind. Slow down, take time to do the things you love. When our minds are constantly active, busy creating stories and analysing everything, we can often spiral into a deep and unnecessary state of anxiety, where we can no longer think clearly and our judgement can sometimes become clouded and unreliable.

Time spent outdoors, walking among the trees, admiring a blue sky, listening to a river flow...all these things can bring us into the present moment, shifting and altering our perspective away from what is troubling us to what is right in front of us.

As we become more present, we start to see things with more clarity, A calm and peaceful mind creates a calm and peaceful life. Nurture that peace daily. Make time for what works best for you. No matter how busy your life may be, find time. This quiet time is not a luxury it is an essential ingredient and a necessity to creating a happy, fulfilling and peaceful life.

~ Mary Anne Byrne

Remember to be kind - everyone is carrying something invisible...

The heaviest burdens are often carried by those who make it look effortless - remember to see beyond their smile. They're the ones who have mastered the art of dancing with their shadows, of breathing through storms while making it look like a gentle breeze. Their strength isn't in the absence of struggle, but in their grace under pressure, their ability to keep moving forward when standing still would be easier.

Look closer at those quiet warriors - the ones who lift others while carrying their own mountains, who offer light while navigating their own darkness. Their smiles aren't masks of deception, but badges of resilience. Their laughter doesn't deny their pain; it defies it.

So next time you see someone making the impossible look easy, remember: beneath that peaceful surface often runs the deepest current. Sometimes the strongest hearts are the ones that have been mended countless times, and the brightest spirits are those who've learned to shine through their scars.

~ Etheric Echoes Etheric Echoes

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