~ Keep Going ~

Slow progress on a slow cloth

This is going to be one of nine sections on a larger cloth.

When I was first training in,and then practicing,massage,
aromatherapy and cranio~sacral therapy, I owned them. They were mine and I did not worry about who else or how many others were also doing it. It was what I was meant to do at that time. I had no fear. 

Since then, since I have stopped doing the therapies, since I have lost the passion I had for doing them, I have also lost myself and I know fear. I think I even fear being good at something again...or allowing myself to be good at something again.

I am finally, after seven months, finding my story in this Magic Cloth. I am finding, as I hoped I would, that I am thinking about it even when I am not working on it. I am becoming immersed in it; it is talking to me and maybe I am opening up to owning myself again. 

This is what I hoped for when I started doing Jude's classes. My instincts told me it was important for me to invest in this and I am so glad I listened.

One of the most precious gifts Jude has given me are two little words that she tells us all ~ keep going ~  Those two words have indeed kept me going, one step, one idea, one stitch at a time and before I know it, that one step has become a mile, that one idea has blossomed into a hundred ideas, and that one stitch is slowly becoming a whole quilt.....I am grateful.

~ International Women's Day ~

Celebrating International Women's Day with

Ishtar ~ goddes of all that comprises woman ~

Diana and Venus

and

Alchemilla vulgaris ~ Lady's mantle ~ 'women's best friend'

Being a woman...how I love being a woman. I love that we nurture and care; are intuitive and aware of our loved one's needs; are homemakers and multi~taskers, makers and creatresses(!), feeders and lovers, healers.

I am so glad that I have knowledge of healing. I am so glad that when Our Boy was coughing in his sleep last night, I knew to grab the nearest bottle of Lavender essential oil (I have a few) and massage just one drop into the hollow of his throat and that in less than five minutes he was cough free and sleeping restfully for the rest of the night. I am so glad that when he woke up today and was complaining of a painful shoulder, I knew how to first, massage the muscles as deeply as he could tolerate with my choice of essential oils, in this instance Black Pepper, Rosemary and Lavender (it gets used for so much), and secondly, apply a hot compress with essential oils of Chamomile Roman and Lavender, finishing off with a light and soothing massage. I am so glad that when we have flu or colds, I know to treat us with these.

I was fascinated by my thought process a couple of months ago when Our Boy had a very bad flu and his tongue became dry, cracked and bleeding. It was like watching a film in fast forward as ideas flashed from the memory banks...to be rejected as not quite right until the aha moment of  ~ honey as a carrier....healing and soothing in its own right....with a drop of calendula absolute....so beneficial for healing inflamed and cracked skin. I was thrilled to bits when it had worked its magic by that night. 

It was the same when a friend recently badly damaged his hand and the corrective surgery had left deep scarring, which needed to be kept soft and supple. It was a joy to me to be able to delve deeply into intuition and knowledge and produce a cream that has been a great success.

This is not at all what I had in mind to write to honour International Woman's Day. I was going to write about goddesses, and trees ruled by Venus, and specific women's herbs, but all the above just flowed out and, really, it is a huge part of who I am as a woman. It is my life. It is what I do. And I am glad.