Advent

 

 

 https://unsplash.com/@danielsessler

The season of Advent is here. I will light my Advent candle tomorrow, and open the first door on my Advent calendar. My search for one that had anything to do with Christmas ended at Liverpool's Anglican Cathedral where I found a calendar devoid of chocolates, that simply told the Christmas story.

'Advent' seems to come earlier each year. It's somewhat depressing to see the Hallowen'en paraphernalia in shops immediately replaced by Christmas stock. It makes one wonder what it's all about. 

Perhaps I'm feeling nostalgic, or looking at things through rose coloured glasses, but Christmas, and the lead up to it, used to be so simple and therefore, I think, more special. 

There would be a party at junior school, with jelly and ice-cream, musical chairs and a visit from Santa (one of the teachers dressed up in a not-very-convincing disguise) handing out selection boxes wrapped in coloured crepe paper. 

A trip to Santa's grotto at Busby's department store in Bradford was always a treat. 

Letters would be written, requesting a new doll, or clockwork train set, then burnt on the open fire to travel up the chimney and on to the North Pole. 

For weeks we would rehearse the Sunday School Christmas panto, maybe playing a rat or a mouse in Cinderella, or as we got older being promoted to 'the chorus'. 

We'd go door to door singing Christmas carols, and there always seemed to be thick snow.

Christmas morning was magical, waking up in the cold (no central heating) and peering through the dark to find a pillow case, bulging with gifts, at the end of the bed.

Click here to read John Betjeman's poem 'Advent'. 

Click here to read one of my favourite stories, 'The gift of the Magi'. 

However you spend your Advent, I hope it is one filled with simple pleasures and love. Please share your Advent thoughts in the comments box.

Writing prompts:

• What are your childhood memories of the time leading up to Christmas? 
• Write a letter to Santa. You can request anything you like in your list!
• Does all the Christmas hullabaloo start to early in your opinion, or are you happy to see inflatable snowmen and Father Christmases in your neighbours' gardens in October? 

 

Survey - Using the Well Words Blog

 

https://unsplash.com/@christinhumephoto

Please complete the survey, by clicking on the link below, to tell me if, and how, you use the Well Words Blog. Thank you.   

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/RWT3NKZ

Changes to Viewing This Blog

 

I have made some changes to the layout of my blog. If you are viewing it on a mobile phone or tablet you will simply see my most recent seven posts. If you wish to see the web version (with extra widgets and links) please scroll down to the bottom of the page. Under 'Home' you can click 'View web version'. Alternatively, view my full blog on a pc or lap. I hope this helps. Thank you.

'I Want To Age Like Sea Glass'

 

I want to age like sea glass

I want to age like sea glass. Smoothed by tides, not broken. I want the currents of life to toss me around, shake me up and leave me feeling washed clean. I want my hard edges to soften as the years pass—made not weak but supple. I want to ride the waves, go with the flow, feel the impact of the surging tides rolling in and out.

When I am thrown against the shore and caught between the rocks and a hard place, I want to rest there until I can find the strength to do what is next. Not stuck—just waiting, pondering, feeling what it feels like to pause. And when I am ready, I will catch a wave and let it carry me along to the next place that I am supposed to be.

I want to be picked up on occasion by an unsuspected soul and carried along—just for the connection, just for the sake of appreciation and wonder. And with each encounter, new possibilities of collaboration are presented, and new ideas are born.

I want to age like sea glass so that when people see the old woman I’ll become, they’ll embrace all that I am. They’ll marvel at my exquisite nature, hold me gently in their hands and be awed by my well-earned patina. Neither flashy nor dull, just a perfect luster. And they’ll wonder, if just for a second, what it is exactly I am made of and how I got to this very here and now. And we’ll both feel lucky to be in that perfectly right place at that profoundly right time.

I want to age like sea glass. I want to enjoy the journey and let my preciousness be, not in spite of the impacts of life, but because of them.

by Bernadette Noll  

I found this beautiful bottle stopper on the beach at Embleton in Northumberland. It was sitting there, sparkling in the sunshine, just waiting for me to pick it up. I love sea glass and pottery of all kinds, but was especially pleased with this find as the cork was still attached an intact. 

It reminded me of Bernadette Noll's poem which I have come across many times. The poem seemed particularly relevant as I am only a couple of weeks away from my 70th birthday, and have been thinking about the passing of time and ageing. 

I certainly feel I've been 'tossed around' and 'shaken up', but I'm not 'broken', or 'weak' and still, I hope, quite 'supple'! I've been 'stuck' several times in my life, but have always found the strength to move on. 

I look forward to the next decade and enjoying the 'journey'.

Writing prompts:

• Write about things you have found on the beach, or things you would like to find.
• Do you want to 'age like sea glass'? Write about how that might feel.
• How will you be when you are 'old'? Do you think people will embrace all that you are?  
• Think about a time in your life when you have been 'stuck'. Write about where you got the strength to move on.  
• Look again at the picture of the bottle stopper. Write a story or poem about it.  

