Monday Mindfulness ~ March 23, 2020
After a bit of a pause, it’s time once again for a fresh dose of Monday Mindfulness. Here’s hoping that this latest installment – featuring a thought for the moment from Richard Carlson, author of Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff as well as Stop Thinking, Start Living – finds you and yours well.
There’s a lot going on around the world right now. I know, I do – I’m stating the obvious. I only mention it because it would be dreadfully easy to dwell on and perhaps even become overwhelmed by all the negative news circulating at the moment, but please try to resist that urge if you can. There are positive stories right now too. Choose, as best you are able, to focus your attention on the good. Choose joy. Choose kindness.
Monday Mindfulness ~ February 17, 2020
Hello, everyone. Thank you as always for pausing here on your journey today. After a bit of a hiatus, Monday Mindfulness is back once again – and I am very grateful that you are back once again too.
Those of you who are UK-based will no doubt have been in some way impacted by – or at the very least know of – last week’s Storm Ciara as well as this week’s Storm Dennis, two powerful weather systems which have been wreaking havoc throughout communities across the country. Here in West Yorkshire’s Calderdale region, an area of steep-sided valleys streaked through with rivers and canals, Storm Ciara brought with her a month’s worth of rain in under 24 hours, with wind gusts reaching upwards of 75mph at times. Hail, sleet, and ‘thundersnow’ (a particularly interesting fixture of our region’s winter weather patterns) abounded as well. Waterlogged local communities such as Sowerby Bridge, Mytholmroyd, and Hebden Bridge were still working towards recovery when Storm Dennis hit this Friday now past, although thankfully the rainfall, while still heavy, was much more intermittent this time around, giving local waterways a chance to recede a bit in between deluges.
This is an area which is accustomed to harsh winter weather and catastrophic flooding, but of course that doesn’t mean it gets any easier for affected individuals and families to weather each subsequent natural disaster emotionally or financially. Fortunately, community authorities and organizations have learned to ‘go with the flow’ so to speak, and whenever disaster does strike folks come together and kindnesses big and small are to be seen all around.
As recent events help highlight, we may not be able to control what does and doesn’t happen to us, but we can always determine how we respond to events. If we go with the flow and bend with the wind, we can remain strong and practice kindness when something less-than-ideal does inevitably happen to us.
With that thought of the moment in mind, I’ll leave you with this relevant quote from martial artist and actor Bruce Lee – along with a wish for you all to have a satisfying week ahead, filled with things that cause you to smile and for which you can be grateful.
Monday Mindfulness ~ January 6, 2020
Hello – and a very warm welcome to you all, whether you’ve been visiting since the early days of this little seedling of a site or this is your very first time stumbling upon it!
As I’m certain anyone who so much as glances at the news will no doubt already know, 2020 has started off with a few troubling developments around the world, the devastating wildfires wreaking havoc across Australia, for instance, as well as the sharp escalation of tensions between US and Iranian politicians. For many, it may be difficult not to be weighed down by events such as these, becoming overwhelmed by feelings of powerlessness to stop such things from happening or to at the very least improve matters.
I urge you to remember that while we may not have control over what happens in the world, you can still choose everyday to be kind. And remember as well that kindness begins with you; if you look after yourself in both body and mind, you’ll not only be doing yourself a great kindness, but you’ll be better able to help others too.
I’ll leave you this week with a quote from Byron Katie, an American author and speaker. Wishing you all a very happy, healthy week ahead!
Monday Mindfulness ~ December 2, 2019
Hello, all – and happy Monday Mindfulness to you.
Today’s thought for the moment comes to us from singer, songwriter, poet, and novelist Leonard Cohen. It’s such a wonderful thought, and one I felt was especially appropriate to share today as I head off to Leeds to begin a Mental Health First Aid training course.
I hope you all have a marvelous day whatever it might hold, wherever you may be. Take care, and be well.
Monday Mindfulness ~ November 11, 2019
Good evening all, and a very happy Monday Mindfulness to you.
Today’s thought for the moment comes to us from Arthur Ashe, professional tennis player and the first African-American man to win the singles title at Wimbledon, the US Open, and Australian Open.
Wherever you may be right now, whatever might be going on in your life at present, remember that you are enough, just as you are, however you might be feeling. You’re a whole microcosm of awesome, and you’ve got this.
Much love, all.
Monday Mindfulness ~ October 21, 2019
Hello, everyone – and happy Monday Mindfulness to you all too.
As these posts have been a bit more irregular than normal as of late, today’s installment is a double feature. Take a look. Hopefully these thoughts will add a touch of inspiration, motivation, and positivity to your day and the week ahead.
As always, thank you so much for pausing here with me for a little while. Wishing you all a lovely, satisfying week!
