spirituality – Shards from a Long Cracked Mirror

I began life in rural Oxfordshire: in a village of both political and religious dissent; a place that harboured secrets and where tales of witchcraft still whispered in the walls. Within that context, I was nomadic from the age of two.

My mother suffered from serious mental health issues and, although her mother (Nanna) was drafted in to fill the mothering space, I was determined to be free range. Family time and energies were caught up with other things and, with a close village community, my wanderings rarely caused concern.

Perhaps it was the notion of things not being right at home that lead people to take me in, or perhaps I was an enchanting child. Whatever the reason, I walked through open doors and many that were normally closed. I was welcomed at tables where others feared to go and it is that broad church of experience, that began to carve the person that is me.

Who am I indeed? Who are any of us?

If we are the sum total of our experiences, why am I not the same as those who shared those experiences with me? Current thinking suggests mindset has much to do with it. I think they might be right.

I’m a very positive, pro-active person. Afterall, you’ll never know if you can fly unless you jump; they might just be telling you that you can’t, so they have the power. So I jumped. And here I am.

What I am needs more explaining: I learned early on, when life gets tough you can curl up like a woodlouse and either dry out or get trodden on, or you can push yourself on towards a different now. That isn’t always easy and sometimes can only happen in small steps – but those steps add up and the difficulties, once overcome, give you a very valuable perspective. Check out my posts to see where some of my perspectives come from.

Locations:

Physically: now usually somewhere near the south coast of England, but have been known to travel to much of Europe; Croatia, Bosnia; even India, fulfilling a promise I made when I was four.

Mentally: mostly in several places at the one time, but always enjoying the ride.

Spiritually: an eclectic mix, essentially atheist but totally believing in the physics of persistent energy – everything that has ever existed is still out there in some form, or another. So, lets keep it positive folks.