You know how YouTube gives suggestions, generally based on previous browsing?
I’m not quite sure why it thought I was having a bad time (surely not because I was bingeing 80s memories and BBC comedy?), but these were the first three suggestions for me recently…
I don’t feel like I was in need of them particularly, but I enjoyed them.
Perhaps they were meant to be shared?
…and here’s one that caught my ear last week.
Chase all your cares away!
I’ve been on a quest for “happy” songs, which has lead me around YouTube, and found not just the feel good, dancey, not too much thinking needed songs… I’ve enjoyed a bit of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, and gone back to the 70s for classic rock.
Not exactly the most feel-good lyrics, but makes me want to dance.
It’s the bagpipes…
I’ve been reminded of the importance of standing up for what’s right, even if it starts with little things.
I’ve experienced again one of those moments where a beautiful voice, a connection with others, a memory and an iconic event combine to form magic.
The happy songs? I’m sure there are many, but I’ve only included a random selection.
An obvious choice if you feel like you need to walk on sunshine!
Or need to remember every little thing will be alright.
Just shake it off…
…and make your own kind of music!
Just say yes 🙂
I’ve had a very inspirational weekend and early week – feeling like making/doing/being… in the past I’ve gone so far, then run up against walls. God has been speaking to me, specifically this weekend, but also throughout this year.
Today we went out for coffee, and I decided to dress in my rainbows… not just my shirt but various bits of colourful jewellery. I have quite a lot of it but don’t often wear it. Today seemed like a day for a bit of overkill.
We hid away on the sofa at the cafe, and dreamed… looked through some of the books stacked there (also used as tables)
Came home, did some work.
All things are possible, but they still require a bit of deliberation, dreaming – and doing!
Here’s a sign from the Women’s Conference at church on Saturday.
Now – to live the life…
I’ve been listening to this song, which was a recommendation for me on YouTube. Made me think…
We all have regrets – those things we’ve done, or haven’t done. Life rolls over us. Events happen, and we end up feeling scoured out by circumstance… cleaned out and hollow. The person we thought we were, wanted to be, lost in time.
Sometimes it’s the appropriate time to mourn and to heal.
Sometimes it’s time to get up again and move forward.
It’s never too late to find the good things again,
and to rekindle the fire.
What used to be can still be.
Just changed, and even sweetened, by personal history.
I can never be who I used to be – not completely.
I can be the best of who I am now.
And so can you ❤
Went to the library the other day, and took the opportunity to do a bit of op shopping as well. We’re not long getting over the sniffles, so I felt a bit drained after hiking up and down the streets… decided to check out a cafe I’d been meaning to go to. There’s nothing like a cup of mocha (especially 12oz of it) to revive flagging energy! Here was my view while being refreshed. There’s a main road just outside, but you’d hardly know it from the peaceful feeling inside.
Oikos Cafe opened a few months back on the site of a previous cafe. It’s at 61 Limestone Street, more or less between the library and the centre of Ipswich. My title for this post is written across the main wall, and it seems everyone is welcome – everyone is included, and grace wins the day. Food is sourced locally, and there seems to be a good selection of gluten free, raw etc. options. Buying the beans used for the coffee also helps to feed hungry children in Uganda. Apart from that, it also makes a very good cup of coffee!
Oikos is a Greek word, meaning “circle of influence”, and refers to family or community. I liked the feeling of community there, and will be going back…
I am undecided whether to have an early night, or to read for a bit. I’ll finish with another quote from Oikos…
“Rest is holy… get some!”
Through stormy hours
and rainy grey,
blue skies remain
and love is constant.
…and even when a cloud
looms up in your blue sky –
love still appears
in various guises!
A quiet roar
one
he lays his left hand along the beam
hand that moulded clay into fluttering birds
hand that cupped wild flowers to learn their peace
hand that stroked the bee’s soft back and touched death’s sting
two
he stretches his right hand across the grain
hand that blessed a dead corpse quick
hand that smeared blind spittle into sight
hand that burgeoned bread, smoothed down the rumpled sea
three
he stands laborious
sagging, split,
homo erectus, poor bare forked thing
hung on nails like a picture
he is not beautiful
blood sweats from him in rain
far off where we are lost, desert dry
thunder begins its quiet roar
the first drops startle us alive
the cloud no bigger
than a man’s hand
In honour of St Patrick’s day, some songs – starting with a prayer attributed to St Patrick, and then some artists I enjoy…
a bit of creativity, a bit of eco consciousness, a bit of inspiration.... hopefully not a lot of pompousness and blathering :D
i'm not entirely sure what's going on here... let's travel along and see...
1000 Fields of Roses 