Acceptance pt 2

So here I am, no make up. My eyebrows actually look like they have a tad of colour. Maybe that's a little pencil residue or maybe they have actually darkened over the years without me even noticing.

We were going to go out last night and I was feeling strange about going out without make up. So I put some on and it didn't feel right...I took it straight off. I think I'm over it. Cary kissed my naked face and told me that I'm beautiful.

There are so many much more important things to be concerned about. It's kind of silly that I had a 'thing' about wearing a little make-up. But it was my attachment to that which no longer felt natural and, as it's a real part of me and my ramblings, the clearing of this attachment is relevant to this blog.

Fact is, I am not getting younger. Having young children helps me feel young. I don't plan on using the term to describe my future as 'growing older'. I'd rather focus on the traits I'd rather see in me such as 'growing in grace and wisdom'. In doing so I will live with more gratitude, more love and connection in my relationships with others and myself, more following of my own goals and continued attention to health in the form of a low fat vegan diet and daily exercise. Maybe all that could be called 'growing up'.


And speaking of growing up, here is the cutest little 3.5 year old, looking very smart in the new shirt he chose from the thrift store:

Acceptance

It seems that when I get really comfortable with something, along comes a new challenge to test that.

So I am here, feeling deeply grateful and joyful of this stage in my life.

Humidity increases, my hair goes frizzy...ok. I look in the mirror and see a face I hardly recognise. My facial hair is very blond so ever since I was a teenager, I have worn a little eyebrow pencil and mascara every single day so that my face looked more ...what? interesting? colourful? normal??

As I get further along the natural path, I just don't want to do that anymore. Even though I used 'natural' make up, it just no longer feels natural to use it at all. Even though it was "only" those two small areas, I feel it is time to stop covering them and take a deeper step to acceptance. One of my eyes has been getting red at times, usually when I'm really tired and have spent too long in front of the computer screen. But I'm sure that 30 years of wearing mascara can't be good.

So I look in the mirror, I see the frizzy hair, the plain face, the extra wrinkles .... who IS this person?

This body is a shell, the house for my spirit. Taking care of this body is something I now aim to do with more gentleness and respect, like taking care of a temple. But the real me, my spirit - that's where the real work is. It's on the inner places, cleaning out the cobwebs in the corners, opening the blinds that prevented the light from streaming in. Getting over so many little conditioning's like what I had attached to a little pencil line on my face. Realising that those kind of things are not what's really important.

Sure, taking care of the outward appearance of my body is good and can reflect my inner state. But not when I get attached to the process, when I don't want to leave the house without making myself up.

I'm not going to make myself up anymore...I no longer want to. It's still a little uncomfortable when I look in the mirror, but I'll get over it pretty quickly. I'll continue to dress in natural, comfortable clothes according to my mood. Many months ago I lost my attachment to wearing jewelry. I never wore a lot, but had several favourite pieces that I wore continually. Piece by piece over a month or so, I took them all off. Earrings, necklace, bangles, rings...all except for a wedding ring. After a period of not wearing any jewelry, I now might wear a little something if I'm in the mood. But I am no longer attached to those things in the way that I was. Not that it's bad at all to do so, I just choose not to. So maybe it will work the same with wearing make-up. Maybe I'll reach a point where I totally accept the appearance of this face and can fully release the conditioned attachment to wearing make-up. When I have let go of that attachment, I may still wear a little if I feel like it.

My goal now is to continue working on those inner cobwebs, the old conditioning's and opening the blinds, so I can see my own truth more deeply and clearly, so that the natural beauty of my spirit is what shines through the outward appearance of my body out into the world.

Do you know the Buddhist / Hindu Deities?

In addition to the sarongs we aquired recently, we also got some huge wall hangings of some different Buddhist Bodhissattvas and Hindu Deities. I've put a couple on ebay over here, but I am not totally sure of who they all are. If you have any ideas, or are interestd in buying one, please leave a comment or email me at rawmum@yahoo.com

The lady we got these from told me that this first one is Kwan Lin / Quan Lin / Guanyin - goddess of mercy, compassion and kindness.


This next one is the Hindu Goddess Saraswati, the divine consort of Lord Brahma, the Creator of the universe. She is the Goddess of knowledge, learning and wisdom. Some also say that she is also the Goddess of music and all creative arts.

? This is quite possibly Avalokitesvara / Chenrezig. A bodhisattva who embodies the compassion of all Buddhas. He is the patron bodhisattva of Tibet. If anyone thinks he may be someone else, please let me know.

I am stumped with this one and cannot figure it out at all. Any suggestions? If you click on the photo it should supersize for a closer look.

