Key Life Journeys is the website I established to share the various journeys that are a part of my life and which I thought might interest, inform and inspire others. On the five blogs there is room to comment. I discovered that the journeys which have had the most impact on my life are those of care giving, travelling and gardening; through them I have had personal growth and found a spiritual path, the soul journey. This road leads me to bear witness to the call for social justice around the world.
I’ve just returned from a trip to Iceland. What a unique and naturally powerful country. There will be more about it in a future newsletter and on the website, but for now I want to go back to writings from earlier this year.
Spring Time in Ontario
The sunlight lands softly on moss covered rail fences early and late in the day. There is no harsh imprint. It is the beginning of May and Ontario’s winter has surely left. There is an air of expectancy, and expanding to new beginnings; budding unfurling, hope.
My weekend is at a retreat centre just north west of Caledon to attend a Spring Tonic Writing and Yoga Retreat. It is spring cleaning time for the mind and body. Where will my creativity take me this year as I unfurl myself from winter’s hibernation? My winter has not been all huddle and trying to stay warm. February’s icy penetration was cut short by spending a week in San Diego followed by a journey of a 1000 miles from top to toe of Mexico’s Baja Peninsula. There I was exposed to the glory of the desert with shapes and colours, textures and smells that awoke some primal memory in me.
In April, when Ontario could not release itself from winter, I was welcomed to the hospitality of the south visiting Charleston, South Carolina and Savanna, Georgia. By the beginning of May I could absorb Ontario’s warmth, its lengthening days, its full moon and its promise. Continue…
Getting Attached to the Plants of the Desert
The central desert of the Mexican Baja Peninsula is a magical place. The sun will set with strange shapes silhouetted against the evening sky. The early morning light is clear and penetrating, accentuating the textures of the multi species of cactus and desert plants. There are boulders and caves with ancient primitive rock paintings, there is wildlife and other things of which to be aware. Three plants fascinated me. Continue…
Talking about Care Giver Guilt and Regret
I am drawn at this time to talk about the topic that no caregiver really wants to think about – their feelings of guilt and regret. They surface the more often we hear people praising us for what we do; when people say they couldn’t do what we do. I remember during my years of care giving, I could not just say thank you and accept that the other person didn’t understand. I felt I had to make them understand, that they were wrong, that I was not the paragon of virtue they somehow saw.
I talk about the subject in my video Aspect of Hope . I talk about the behaviors and rituals that I embarked on while Sue was still alive, so that I would not have guilt and regrets after my role was complete. I don’t know if my rituals had any impact on the future, they just felt worthwhile at the time. Continue…
If the Ocean Dies, We Die
Research shows that if the ocean dies, we all die. Sea Sick by Alanna Mitchell presents the facts as they are know today.
For centuries we have been dumping our waste into the ocean presuming it is safe at the bottom. Today our toxins used on land are going out to sea and destroying everything with which they come in contact. Oil leaks from ships, untreated human waste and plastic infiltrate the precious eco systems of the ocean.
The website The Story of Stuff.org has for many years produced animated movies describing the consequences of our behavior, how it impacts the planet and what this inevitably does to us. I saw their first movie in 2007 and it certainly had an impact on the way I looked at our consumer society. It is a 21 minute film and well worth watching. Continue…
Very best wishes
Sue
Susan M Ellis www.KeyLifeJourneys.com
SME Productions Sue@KeyLifeJourneys.com
P.O. Box 22060, 45 Overlea Blvd.,
Toronto. Ontario M4H 1C0 Canada