Monday Mindfulness ~ September 30, 2019
Hello once again, everyone. I hope as ever that this latest installment of Monday Mindfulness finds you well and that your week ahead is a lovely one, filled with contentment and well-being.
Today’s thought of the moment comes to us from Brené Brown, who I’ve previously featured here in another installment of Monday Mindfulness.
Thanks for pausing here on your journey today!
Monday Mindfulness ~ September 16, 2019
Greetings, fellow wanderers and wonderers. It’s Monday, so it’s time for the latest installment of Monday Mindfulness here on Cathedral Grove.
This week’s quote comes from multi-talented, 20th-century Spanish artist Pablo Picasso. Having just finished my first week back at my job after the end of my 6-month sabbatical, this thought struck me as especially relevant. I’m definitely striving towards this work-life balance, as I’m sure many of you are as well in your own ways.
Monday Mindfulness ~ September 9, 2019
Hello, and happy fresh new week to you all.
It’s been quite a few weeks since I last shared a Monday Mindfulness post here on Cathedral Grove. As those of you who have been following my travels will already know, Nick and I have been busy volunteering with a trail maintenance and conservation work team in Iceland’s incredible Þórsmörk and Goðaland region for much of this summer. Living and working largely off-grid for a few months, I’ve not posted more than a few pre-scheduled updates here and there. We’ve been back in the UK now for a week and are more or less settled back into normal life, so I’m eager to return to a much more regular writing, creating, and sharing schedule here on my little seedling of a site!
Inspired by recent experiences – and, let’s be honest, my creeping anxiety about returning to the full-time job I have not much enjoyed for a while now – I want to share with you a particularly lovely Icelandic saying which I hope to make an integral part of my own personal philosophy: ‘Þetta reddast…’
‘Þetta reddast…’ (pronounced thet-ta red-ust) can be translated as ‘It will all work out OK in the end’ or ‘It’s going to be alright.’ There’s a lovely little travel essay on the BBC website which gives a nice introduction to the phrase in context, but here’s a quote from that piece I particularly like:
“Maybe it makes sense, then, that in a place where people were – and still are – so often at the mercy of the weather, the land and the island’s unique geological forces, they’ve learned to give up control, leave things to fate and hope for the best.”
‘Þetta reddast’ is, I think, not about having blind faith though; it’s a great reminder that things will be what they will be, so best not to fight events but rather trust in your own abilities to see them through and emerge from them doing just fine. Remember, if you’re here right now then there isn’t a hardship you have yet to overcome. And whatever your next challenge might be? It will all work out OK in the end too.
Monday Mindfulness ~ July 22, 2019
Greetings once again, everyone! Thanks so much for stopping by.
It’s a fresh, new week, so that means that it’s time for yet another installment of Monday Mindfulness.
This week’s quote is from Jon Kabat-Zinn, who has taught and written about mindfulness and mindfulness-based stress reduction for many years. One of his most well-known books is ‘Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life.’
Monday Mindfulness ~ July 15, 2019
Hello again, everyone!
Here’s hoping that this week’s Monday Mindfulness update finds you well. I should – all things having gone smoothly! – be in Iceland now, just beginning my first week as a volunteer team leader for a trail maintenance team organized under the auspices of the Icelandic Forestry Service. I have scheduled this and a few other posts to pop up in the coming weeks while I’m away. Thanks for understanding why updates have been a bit scarce as of late, as well as for your patience. I hope to be back to a much more regular posting schedule come September.
Today’s quote comes from the Danish author of children’s classics such as ‘The Little Mermaid’ and ‘The Ugly Duckling,’ Hans Christian Andersen.
Monday Mindfulness ~ July 8, 2019
Hello, everyone! It feels like it has been SO long since my last Monday Mindfulness post (…and it has been. This is the first one in a month, I must admit!), but happily it is back once again.
As I’ve mentioned in other posts from time to time, my partner Nick and I have been on a six month sabbatical from our regular work since early March. Those who’ve been following will also know that we’ve been traveling around a bit throughout this time, and that we will continue to be fairly nomadic until early September. Sometimes we have internet access, other times we don’t so much… so naturally it’s disrupted my typical writing, creating, and posting schedule!
Nick and I have just recently returned from Sweden, and soon we are off to Iceland for the final month and a half of our sabbatical. I’ve got a few days now before we go during which I’d like to get a handful of posts up or at least scheduled for that time away, just in case there isn’t much time or connectivity when we’re out and about in remote places during our volunteering stint.
Anyway, without further ado, this week’s thought for the moment comes from A.A. Milne, creator of much-beloved Winnie-the-Pooh and friends. That bear of supposedly little brain sure does have a whole lot of valuable wisdom. I really love this quote.
Until next time, may you all enjoy a very happy, healthy week ahead!