These are all at least 115 x 168cm / 45 x 66", most are 115 x 175cm / 45 x 69".

If you are interested in buying one, we do take paypal.

Thanks!

Celebrating life

I am really loving this stage of my life...



...the ages of my children, the close bond we have, being able to talk about a wider range of subjects and do different things;



...the loving bond I have with my man, my best friend, my lover - having the same goal and sharing a similar mindset and loving raising our children in this place at this time;



...no longer having most of the self-conscious, insecure thoughts about my self and my role in life;



...no longer wondering if I'm doing 'enough';



...realising that who I am, the love I radiate is so much more important than the things I do;



...knowing when to step back, when to step up, when to shut up, when to speak up, when to rest and when to move, when to let go...these things I no longer agonise over but rather they flow more naturally as the seasons do.




About 18 years ago I cut out a little quote and stuck it inside my wallet where I would see it often. It said: 'Be bold and courageous - when you look back on your life you'll regret the things you didn't do more than the things you did.' Many of my decisions over the years were made bearing this quote in mind. Even so, I didn't always feel bold and I wasted a lot of time wishing I could do more with my time and energy and talents and I wasted time feeling that I wasn't enough. But now, my definitions have changed and I am bold because I march to my own drum and I live my own truth and I don't have to explain myself to anyone. I have no regrets, every step along my path has been a lesson for me. The joy I feel in living every moment is so fulfilling, I feel so free!

AJ's lookout

AJ has been a little monkey lately climbing up and down the clothesline. He loves just standing on top of it looking out across the garden.

The children and I were walking yesterday morning and we stopped to chat to an older gentleman who was outside doing some yard work. He asked the children how they were enjoying the school holidays and AJ said "we don't go to school - we homeschool". The man was surprised and said "I was too!". He lived on a cattle property about 150 miles from the nearest town and so he did correspondence school up until 4th grade. He stopped school in 1945 when he was 12 to work on the property which he then did for another 8 years before his father, at age 86, decided to retire and sell the property and share some of the money from that to help his children. The man we spoke to bought a big truck which he then drove for 43 years, before he retired. A very interesting character and my children and I were fascinated by his stories.

This morning we all went for a bike ride around the creek and out to the beach again. When we did that several days ago, the tide was up all the way to the top of the beach - the biggest king tides in a decade apparently. This morning we timed our ride when the tide was lower. On the way back, we stopped near the edge of the creek to have a drink break and AJ decided to check the temperature of the water. Within a minute, all the kids were swimming in the water and I was half way wet. Our sub-tropical waters are looking so beautiful and inviting lately, I couldn't stay out. It's our little piece of paradise.

After coming home for breakfast, the kids and I went to the library, got a few groceries and then went home for lunch. Summer spent the afternoon at her friends place playing games while Nicholas napped. I gave AJ a haircut and tended to the garden a bit.

Summer and AJ are interested in starting their own blogs and doing more online so, as we only have internet on one computer, I'm going to cut myself back a bit on the time I spend here. Maybe 5 hours a week maximum. I tend to spend too much time on here reading about all the things I want to do that then I don't end up actually doing many of them. Well, it's time to actually build the solar oven, and do more basic stuff in the kitchen and sort through some of the piles around here (mainly paperwork and articles I've collected or printed off the net and haven't gotten around to reading yet) and work on the specifics that we want on the farm - like the type of buildings. Summer has been building her 'dream home' in the sand when we go to the beach. It looks like a cob house with enormous vege gardens radiating out from it, a waterfall and a two section pond with a dam in the middle. After she'd done this several times, I told her I'd been thinking for a while that when we get our land, she and the boys can each design their own pod and oversee the building of it. We got a pile of books from the library today on different earth-friendly building techniques so we all can start looking into that again.

I'm not going to think about trying to build a web site at the moment, I need to focus on other areas. I just want to spend less time in front of a screen, and more time just living life. So I'll still post on here, check my friends blogs, email, put a few things on ebay, do a little research from time to time and then I'm out. Like right now, time to read another Magic Tree House book with the boys. Ciao!

I am so blessed

After I was thinking aloud on here about domain names and trying to figure out what direction I want to head, it became clear to me that it was getting more complicated than it should be. So I'm simplifying and am going to focus on Free Spirit Life...it's already a part of me and it incorporates everything I love...being a free spirit - we may not be moving around at the moment, but I do feel a great sense of freedom by not being attached to a whole lot of material 'stuff'; the way I / my family thinks outside of the box, we do our own research and live our lives the way that best suits us, not 'the system'; the way we support natural learning in our children, and also in ourselves. To me, being a free spirit also encompasses all of the natural things we do - natural, homemade cleaners and body products, growing our own veges, cutting our own hair, riding our bikes more and using the car less (we are currently using 1/4 tank of petrol per week), using a push lawnmower and as few electrical appliances as possible, being aware of how our choices affect the earth.
And to me, it is also about peacefulness, joy and spirituality.

