September’s shenanigans

and a Spiritual Odyssey

Hi coddiwomplers,

This is ridiculous, I’m sure I only wrote my last ramblings last week! Where did September go?

I hope you’re all well and embracing the new season. I love Autumn, the golden light and vibrant colours are Nature’s reminder that it’s ok to let the stuff go that’s no longer required in order to start afresh.

Coming up this month:

• A trip to The Weald & Downland Musuem & Petworth in Sussex

• Remembering my Mum

• Writer’s Block and an introduction to Slow Living

• A Spiritual Odysey to Glastonbury!

• A link to my new blog instalment “Following My Sunshine” about when I first knew I would be childfree

September was a busy month for us. We began by taking an impromptu trip to The Weald & Downland Museum, near Chichester in West Sussex. I last visited when I was about 8 or 9, and it’s safe to say it’s grown a lot! It’s well worth a visit and you can easily fill a day there. All the buildings are original and have been painstakingly rebuilt to recreate their unique feel. You can go in everything from a Stone Age hut to a plush Elizabethan house and it’s all nestled in the lush, rolling South Downs.

We stopped off at Petworth House on the way home and enjoyed a beautiful walk around the parkland watching the herds of deer that can trace their original ancestry back to Henry VIII.

I always like to do something nice during the first few days of September because it’s time I would normally have spent with Mum. Her birthday was 3rd September and she grew her angel wings on 6th September. Grief changes over the years, it’s now 12 years since Mum & Dad passed away, it’s not so raw but the love is still as strong and I still miss talking to them.

Mid-September felt like I’d got a touch of Writer’s Block, I’d pick up my Journal to write something substantial but nothing would flow. Then I took a moment and realised that it doesn’t matter, what matters is showing up to write and to just write whatever comes to mind. It doesn’t even have to make sense, it’s like a brain dump. Having said that though, I did publish part 2 of my “Following My Sunshine” blog series about why I chose to be childfree. You can read it here if that’s something you feel drawn to.

Sometimes I just feel I have so much to say, that I don’t know where to start, then all the words go round and round in my head like a high speed wash cycle and nothing comes out! 

I discovered a phrase called “slow living”, which isn’t about doing nothing, but it’s about taking time to notice the small things that bring us joy and being present in the moment we’re in.

I’m not interested in the Rat Race, the keeping up. There’s so much pressure on us these days to constantly achieve something and be productive all the time. But all this does is lead to burn out and stress.

I understand that it can be hard when we’re working stupid hours just to pay the mortgage and the bills but it’s still possible to take a moment and notice what’s around us. A perfect example is the seasons. It’s Autumn now, the colours are strong and vivid. What can you see from your window? Are there birds outside? Can you hear them singing? We can bring some cut flowers indoors to brighten the place up.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. Slow living isn’t about always having our shit together and being calm all the time. It’s about being present in the moment and taking a moment to just breathe and Be.

Something else that hit home with me this month was a quote from Gabby Bernstein:

“Infuse love into your week”

This covers everything we do, whether it’s our paid job, voluntary work, house work…everything. If we enter into a task thinking “I hate doing this”, or “I don’t want to be doing this”, then our energy levels automatically drop and darken. Whereas if we switch it around and enter into the task thinking about how it serves us and others, the energy automatically lifts and lightens. 

For instance I knew I needed to do a few chores on one particular day. I wasn’t looking forward to it as I felt resentful from being taken away from the things I love to do like being outside in the garden, out for a walk or drawing and writing. But after I listened to Gabby’s recording I swapped it around to keep the house nice for me and Tim. After all it’s our Home and deserves to be treated well. It’s also good exercise!

The end of September saw the gates close on my seasonal work at Pashley Manor Gardens, another sign that Autumn is upon us. I’m really excited to share that I raised £45 from the profits made on my “Shine Your Light” sunflower cards sold in the shop during the season. I donated this money to the owner’s favourite charity, St Michael’s hospice in Hastings & St Leonards. Hospices need all the help and support we can afford to give them during these troubled times.

My Bestie and I polished our broomsticks and headed off on a Spiritual Odyssey to Glastonbury for the last weekend of the month. We weren’t quite “Thelma & Louise”, but gave them a good run for their money! 

We spent a few happy hours mooching in and out of the independent “witchy” shops in the town on Saturday. Some felt gentler on the soul than others. We saw that one was offering readings and couldn’t resist booking ourselves in. This particular lady used Runes, which I’d never really encountered before.

She remarked she saw shards of green light emanating from me (she actually said she’d never seen anything like that before!) and observed that I was a healer, here to provide a service to others. Therefore she wasn’t surprised to learn that I’m attuned to Reiki! I don’t practice much at the moment due to not finding a suitable space to work from, but she thinks that I will come back to it in the future along with using Divination as part of my tool kit. Interestingly Lisa had been saying only about half an hour before that it’s a shame I don’t still practice.

Australia cropped up and she sensed I had a strong connection to the place (if you’ve followed me for a while and read “From Cancer To Coddiwomple” then you’ll know all about that! 

The following day we stomped up the Tor. It was quite busy up there on this particular morning and the energies felt a bit fuzzy but it was still very special. I then introduced Lisa to the Chalice Well and gardens which couldn’t have been more peaceful.

The weather closed in during the afternoon so we decided to drive into Wells and visit the grand cathedral. We turned up just as Evensong was about to start, which was beautiful, but we both decided we knew where we felt more comfortable. It’s interesting to witness how the different realms of spirituality overlap though. This particular Sunday was St Michael’s Day so he was mentioned a lot during the readings. He also appears a lot regarding spiritual healing such as Reiki.

We travelled home on Monday via Avebury in Wiltshire. Oh my word, what a special place! I have been there before as a child but I hadn’t appreciated it back then. The stones are very impressive and in my opinion are more impressive than Stonehenge. I felt a very strong connection to some of them, my hands tingled when I touched them. Others gave me no sensation at all. We couldn’t resist popping into the shops there and a set of Runes jumped out at me so I had to buy them! I then found a detailed book about how to use them and I’ve been getting to know them in the last few days. I’ll keep you posted on how I get on with them!

So that brings me to the end of another ramble. Thank you again so much for being here. If you made it to the end, please give it a Like and comment with the word “tingles”! This helps with the algorithm so that others get an opportunity to join us. I would also love it if you felt able to share my link with anyone else you know that this might appeal to. After all there must be other menopausal, mystical, childfree, oneling women out there!

I look forward to connecting with you all again next month. In the meantime, I wish you love, good health and peace. Happy coddiwompling!

Wendy xx

PS If you can’t wait until next month, please head over to my Instagram and Facebook pages where I share more photos, random musings and arty moments.