These two are intimately connected. You can’t shine out your deepest self without risking to be hurt. And the tenderest part of yourself is your greatest beauty.
Your vulnerability is your power
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Preparing for exciting things to come
Westacre Day minus 25
Hilde had quite a productive day. Before midday, she squirted expanding foam behind some plaster board to make good the walls next to the new patio doors in the bungalow. Then she caught a train back to Harrow, where she met the people who measured up for new windows. Then she filled another six boxes with stuff, mostly books.
Alex and Roger ended up moving building materials around the bungalow so that the plasterer can start work tomorrow and a delivery of lengths of skirting board can be accommodated.
Listen. The land is speaking its beauty and its need.
Listen. You will hear Nature winding down to its deepest stillness. The whisper of the last falling leaves will carry you down to rest with the Earth. You will be lifted by the song of a lone bird.
Listen. You will also feel the plight of the Ash and the Blue Tit. You will hear the sorrow of many souls weeping.
Listen. What joy do you carry that meets the need of the land?
Kitchen cabinets going in
Alex puts a kitchen cabinet in place
Westacre Day minus 26
As well as some invisible work, like putting insulation into the partition walls, we managed to glue down all of the lino and put kitchen cabinets in place. It’s beginning to look like something at long last.
You can’t rush a friendship
I wouldn’t expect a relationship with a human being to mature and deepen quickly. So why should I want to rush my relationship with the apple trees, the ash and the soil at Westacre? I will be spending my life here. There is enough time to make deep friendships with the spirits of this place. There is time to savour each encounter for what it is, right now, right here.
Important service announcement: there is lino on the floor
Actual lino on the kitchen floor
Westacre Day minus 27
Today, a huge milestone was reached in Roger’s bungalow. We put something in that people will be able to see.
No longer just pipes and partition walls. Today we put down lino. We even stuck some of it down, so that we’ll have an easier time cutting it to size tomorrow.
Look at it. Doesn’t it look nice?
Connection lies at the heart of stillness
Whenever I find stillness, I find my connection to the spirit that lies beneath all reality. Usually I find it in meditation. Today, unexpectedly, I found it while painting a wall.
Revisiting the walls
Westacre Day minus 28
Roger painted the wall in his kitchen, and Alex finished the stud work in the bathroom. This is now ready to box in the pipe work. He also laid marine plywood in the kitchen for the lino to go on.
Hilde slept. She really needed a day of rest. And somewhere in the middle she agreed a price for windows in Harrow.
Down to the bare bones of your life
In this dark time, as the days dwindle and the light dims, take time to sit and listen. The darkness holds deep nurture. It draws you down to the bare bones of your life. In the bedrock of your existence lies inspiration for the new cycle to come, and strength for it go grow.
Bits and bobs – it all needs doing
Westacre Day minus 29
Alex did lots of bits and bobs today. He finished building the wall between the kitchen and the bathroom. He put a nice edging around the doors that hide the pipework in the en suite. He levelled a bulging floor. And he fit legs to some kitchen furniture. There is now furniture in the kitchen, even if it is upside down and not quite in the right place yet.
Hilde got a quote for windows in Harrow. It’s going to make a lot more mess than she’d hoped, but it does need doing. At least they can do it before Christmas.