The Invisible Branch

We are born into family, our first attachments here on earth.  We branch out from there into different groups, making friends along the way.  These people we meet, the ones that touch our hearts become our family too.  There is not far we can travel on this earth or beyond where those special relationships do not continue, an invisible branch that holds us with love always.

~ Liza 

img_3791

lizalizaskysaregrey©2016

Nature Lessons 102

Not everything in life is grand, not everything that is of value needs to cost a fortune.  A beautiful life is made up of small moments, precious moments, like those spent with friends and family. These are the treasures to hold onto, the treasures that will last a lifetime.

~ Liza

img_3434

lizalizaskysaregrey©2016

 

Seeds of Life

 

 

When you look into the mirror do you see your family staring back, do you utter the words they once said, have the same tastes, interests and suffer similar ailments?  It is only nature reflected back at us in that mirror to our connection with past generations.  Take the  seeds that go to make the face of the sunflower that when planted grow into beautiful strong sunflowers.  We are as nature intended and grow from the seeds of past generations.  

~ Liza

img_1599
Not quite a sunflower 🙂

lizalizaskysaregrey©2016

This Love

IMG_0763

Her reverence adorns him, 

like a cloak of golden thread.

Gentle kisses sprinkled, 

from a place above his head.

Her love will never falter, 

it will always hold him high.

She’ll always walk beside him, 

even after their goodbye.

Her heart will always hold him, 

in a very special place.

You will always see her beauty, 

when looking upon his face.

A love story that continues, 

even after all is done.

A love so truly  special, 

between a mother and a son.

Strength

img_2491

I’m thinking about strength today and what it means.  I have been thinking about my mum, her mum and also myself in a way.  I come from a line of strong women, strong because they had to be and because they had the strength of character to carry on despite the knocks along the way.  I’m thinking about them a lot at the moment as it’s nearly the second anniversary of my mums death.

So what is strength.  I don’t think a strong person is one that is able to express themselves loudly, use power over another, overcome those that are weaker or get themselves noticed because of their presence.  Strength can be found in silence, like in those that keep their own council without the need to rant and rave about life.  Those that are sure of their own strength do not have to demonstrate it outwardly, secure in the knowledge that it is there and available in times of need.

Both my mother and grandmother had a quietness about them that could never be misinterpreted for weakness.  Both loved their family fiercely, but did not need to demonstrate this in any other way apart from in the love they showed.  Both women made great sacrifices for their children who recognised the strength of their love, knowing they would willingly go to the ends of the earth and back if it was demanded.

Real strength is comes from within, when one has the ability to draw on their own power and strength to face life.  It comes from the soul, a soul that has become strong and knowledgable, a soul that understands.  A soul that has learnt that it is not necessary to assert power over others in order to be powerful, a soul that understands the only strength you need is the strength to move forward in life with kindness and love.  We become strong through our own spiritual growth, through the lessons we learn as we move through our lives.

The last few years of my mothers life she was in constant pain, I don’t want to go into the in’s and out’s of the illness but my admiration for her is incredible.   She never complained of her pain, she continued to give out the same love, care and concern as she always had and suffered mainly in silence.  Mum had the biggest soul and a strength that was out of this world, despite her own pain her main concern was for those she loved.  I am not sure if I would be strong enough given the same circumstance and I hope and pray that I am not ever tested.

So here’s to strength today, to all the strong women out there, strong men and those that are needing to draw on their strength at the moment.  May you have all the strength you need to succeed and may you learn from your journey.

 

 

Friendship

img_1159

None of us can get through this life alone, we are not made that way.  We are born into a family group and from there we spread out into the world and join other groups.  We make friends along the way, special people we want to be with, that give us something and get something back from us.  Real friendship is a blessing, these people we love as we love our family, for some who have experienced difficult upbringings these are the only family they may ever have.

So what is a friend.  To me a friend is someone who understands us and likes what they see, friends look beyond the outer shell and understand the soul of us.  Our friends champion us, they will us on and help us get there.  There is no jealously or competition in friendship, we want and wish for our friends to be happy.

I’m not like all my friends, we don’t have to think the same or say the same we just have to love each other.  My oldest friend I met at 4, I knocked on her door and asked if she wanted to come to my party.  I was new on the estate, mum had just divorced and we had moved back to London where she could work in the city.  I told her ‘it won’t be a very big party because I haven’t got a daddy’.  Well she came and we have been great friends ever since.  We rarely see each other, a couple of times a year and apart from the odd email and text we are not in contact a lot but we love each other dearly.  When my mother died she was the first person I phoned, she loved my mum very much too.  She was a rock through those dark days, along with other friends and I don’t know how my sister and I would have got through without them.

I’m not really like any of my friends, we are all different and that’s good.  One friend I met through work, we worked in a children’s home where violence and aggression were a daily occurrence.  We understood the children were traumatised and their behaviour was just a communication of their emotions and early life experiences but it didn’t stop us getting hurt on occasion.  I knew this girl was always behind me, she always had my back and me hers, so it was only natural we would become good friends.  We have been friends ever since and we continue to support and have each others backs.  Funny we are nothing alike, we like different music, choose different places to go and have different interests but experience holds us together.

I have a friend who always leaves flowers on my kitchen table for me to return to when I have been away, she has recently started a blog on here and knows who she is and that I love her dearly.

I haven’t mentioned family, those very special and wonderful friends, because they deserve a special post just for them, but my son and sister are my best friends and I still talk to my mum daily and know she listens.

Friendships can be transient, people come into our lives for the time we need them, they complete the task and move on, it might be we were supposed to do something for them.  I think friends are probably planned before we come here, some of these people we have known before in other lifetimes, that’s why we recognise them.

I am so blessed with the friends I have, those that have been and those yet to come.

 

Nature Lessons 34

If you are blessed with good family and friends, no matter how far away they are or how often you get to speak, treasure them.  These are the people who carry you through life and make the more difficult times easier to bare.  Life passes in an instant, let those you love know you are grateful for their love and friendship.

~ Liza

img_2649