Yikes! Where has the time gone? Richard’s mom, Julie, arrived on the 19th and then Gordon came a week later so I’ve been busy playing hostess and then we took a holiday to Paris.  I’m excited to blog all about it- but I need to catch up first. 

After I went to Portobello Market I hopped on the train to get home.  As the DLR approached the Cutty Sark station I decided to get off the train and walk home through Greenwich park.  It was so nice.  As I’ve tried to adjust to this lonely time, missing family and friends back home and having trouble breaking through some cultural obstacles to make friends, I came across a really neat quote by Irish poet John O’Donahue.  

“When you cease to fear your solitude, a new creativity awakens in you. Your forgotten or neglected wealth begins to reveal itself. You come home to yourself and learn to rest within. Thoughts are our inner senses. Infused with silence and solitude, they bring out the mystery of inner landscape.”

His words gave me the encouragement I needed to embrace this time as an opportunity to get to know myself.  So now when I’m feeling discouraged or homesick or alone I try to just lean into it and enjoy it.  I think I’ll call it #embracesolitiude.   In any case, it really is a chance for reflection and a chance to count my blessings, acknowledge my treasures and nurture awareness of my wealth.  

My walk through Greenwich Park that day was sort of the beginning of that journey for me.