breathofgreenair

Weekly Photo Challenge (Everyday Life)

Posted on September 19, 2012 by greenmackenzie

Everyday life throws a barrage of experiences at us, I can’t stop this, avoid it, or change it. What I can do is chose to meet this infinite wave of life with an open heart. Everyday and every moment of every day I have the choice to stay open and alert, fully aware of what is unfolding around me. Or I can chose to wrap myself up tightly in my existing attitudes and thoughts.

Cultivating an open heart, for me, is about letting go of pre-conceived ideas and certainties. It’s about letting my awareness be driven and fed by curiosity, a sort of childlike wonder of the world and all it contains. Being open in this way is very creative, as it allows new ideas, thoughts and connections to spring naturally and effortlessly into my mind.

So everyday I strive to allow my heart and my mind to stay open to the rich tapestry of life being woven all around me.
I created this heart from shells around me on a beach in Rosshire, Scotland…..and laid them on a sun warmed rock which looked wooden. Everyday objects brought together to create something extraordinary and beautiful.

Posted in mindfulness, photos, weekly photo challenge | Tagged everyday, everyday life, heart, life, love, mindfulness, open hearted, philosophy, photo, postaday, shells | 3 Comments

Weekly Photo Challenge (Everyday Life)

Posted on September 19, 2012 by greenmackenzie

I think this post needs to be on this site of mine too!

Bouncing Beardies

Everyday these two love to get their paws wet, and play catch in the water, either in the sea or in the river. They never get bored with it, and would probably play forever. The excitement they show makes it seem as though every stick or shell is the very first one they have ever tried to catch. It makes me think that dogs are very good at being mindful and living in the moment, and perhaps I could learn a thing or two from them.

Everyday they need to be walked, which means I get walked too, no matter the weather. Its easy in summer and gets harder as we head into winter, but everyday is different, even if we are doing the same walks. I think that’s one of the things I love most about living in Scotland, the weather is constantly changing, and constantly surprising us, and…

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Posted in dogs, green walks, mindfulness, philosophy, spiritual, weekly photo challenge | Tagged dogs, life, mindfulness, nature, photo, postaday, relaxation, walk, walking | Leave a comment

Friendships tricky paths

Posted on September 13, 2012 by greenmackenzie

The path of friendship is often long and rocky, with many twists, turns, ups and downs, but to survive must always be a joint adventure. Both halves must be able to allow the other to grow and change freely and not be caught in fixed patterns of the past, otherwise the friendship becomes a prison.

From within a prison there is little light, little growth or change, only a fixed stuck position. This may only become obvious when external change is forced upon a friendship, and whether it survives will depend on its love, warmth, generosity of spirit and flexibility. In other words its softness, rather than its fierce strength.

For me the ability to survive the often harsh paths of life, has often lain in the soft subtle warmth of others, and many times has come from unexpected sources rather than those I thought I could rely on. But this in itself has often been a gift, a delightful surprise, allowing me to change and my friendships to change with me and my lived experiences.

Rather than focusing on those friendships which end, I find resting my awareness on the whole birth and growth and change more rounded. All beginings are also endings, and all endings are also new beginings….it all depends on where you’re standing.

This is a beautiful old Scottish Celtic Blessing, which speaks of true generosity and warmth, which I have found will carry all of us far in this world:

May the blessing of light be on you – light without and light within.
May the blessed sunlight shine on you like a great peat fire,
so that stranger and friend may come and warm himself at it.
And may light shine out of the two eyes of you,
like a candle set in the window of a house,
bidding the wanderer come in out of the storm.
And may the blessing of the rain be on you,
may it beat upon your Spirit and wash it fair and clean,
and leave there a shining pool where the blue of Heaven shines,
and sometimes a star.
And may the blessing of the earth be on you,
soft under your feet as you pass along the roads,
soft under you as you lie out on it, tired at the end of day;
and may it rest easy over you when, at last, you lie out under it.
May it rest so lightly over you that your soul may be out from under it quickly; up and off and on its way to God.
And now may the Lord bless you, and bless you kindly. Amen.

