There is magic in writing down your intentions
The day started with brunch with Dawn from Bude and Beyond by way of a thank you. She interviewed me as a part of my Belonging exhibition.
After a very healthy salad bowl at Temple restaurant, we headed to the community hub at Bude Sea Pool for a creative writing poetry mindfulness session with Casper Walsh. Casper started the organisation ‘Words from the Earth’.
Dawn and I signed up to a creative writing afternoon exploring our connection to nature. What we hadn’t expected was to come away at the end of the day feeling totally ‘ZEN’. The first word that came to mind after mindful chit chat, meditation and some time to connect with nature on the beach. Casper encouraged us to keep a journal or write of our experience to remember the day with some key words. I decided I needed to record some of the experience as a valuable resource for the future.
The first exercise was to write down what we would like to receive from the day.
‘My eyes are far more connected to the landscape and nature. I’d like to feel more confident with my voice. Being next to the ocean is second nature to me but I’d like to understand a little more ‘the WHY’
The following two statements were very important to making it successful and a thought to carry through life.
THERE IS MAGIC IN WRITING OUR INTENTIONS DOWN.
EMOTIONS ARE ABSTRACT WHEN TALKING. WHEN WRITTEN THE INSIDE IS MOVING OUT AND IT BECOMES A PHYSICAL REALITY. WRITE FROM THE HEART FOR YOU… OUT OF CONFUSION COMES CLARITY.
Casper has studied society and different cultures all over the world and has come up with the theory that we need our rites of passage and defining moments like losing our virginity, getting married, turning 18.
These wane as we get older unless you make a point of making them happen. We are all very busy just surviving, so it’s really important to find and do things that bring us to connecting with nature.
Without this people lose the ritual and connection so we need community and mentors. The days of younger people being trained by older people are all but gone and this was valuable life skills and wisdom being passed down on just LIFE. It’s a time when people find other things to do , partying , alcohol etc when things get buried under a life of addiction.
There is also a default to over analyse, to rethink over and over, so it’s important to look at yourself and situation and be grateful and say ‘I’m OK’
People need to be able to express themselves creatively to allow space in their being. Hence ‘paying attention’
A short meditation, connecting with the beach and each other, left us with an hour to wander and contemplate.
To slow down… think and make and pay attention to the spaces in between.
THOUGHTS
- Listen to the sounds, the sea is the singing bowl of the ocean. A vibrational energy to pass through you.
- Let your body flow, ripple, be soft but strong.
- Feel the weather.
- Let your mind unravel. The thoughts become an tangled string of pearls.
- Be kind to yourself and it will show in your being. Let your heart be full of love.
- Embrace change, like the seasons. Trust in this and trust in others.
- Pay attention , share experiences.
- Look to the sky, sun and the stars. Climb a hill, be in the ocean. Feel the space and expansiveness.
My meditation walking and thinking led me to sit on the cliff top at Mentone. Peaceful, but looking down on the beach and the many people enjoying the day. I felt completely weightless, no physical body existed. I was still, but feeling. Peaceful and absolute. Soaring.
The event was made possible through Reflect Arts and Mind. A project looking at the effects of being connected to the sea and mental well being by the University of Exeter.