I do have a grand plan for FSL that has been building in me for 20 years. I would love to own / run a retreat center on a farm that would incorporate all of the above and more - yoga, natural healing, full moon drumming, homeschooling weeks, families welcome, holding classes and creating a community that encourages and empowers all to shine their natural light by being their true selves. Enormous vege garden, fruit trees, herbs, animal, buildings built in harmony with the earth .... one day!

.....

This day so far has been magnificent - I went for a 30 minute power walk this morning pushing Nicholas in the stroller. Came home, stretched, had some fruit and then we all went out for a bike ride for an hour. Around past the creek and past the beach. Oh my golly - the colour of the water was the most beautiful blue-green that is usually seen in the more tropical waters further north. So clear and clean you could easily see the little fish swimming. We stopped for a while near the end of the breakwall with the entrance to the creek on one side of us and the crashing waves and beach on the other side of us. Wonder-full! I did not want to be anywhere else in the world. We all spoke about how much we love it here and how lucky and blessed we feel to be here. We were in no hurry to go home so we kept riding around enjoying the perfect weather and the sights and each other.

It's just been one of those magical days where everything just flows beautifully. We went out to get a few things, (some new garden clippers and a strawberry plant - could not find seeds for that in the past few months), and everything has just been really joyful.

My soul feels so full and contented right now!

sunday pt 2

I don't know why I can't get a line space in between paragraphs in my previous post. This blogger has a mind of its own sometimes.

The rest of our Sunday....I mowed the back lawn in between playing with the kids, getting Nicholas down for a nap, getting the clothes off the line, etc. Had a shower and we went out to our Sunday night Spiritual Gathering group. Did some chanting and chatting and noshing on yummy vegetarian food. On the way home we stopped at the beach, played in the water's edge and danced on the sand under the beautiful full moon, admiring its shimmering trail over the ocean. Came home and gathered on the couch and finished watching 'Around the World in 80 days'. I fell asleep in about 2 seconds after all that. A very happy day.

simply natural..

These photos of our container gardens were taken about 10 days ago. In that time, the tomatoes have grown a lot more and are now growing small fruit. We also have other containers growing with different herbs and carrots. The lettuce we've grown has been delicious - so crisp too. The kids love helping out with our garden. The main reasons we're doing container gardening is so we can take these with us if / when we move; they're easy to move around depending on needs for rain and sunlight; the present garden is already pretty full with other trees and plants. Mostly 'pretty' plants. If we weren't renting, I'd love to pull out a whole lot of those and fill it with fruit and vege plants and plants that attract beneficial bugs.

My morning so far: read a 'Magic Tree House' book with the boys. We've been working our way through the series and are currently up to number 25; did 3 loads of laundry and hung them out on the line; prepared a new broccoli box and, with the kids we planted more lettuce seeds; rearranged our excess food supplies after a big shop yesterday; enjoyed cuddles with Cary and the kids; drank a very large green smoothie (water, baby spinach, 4 bananas, coconut oil, & pineapple); tended to some nasty ant bites on Nicholas' feet using just white vinegar on a cloth (these black/green ants are a problem, anyone know of a natural, humane way to get rid of them?); put away the dishes that were left to drain after last nights delicious dinner of a huge salad and home cooked refried beans. Sure, I did some other things like get Nicholas 4 pieces of jam toast (that boy can eat! He's also had some of Cary's bacon and eggs and a bowl of cereal!), and help AJ work through a major upset he was experiencing in his mind just by being a calm presence for him. AJ so rarely gets upset. Cary was a wonderful calm presence for him as well and was able to make him feel better with some humour.

Right now, I am watching Summer and Nicholas play on a maths program on the computer next to me while AJ is sitting on the bed behind me talking about making a banana smoothie. Outside, I can hear Cary using the push mower on the lawn.

Our life is fairly simple and natural and joyful. For years I've owned several domain names, with the intention of starting web sites for different things. I did build a couple of web sites but by the time I went to launch them, the host no longer accepted that software. I would like to work on a website project but find that I get so into it that I then feel I'm neglecting the family and then I feel like I can't keep up with the project and start wondering what's the point of that anyway? Two names that I've had for years are freespiritlife.com and simplynaturallife.com. I'm feeling more inspired to do something with the snl one, but feel more connected to the fsl one after having this blog. Who am I kidding? I can hardly get a moments peace to finish a blog post let along a web site. But I would like to incorporate more 'simply natural life' info into this blog so that's my compromise for now.

