Last year, I lost my career to the much misunderstood illness, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. I was unable to get out of bed for 3 months. It took another 6 months to leave the house. While there was no shortage of well-meaning advice, I still felt alone and misunderstood, longing for someone to say something truly …
Yesterday, it occurred to me that if my soul is a spark of the Divine and has come into this life for a specific purpose and if, also, along the way I have developed an egoic personality that has been conditioned by my childhood influences, upbringing, education and what was expected of me, then this …
I feel like a spiritual schizophrenic. I am the wee scared self (wss) who needs her plans. I am the Witness who whispers “Nothing wrong”. wss is scared of missing out, being left behind, of delusion. She makes plans for a future that does not exist, broods over a past now gone. She does not …
This feels like the bravest post I have done to date. I have written about the spiritual experiences I have had since I experienced burnout. I have become aware of a Self that observes everything that happens, as well as another part of me that is scared. I decided to set up a dialogue between …
Quiet is the gift I found at the bottom of the abyss of despair. Its only voice is “there is nothing wrong”. The chatter of plans gone wrong is silenced in that truth. Who am I without the story of things gone wrong? Woman in chair, puppy by her side, the rain on the window, …
In Little Gidding, T.S. Eliot wrote: “We shall not cease from exploration And the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And know the place for the first time. Through the unknown, unremembered gate When the last of earth left to discover Is that which was the beginning; At the …
The process of recovery has led me to living in the present moment. I have slowed down the planning, scheming monkey mind and wonder what place hope has now. When my life was spiralling out of control, I had two choices: either sink under the anger and depression that threatened to engulf me or surrender …
I am learning to be honest but the journey is not an easy one. Girls are not taught to be honest, we are taught to be good, compliant, helpful, pleasing to others. What a price we pay for this. When I burned out, in order to recover, I had to look at all the …
Samye Ling is a Tibetan Buddhist monastery in SW Scotland founded in 1967 by Trungpa and Akong Rinpoches. There is a palpable atmosphere of peace as you walk around the grounds, as if the energy of a million meditations permeates the air. I spent 3 days there recently, attending a yoga retreat, staying in a …
SONG OF THE MOTHER Go slowly Nestle under my wings Breathe my breath Sing my song Love whatever is arising. All pain and sorrow Are your lost children Re-emerging To be loved at last. You are the one They have waited for To love them. Embrace those shut-out children Banished from your …