Hi Everybody,

Here it is; the last letter from me for 2007.

My sincerest apologies that you are getting this newsletter half way through the month, but I was suffering with “if you don’t have something nice to say, rather say nothing at all” - at the turn of this month I lost two very dear animals two days apart at an exceptionally busy time for me, so I felt it best not to send the newsletter out until I had my wits about me somewhat.

I have lived my life so completely with the attitude of ‘everything happens for a reason and everything is exactly as it should be’ for a very long time. My cat Sylvester had feline leukaemia and lymphoma and it was very hard to watch a little soul waste away to such a terrible disease and still maintain that outlook of mine. I always wondered why the parent’s children with cancer seem to cry so much more than their children, but now I understand; it’s the complete and utter helplessness, the wish that you could carry another’s burden, or the constant gnawing feeling that there must be something more you can do. But there isn’t. And maybe that is the lesson in it all, that some things just really are completely beyond our control, and it is always hardest to just give something over in faith when there truly is nothing you can do. And that is when you know, giving over in faith is really the only thing you can do, and knowing that the outcome, regardless of what it is, really will be exactly as it should be, and always for a reason. The Lesson of giving up the need to know why things happen as they do.

The past month for me has been two sides of a coin, on the one hand the grief and loss of two dear animals, and on the other, taking up a therapy again that I was trained for in 2005 but never utilised after the course, and seeing the amazing impact it has on the lives it touches. Also seeing the body psychology I teach to my clients come out in me as I’ve had to suppress the emotion of grief and carry on to get through a particularly demanding time, before I could allow myself to deal with the wave of emotion that was waiting in the wings to break.

An important lesson that I have learned through this all, is that try as we might, we must never deny our emotions, trying so desperately to be strong only weakens us and that we truly are at our strongest when we allow ourselves to be vulnerable and flow with what comes our way. Nature is a great teacher that we could learn a lot from; how a tree yields to the wind, how the river flows around the rock and summer gives way to autumn. There is no resistance, nature never struggles, there is an innate acceptance, and therein I believe lies the key to our own wellbeing.

This month, I haven’t written any articles myself for the newsletter, I have pinched other people’s words of wisdom and inspiration. I have included Kahlil Gibran’s excerpt from The Prophet on Joy and Sorrow, as this is the piece that has really struck a chord in me.

I wish you all wonderful festive season, and hope that it’s not all chaos and madness for you in the run up to the end of this year. Remember that in all your giving, the most precious gift of all you can give to anyone at this time is simply to give of your self.

Love and light

Cesca

The Prophet - On Joy and Sorrow

Then a woman said, "Speak to us of Joy and Sorrow." And he answered: Your joy is your sorrow unmasked. And the selfsame well from which your laughter rises was oftentimes filled with your tears. And how else can it be? The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain. More…

The Essence, The Nittus Grittus

If you are unhappy, be unhappy. Do not judge yourself for being that way. It is wonderful to be unhappy, it is God expressing emotion. Love your unhappiness. It means you are ready for change.You are ready to go forward, yet you mourn for the old; you are not ready to let go. Allow the unhappiness, there is purposefulness in it. More…

The Invitation

It doesn't interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing. It doesn't interest me how old you are.
I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dream, for the adventure of being alive. It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon. I want to know if you have touched the centre of your own sorrow, if you have been opened by life's betrayals or have become shrivelled and closed from fear of further pain! I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own, without moving to hide it or fade it, or fix it. I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own, if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, to be realistic, to remember the limitations of being human. More…

The Stonecutter

There was once a stonecutter who was dissatisfied with himself and with his position in life. One day, he passed a wealthy merchant's house and through the open gateway saw many fine possessions and important visitors. "How powerful that merchant must be!" thought the stonecutter. He became very envious, and wished that he could be like the merchant. Then he would no longer have to live the life of a mere stonecutter. To his great surprise, he suddenly became the merchant, enjoying more luxuries and power than he had ever dreamed of, envied and detested by those less wealthy than himself. More…