Junk drawers and mindfulness

Two things that stand out from all the other ideas in my mind this week are Junk drawers and Mindfulness. Somehow these words are very compatible.
My Mother was a teacher (a very dedicated one and creative one). One of the tasks she set my sister and I at the beginning of the school holidays was to tidy the Junk drawer.
Another one of her favourite distraction tools was to get us to find 20 things that fitted in a matchbox. This organizing and tidying has spilled over into both my sisters and my life in very different ways.
I always start in my Studio by tidying or re-presenting the area. Sorting and handling my stuff centers me and gives me space to think.
My sister has the most amazing home filled with things she has and is collecting and it is all sorted and catalogued. It is completely jaw dropping at times. She has a very eclectic eye and what she gathers is so quirky. It will all eventually end up in an art project or re-puposed into something amazing. But the organizing and storage is something to write a book about. Next time I am in Welly I shall get some photographs.
Mums Junk drawer had everything in it..matches to broken christmas ornaments needing mended as did mine. I am a bit more ruthless these days and  only allocate certain useful things to live there like serviettes, batteries,matches, candles and staplers.
Part of this is a settling in my thinking as well.
Mindfulness is a big buzz word in Mental Health and I have being figuring out how it is applied. Meditation is something I have done now for maybe 6 years ( a bit irregular  at the moment) and mindful ness ( for me-paying attention to where I am, stilling and recognizing intrusive thoughts, appreciating peeling a potato,  concentrating on the conversation I am in and just being) is something I do naturally now..although at times when the anxiety kicks in( GAZ) I have to work harder.
Recently the Anxiety took a hold for about 3-4 weeks and no amount of what I knew helped. Too much forward thinking happening. What did help was Prayer and working out where faith fitted with Mindfulness. What I came to was 'Rejoice in this day the Lord has made ' Out of all of everything else these words did it for me and Poof anxiety gone.
I love this phrase and the practical knowledge of mindfulness and meditation bought it to life for me. But it would not have happened without prayer first. Good reminders for me.

Summer time

News of the week Peoples for those who don't read Gary's Blog. Gary is a walking miracle. His secondary tumors in his lungs have shrunk to invisible (doesn't mean they are gone but seriously reduced).He had a 5per cent chance of success at the beginning of treatment and it has worked. I am with the thought that God grants time and that is what we have received. Another summer with Gaz is a work of prayer.

Heartwood

When I was buying my new shoes I struck up a conversation with one of the two lovely women who were working in the shop. We connected in many ways.
She gave me an analogy of grief that I really liked. If you can imagine a red spodge and then soften the edges. That is your grief. Then draw co-centric circles around that grief and that is your life that you build around it. A similar analogy of working through things and acceptance rather than getting over stuff which seems impossible at times and very unrealistic. When I showed the picture to two colleagues this morning they both shared a different views. One said it looks like tree rings and the other approached it as energy that needed work to disapate it or it could become embedded. Both make sense. Kim (colleague) tells me that knots are important to let the sap out..so same idea different words..people are clever. The  image I am left with is of Heartwood and a strong tree.
Gary and I are off to Aussie next week, catching up with friends and some nights on the Sunshine Coast.
Hurrah! Prawns and Coopers are high on my list and swims and sun and art and gum trees and and ...

Minnie Coopers -in love with my..

Gorgeous new shoes I bought with Wendy in ChCh this weekend. I wasn't going to buy them.... but! Wendy tried some on and I thought why not..once I had them on my feet it was all over. They are gorgeous and comfortable and I don't want to take them off..my cowboy boots may become seasonal..now thats a shock for anyone who knows me. Who am I kidding I live in Dunedin..good excuse to wear everything all year round.

Where I bought them, was in the new Container mall that has sprung up.  I didn't look around all of it, I decided after the shoe purchase that it was best to leave and not look anymore. 

But what I liked particularly about it is that it is very accessible. Before the shoe shop would have probably been placed somewhere exclusive and I wouldn't have just walked in. A decision would have been made to go there and being sensible I wouldn't have (again who am I trying to convince?).

To use a word that may be sensitive for the area it is a great leveler. The shoe store was just around the corner from the sausage sizzle stall (had one of those too..mmmm gluten free and delicious). And back to back with gift store and Scorpio books. 

The containers are small bites and cosy.  Colourful and simple, I liked them very much. Now if anyone reading this is keen on Minnie Coopers, I would suggest a visit..the two Ladies who were in the shop the day I went were fabulous and kind and went all out to sort out what was needed without any pressure. I had a super time. Very impressed with the sales and service.

Christchurch itself wasn't a shock as the images in the Media and friends stories had prepared me for what I would see..but what I came away with was an impression and feeling of unrest. 

Time with friends and their beautiful familes was fabulous but the city itself and getting around was exhausting. The dust got to me, the constant construction noise and the activity everywhere - building, constructing demolishing. I so felt for everyone living there and the constant 'dealing' with stuff that everyone has to do. No rest. 

I felt "mismothered'  down town. A term used when dogs get lost in the hills and their bark echoes around and bounces back so they cant find their way home. I just couldn't figure out where things used to be, It wasn't until Kath said the container mall was where we had lunch last time we were up that I clicked and the puzzle fell into place. I had something to locate myself too. I asked Wendy if she was sick of people like me coming in awestruck and questioning and she replied 'no we need people to keep seeing how it is for us'  I understand that.

Today I am sitting in my piece of heaven on the Otago Peninsula counting my blessings..birds are singing, my dog is wuffing quietly at them and new red (feel like home) shoes are on my feet.