Posted in Celtic, celtic prayer, friends, mindfulness, nature photo, philosophy, poem, spiritual, stuckness, thoughts | Tagged blessing, Celtic, change, friends, friendship, friendships, Highlands, life, love, mindfulness, nature, photo, poem, poetry, postaday, prayer, relationships, sacred, scotland, scottish, the past, walk | 2 Comments

Weekly Photo Challenge: Near and Far

Posted on September 12, 2012 by greenmackenzie

These photos were taken on one of those atmospheric afternoons, where the sun and the clouds compete for sky, whipped along by a warm late summer wind. I love the way the sand and the sea form converging lines reaching towards the horizon. It always feels as though my sight and my breath is being pulled away into the distance, where layer after layer of rocks, isles and the Kingdom of Fife race to meet layer after layer of cloud, all fading into pale blue.

The beaches here really do seem to streach forever into an infinite horizon, helped along by the curves of the coast, and the ever shifting tideline.

Posted in mindfulness, photos, spiritual, weekly photo challenge | Tagged beach, change, clouds, East Lothian, Edinburgh, light, mindfulness, nature, photo, postaday, relaxation, scotland, scottish, Yellowcraigs | 6 Comments

Thistle Release – perfect timing

Posted on September 3, 2012 by greenmackenzie

Yesterday we walked a remote hill in the Scottish Borders, passing Neolithic Copper mines, and a 2,000 year old broch, as we followed the course of an ancient dark river. This field of thistles was lit by the low early evening sunlight as we retraced our footsteps back to the car. On the outward leg of our walk the sun had been high in the sky and the thistle field had just looked a little ragged, not worth a second glance, but now the early evening light bloomed through the soft white seed heads, creating an eye catching spectacle.

As it was the end of a long day, I only had a little battery power left in my camera, and as I took the last shot I could, a little breeze picked up, and the air filled with a million air bourne seeds. They danced like blossom up in to the clear blue sky, swirling in clouds, higher and higher, and I had no chance for a photo. I stood gazing heavenward almost as though I too could be swept up into the sky, as light as a feather, and my spirit soared with the tiny soft seeds. The energy of change swirled in waves around me, as the plants trustingly released their hope of growth next year, into the air. Every tiny seed might in turn release its own thousand seeds.

I became acutely aware of the turning season, just in that moment, as if even a few hours earlier there had been nothing happening in this field of thistles at all, and now it was the epicentre of change and release on earth. Everything has its time, and its season, and I just happened to be lucky enough to be present at the point of release for this particular field of thistles. Had we dallied longer at the broch we would have missed it, had we kept walking instead of resting with our toes in the river, we also would have missed the show, but we didn’t……and it all came together in that perfect moment.

To every thing there is a season,
and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
a time to get, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
a time to rend, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time of war, and a time of peace.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

Posted in green walks, mindfulness, nature photo, philosophy, photos, relaxation, spiritual, verse | Tagged change, life, light, mindfulness, nature, photo, photography, plants, poem, poetry, relaxation, release, scotland, scottish, seasons, seeds, sunlight, thistle field, thistles, verse, walk, walking | 4 Comments

Weekly Photo Challenge(Free Spirit)

Posted on September 1, 2012 by greenmackenzie

I took these photos while climbing the Quiraing,on the Isle of Skye this June. All mountains lift my spirit and infuse me with a sense of freedom. Its as though walking up into the clouds peels away layers of tightness I hadn’t even noticed gathering within me. I feel closer to something spiritual, and there is a timelessness, where the earth meets the sky.

This particular mountain area has a spiritual vibe deeper than almost anywhere else I have visited. Every visit fills me with awe, and as the clouds swirl in shifting patterns around the strange and jagged rocks, and the views open up across the sea, I breathe out and let my spirit run free.

All my worldly worries have been abandoned on the lower slopes, and every step along the stoney path carries me further away from them. I am left free to soak up the space and vision offered on these high peaks, and to renew my creative free spirit, watched by the sentinals of stone which have towered here for millenia.