My turn to go and have a workout with the pushmower!

surfin' for peace

A couple of nights of insufficient sleep...days spent being busy with three busy, noisy children....trying to quieten my mind - it used to be so easy, what happened? I think my mind has gotten so used to being surrounded by chatter and interruptions that that's what I get even when I wake up in the middle of the night. Several days ago it all led to a build up of frustration. We all went to the beach with me in a bit of a grey mood despite the brilliant sunshine. As we were walking there, the smells of frangipani's filled the air and I started feeling better.

The ocean was rough - dumping waves and a strong rip. The water was so clean and clear and a perfect temperature. We swam where the lifeguards were and oh boy oh boy was that ever what I needed to clear my head! There is nothing like a good body bash in the waves! What a fantastic workout. We stayed in pretty close to shore, away from the waves breaking after Summer and AJ both got dumped. Ah the power of Mother Nature! Walking through the water, against the rip was a great leg workout. The whole thing was really. The next day when we went to the beach, the ocean was back to being more gentle with easy breaking waves and no rip.

I just love being so close to the ocean! Being in the ocean, and being on the shore looking at the ocean, it's so easy for me to just BE, the chatter slows right down and calm comes to me, even when I'm right in the middle of a breaking wave - that's pure joy to me!

Link to video on how to tie a sarong / pareo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PMkc1XDtKU&feature=related

The add video button is not working at the moment, so please try this link. You Tube has other vids on sarong / pareo tying too. You can fast forward through the first 1:55 of this vid to get to the actual tying info.

more sarongs

Take a look at these unique sarongs...
These are for sale for US$11.95 + $4.95 shipping / AU $13.95 + $3.95 shipping. Sizes are indicated under each photo.

Green tie dye with Sun: 45" x 59" / 115cm x 150cm

Yin Yang: 47" x 60" / 120cm x 152cm

Green embroidered with sequins: 45" x 57" / 115cm x 145cm

white & purple hibiscus: 44" x 67" / 112cm x 179cm

Yellow / orange with swirl: 44" x 65" / 112cm x 165cm

Bright tie dye: 44" x 65" / 112cm x 165cm

If you're interested, send an email to simplynaturallife@gmail.com or leave a comment on here if you know I have your contact details. Thanks!

Sarongs for sale!

Last week we came across a small home-based business that was selling off a bunch of their stock as they were getting ready to have a baby. We purchased some lovely sarongs - beautiful, bright, batik from Bali! The colours are so vibrant, I hope that comes through in these photos. We thought we'd try selling a few and see if it leads anywhere. You lucky blog readers get first choice!

Check out these beautiful sarongs. These are quite large: 45" x 67" / 115cm x 170cm. If you click on the actual photo, you should get a larger picture.

The sarongs are fantastic for skirts, dresses, wall hangings, table cloths, play cloths, shawls, over a chair or couch, on a bed, as a sheet on a hot summer night and...what else can you think of? Perhaps in the middle of the winter, you could turn up the heat, put on a sarong and a bikini top and blast some reggae music to help get over those winter blues by getting in a summer frame of mind for a little while. Could be fun.

We will sell these for US $13.95 + $4.95 postage / AU $19.95 + $3.95 postage.

If you're interested, please email me at simplynaturallife@gmail.com

I'll post more sarongs later today. We also have some huge wall hangings of Buddha and some Hindu Deities, and some beautiful Bali jewelry that I will get on here asap.

Reflecting..

Christmas morning....

About 10 days later....

In the quiet of the early morning, while everyone else slept, I took down our Christmas tree. I felt a tinge of sadness in doing so as our Christmas season together was just lovely. After some initial concerns over the whole season, it took on a delightful energy around us and we enjoyed doing simple, seasonal things together.

We had our Christmas tree on Nicholas' train table in front of a window. With warm, humid days now, we like having all of the windows open to take advantage of the lovely coastal breezes we get here. So, it was time for the tree to come down. If I'd moved it anywhere else, it would have just been in the way. With it staying there, it blocked the breeze.

So now we have a new year. The last one will be remembered fondly for many adventures and much personal growth. I'm excited to step into this next one, already wonderful things have been happening!

May 2009 be a year of many happy moments for you and may you know an abundance of love, peace and joy.