Fall leaves fall ....

 

Photo by Oliver Hihn on Unsplash

Fall, Leaves, Fall

by Emily Bronte

Fall, leaves, fall; die, flowers, away;

Lengthen night and shorten day;

Every leaf speaks bliss to me

Fluttering from the autumn tree.

I shall smile when wreaths of snow

Blossom where the rose should grow;

I shall sing when night's decay

Ushers in a drearier day.

Trees release their leaves not out of defeat, but as a necessary form of preparation for winter. In doing so, they conserve energy and nutrients for new growth in the spring. This mirrors the process of letting go of what no longer serves us to conserve our own mental and emotional energy.  

As the trees shed their leaves, so Autumn can be a time for releasing old habits, negative thoughts, and emotional baggage to make way for new growth.

When the leaves are gone, the tree's bare branches are exposed. This state of being "stripped bare" symbolizes vulnerability and openness. By shedding the things that hide our true selves, we make way for authenticity and self-discovery.

Just as trees trusts that spring will follow winter, we can learn to trust that releasing the old will make room for a new, healthier chapter.

Writing prompt:  

• What do you need to 'let go'?  What will be released? Set a timer and write for six minutes.
• What might you may discover about yourself when you are 'stripped bare'? Explore the answer to this question in your writing. 
• Do you look forward to a new, healthier chapter in your life? Write about what it looks like. 

'It will not always be like this'

https://unsplash.com/@alexgeerts

 A Day in Autumn

It will not always be like this,
The air windless, a few last
Leaves adding their decoration
To the trees’ shoulders, braiding the cuffs
Of the boughs with gold; a bird preening
 
In the lawn’s mirror. Having looked up
From the day’s chores, pause a minute,
Let the mind take its photograph
Of the bright scene, something to wear
Against the heart in the long cold.
 
by R. S. Thomas    

Have you noted any differences since the clocks went back on Sunday? Maybe you enjoyed that extra hour in bed and now you're thankful for the brighter, longer mornings. Perhaps though, your body is taking a little time to adjust as that one-hour shift can affect your circadian rhythm.  Click here and here to find out more about the possible effects of the clock change. 

I can't say I'm looking forward to winter; it seems to last for a long time. The Met Office tells us that Autumn ends in November and that Winter stretches from December to February. Click here to read more. The poet R.S. Thomas recognised the 'long cold' and advised us to pause and take a picture in our mind's eye of a beautiful Autumn day such as we've enjoyed recently, remembering that 'it will not always be like this'. 

However, you can’t let winter beat you. Almost a third (31 per cent) of Britons neglect their wellness routines altogether in winter, and for 27 per cent healthy habits are dropped in the last week of October when the clocks go back, according to research by Holland & Barrett. Click here to read a doctor's 13 happiness rules to get through the winter. If some of them seem a bit brutal (I won't be having the cold shower) you could simply create a bit more 'hygge' - candles, cuddling up in a blanket to read a good book, hot chocolate, a walk in the sunshine followed by a glass of mulled wine. 

Click here for a guided Mindfulness Autumn Meditation. 

Writing prompts:

• What is your favourite season and why? Write about it. 
• Make a list of all the things you could do to maintain your happiness and well-being during the winter months. 
• Take a line, or a phrase from the poem above and use this as a prompt for your writing. Free write for six minutes without stopping. 

For more seasonal prompts type 'Autumn' into 'Search This Blog' on the bottom right of my blog page.

Please share your writing and/or thoughts by posting a comment. 

 

 

 

 

World Postcard Day

 A little bit of kindness,
Can brighten the day,
Send out a postcard,
It’s the Postcrossing way!

I am a dedicated sender of postcards. Since joining Postcrossing in 2020 I've sent 327 cards to places all over the world and have received 328. It's always a lovely surprise when one pops through my letterbox. The image on the is front always different, colourful and interesting and so far the postcards have connected me with people, young and old, in 54 different countries. 

Tomorrow is the 6th World Postcard Day and above is 2025's celebratory postcard, created by Uran Duo, the artistic name of two married freelance illustrators based in Fujian, China. The husband and wife both studied graphic design at the China Academy of Art, and after graduation decided to focus on illustration. 

The theme of the postcard is the most classical of postcard sentences, “Wish you were here”. With just four words, it captures everything a postcard is about: the moment you pause, look around, and think of someone far away with whom you would love to share the view and the adventure you’re having. With this postcard, we aim to celebrate that instant of connection that postcards bring about. 

Writing prompts:

• In our digital age, when social media seems to dominate, do you think sending postcards is still a good way of connecting people? Write about what may be the advantages and disadvantages of this form of communication.
• When was the last time you received a postcard? Write about how you think you would feel if one popped through your letterbox tomorrow.
• Write a postcard to someone you know - maybe someone you haven't been in touch with for a long time - and post it if you like.