Posted in green walks, mindfulness, photos, spiritual, weekly photo challenge | Tagged free spirit, Highlands, Isle of Skye, jagged rocks, mindfulness, mountain, nature, outdoors, photo, postaday, Quiraing, relaxation, Rosshire, scotland, scottish, Skye, travel, walk, walking | 7 Comments

Blue Moon Bliss

Posted on August 31, 2012 by greenmackenzie

Blue Moon in August

It was a blue moon last night and standing in the middle of the grass in the back garden, I was mesmerised by the light of Augusts second full moon, seeping through the drifting clouds of night. Between the clouds were patches of star stitched sky, pools of indigo ink glittering with points of shimmering light. The air was warm and still, and I was held with time suspended as though in a spell, by the ocean of night spread out above, while my toes curled into the soft damp carpet of grass beneath.They anchored me firmly to the earth while it spun through the wild unknown expanses of space beyond.

The photo does no justice to the beauty I stood under, as I have yet to work out how to take a good photo of the night sky 🙂 It is such a feeling of freedom for me when I gaze up into the stars, and the infinite fathoms of space which tumble away into the distace universe. It gives me a sense of my place, balanced somewhat precariously on the edge of a spinning planet, and of my significance, somewhere close to insignificant in this grand scheme.

Allowing an acceptance of my own insignificance is a surprisingly joyful revelation. It releases me from the sense of duty and purpose, which were placed heavily on my tiny childhood shoulders, long ago. If I am this small, perhaps its alright just to be for a little while, and to let the world take care of itself. Perhaps it will keep spinning without my constant attentions and worries.

And amazingly that is precisely what happens, life rolls on along with our planet, even when I let go. I can breathe out and release myself into this sea of stars, and be bathed in moonbeams….and even if it is only once in a blue moon, its a start at least:-)

We are lucky in Scotland as we are home to some of the darkest skies in Europe, which means we can see many more stars in the sky. There is even a Dark Sky Park about an hour from my home, which I hope to visit soon, perhaps in October when the Orionids meteor shower is in flow. This poem is by one of my favorite poets…..

Moon and Water

I wake and spend

the last hours

of darkness

with no one

but the moon.

She listens

to my complaints

like the good

companion she is

and comforts me surely

with her light.

But she, like everyone,

has her own life.

So finally I understand

that she has turned away,

is no longer listening.

She wants me

to refold myself

into my own life.

And, bending close,

as we all dream of doing,

she rows with her white arms

through the dark water

which she adores

By Mary Oliver

Posted in mindfulness, nature photo, philosophy, poem, relaxation, thoughts | Tagged blue moon, clouds, garden, life, light, Mary Oliver, mindfulness, moon, moonlight, nature, night, night sky, photo, poem, poetry, postaday, relaxation, stars | 2 Comments

Deep Peace

Posted on August 30, 2012 by greenmackenzie

I walked today along the beach, listening to the long gentle waves washing through the sand. There was a feeling of peace filling the whole place, with just a whisper of a breeze caressing the air. The school have all gone back, and so there were no frolicking children on the sand or in the waves as there have been for the past few months, and I had the whole place to myself for most of my walk.

As I walked in this liminal space I let the waves soft rythmn soothe my mind and my body, and a deep sense of peace flowed through me. I let go, for a little while, the need to be striving towards something, releasing the drive to acheive which has been so well trained into me. With this release a calm space grew within me as I walked the oceans edge, and I streatched myself into this growing space. I allowed myself to just be, and to be open to this peacfulness around me.

Ineveitably my thinking mind eventually kicked back in, and I found my thoughts drifting to the many Celtic monks who have walked these shores before me. There is an abundant scattering of caves and fresh water spring all along this coastline named after the monks who used them. This was a place of retreat, a place of quite contemplation where they could connect with what was important and release the rest. This was their equivalent of the desert retreats used in the Bible, a space away from the mundane pressures of everyday life where the spititual voice is strong.

