Wednesday, June 27, 2018

Mindfulness, poetry, haiku, photography for when life is challenging


Water reflection at Kuirau Park, Rotorua

Most people have



challenges


in  life.

Ups and downs.


when things don't flow



                                       Water reflection 2 at  Kuirau Park Rotorua


Your favourite pet or person

may disappear any time

Nobody is immune

To the tide of the moon


                   Exotic Imports, Hinemoa Street Rotorua

Some people are

broken needles

on scratched records.

Offloading 

moans  to empaths

who absorb them

like pieces of 

newsprint 

in the rain.

               Exotic Imports Hinemoa Street Rotorua


 Women are encouraged

in self help- books

to make friends with

others so they can

confide in them when things

go south.

Which is OK to a point.

But not helpful if it goes

on too long


Exotic Imports Rotorua
Why not encourage

women to set up talking groups

where it's compulsory

to celebrate snippets of joy-

with or about each other,

devoid of envy, gossip

or competition?


Exotic Imports, Hinemoa Street,  Rotorua

Consulting

a professional counsellor,

(if the spiral is still going down), 

is not shameful.

It's being strong-

Would you blush

to visit a surgeon
 if you had a brain tumour?

Or a vet if your cat was too

far gone ?


Gary Keen RIP, Rotorua


Ways to cope include

meditating with a 

recording of a hypnotists 

melodious voice-

Cuddling on the couch 

with your cat, kids

or significant other

Walking in nature and 

talking to birds

They understand more 

than you realise
  
 Fantail Lake Okareka, Rotorua


TED Talks and pod casts 

can lead to a-ha moments of hope.

Switching off  TV, social media

and silencing your phone can

lead to moments of peace.

Listening to classical

music all evening long can lead to

moments of wonder


Japanese Garden Tree Trust Rotorua

Candle lit, home made

dinners around

your table 

even if you are alone

is fine.

There is dancing in candle light


  Japanese garden Tree Trust, Rotorua crossed with Exotic Imports Light

Lavender incense

for relaxation.


A singing bowl with

a high pitched ring.

Banging it like a gong

throughout rooms;

moves energy along,

making space

for joy and song

Japanese garden Tree Trust Rotorua


Writing every day

two pages of anything

even if it's tripe

is a good place to release

worries and can sometimes

move you to tears that heal







Words and thoughts are better

out on the page,

than swirling around

in your brain like pots of

alphabet soup.






Going alone to favourite cafes

 with a good cup

of coffee and occasionally

a savoury muffin,

to write and read

are sanity saviours



If you are an over-thinker,
 over-drinker or over-spender-
writing and doodling can be
a way of  holding hands
 with your
guardian angels and dreams

 Children's picture books
 and magazines in public libraries
 are favoured places to linger.
The air feels lighter
there

The Library in Rotorua
 is so improved,
it could be on another planet.

Security guards
 and helpful
staff on every floor
make you feel
safe and mellow.
No more swearing
lurkers, stealing bags 
and setting
fires to toilets.

 I wonder where
those souls have been 
moved along to-
I hope it's kind and warm

If you are in a mood for travel,
Libraries at Papamoa, Whakatane
 Wellington and Warkworth
are worth visits too.
 Places of peace and power


 Probably  most libraries
on the planet are
worth dropping
into-
 being mini-worlds of
community and calm


Sitting in specialists' 
waiting rooms can be
spaces for viewing  magazines, 
original art,
 creating drawings in your visual diary
and writing






There are silver linings and bullets if
  you can glean them.
Although it is easier to
think this way when
you are not the actual
one afflicted

 Moments of joy
 don't just
float towards you effortlessly
 on a perfumed cushion 
 unless you
are in the initial
throes of dopamine love

 Commitment to  present
  contentment takes practise 
and courage
If you try just
a fraction of these methods
for a

full month of moons,
 things may improve
 because I know from personal
proof that

Everyone has challenges in life.
Ups and downs.
Times when things don't flow



 Email Janet@jkeen.net

See how you go
if you decide to use any of these methods
-drop me a line 


              Mirror Exotic Imports Hinemoa Street Rotorua

Parting famous poem of the day for your enjoyment
 

Kindness

             Kindness glides about my house.
Dame Kindness, she is so nice!
The blue and red jewels of her rings smoke
In the windows, the mirrors
Are filling with smiles.

What is so real as the cry of a child?
A rabbit's cry may be wilder
But it has no soul.
Sugar can cure everything, so Kindness says.
Sugar is a necessary fluid,

Its crystals a little poultice.
O kindness, kindness
Sweetly picking up pieces!
My Japanese silks, desperate butterflies,
May be pinned any minute, anesthetized.

And here you come, with a cup of tea
Wreathed in steam.
The blood jet is poetry,
There is no stopping it.
You hand me two children, two roses.  



Sylvia Plath



Parting famous  haiku for you to reflect on and write your own in response to if you feel like it

don't hit the fly-
he prays with his hands
and with his feet

Issa Kobayashi


My response to this is

don't spray the bee-
she makes honey with her hands
and with her feet
 Janet Keen


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