I looked back at the footprints I had left on the sand, and felt a connection to the thousands of feet that have left their impressions here, and inevitably been washed away by the rising tide. Fated to gently fade like so many of the marks we make on life, apart from the impressions we make on the hearts of others. These seem like the only ones worth striving for, the only ones which matter in the end, the ones for which we will be remembered.

It feels easy here on the beach to be filled with peace, both within and without, but I cant stay here forever, I’m not a Celtic monk. What I can chose to do is to carry this pocket of peace within my heart and allow it to infuse the rest of my day, my life….amidst all its busy pressures and demands.

This poem hung on my Highland Grannys kitchen wall, and I read it often as a child. I found myself whispering it gently as I walked this place of peace.

A Celtic Prayer

Deep peace of the running waves to you.

Deep peace of the flowing air to you.

Deep peace of the quiet earth to you.

Deep peace of the shining stars to you.

Deep peace of the Son of Peace to you.

Deep Peace.

Deep Peace.

Posted in Celtic, celtic prayer, green walks, mindfulness, nature photo, photos, poem, relaxation | Tagged beach, calm space, celtic monks, DPchallenge, Edinburgh, gentle waves, life, mindfulness, nature, photo, poem, poetry, postaday, relaxation, scotland, spititual, the past, vacation, walk | 8 Comments

Going postal

Posted on August 29, 2012 by greenmackenzie

I was looking at a post box yesterday, when I suddenly got thinking about what a miracle the post must have been when it first started. I mean before the days of the Royal Mail and the Penny Post, getting a message to somebody who was far distant would have been challenging to say the least.

You could get on a horse, or a carriage and travel personally to speak the message, but that would be pretty time consuming, especially if they lived in a far flung corner of the empire. If you had lots of servants I suppose one could have been dispatched with a hand written letter, sealed with wax of course to preserve privacy! Otherwise you would be at the mercy of hoping that somebody who might be going somewhere near where you wanted your message to go, would just happen to visit you. All a bit haphazard and random to say the least.

It has me thinking that ideas and thoughts existed in small isolated bubbles, in local groups of friends who would meet up physicaly to talk and share. Often in a pub I suspect, and usually all male! How amazingly liberating it must have been to be able to walk to the corner and pop a letter, filled with who knows what, into the post box, secure in the knowledge it would reach its recipient not matter where they were.

It must have revolutionised thinking and the growth of ideas! Releasing ideas from the cages of individual minds. Setting ideas free to fly through the brains of others, to be enhanced, embraced or rejected.

Now a new and even more explosive revolution has been released across the globe…electronic communication….and countries where no reliable postal service was ever developed ( there are some surprising members of this group…Dubai for starters) can still join in and catch up and contribute to globally shared ideas and thoughts. Amazing really, and it has all happened in the blink of an eye 🙂

Ideas are always supposed to be free, and the world wide web has been our biggest leap forward in ths area. Yes it means other more traditional routes for thinking and ideas might be challenged……just think of the academic ideas which we can all research now if we care to, no longer held bound up in university libraries….difficult to obtain and needing returned speedily…….now mostly available electronically. How much easier this made my recent studies! Even the Postal Service itself is now under threat here in Britain, with private courriers taking most of the lucrative business, as hardly anyone sends personal letters anymore. I do miss letters, the excitement of opening them up, the tangible feel of them in my hands, and the physical link with another.

Progress always involves change, and change always involves some loss before the new growth! So perhaps I shouldn’t be so sad about the loss of letters, but instead focus on my love of the Internet and the freedom it brings to the movement of ideas 🙂

The Letter

Messenger of Sympathy and Love
Servant of Parted Friends
Consoler of the Lonely
Bond of the Scattered Family
Enlarger of the Common Life
Carrier of News and Knowledge
Instrument of Trade and Industry
Promoter of Mutual Acquaintance
Of Peace and of Goodwill Among Men and Nations

verse by T.S.Elliot

Posted in history, mindfulness, philosophy, poem, thoughts | Tagged change, freedom, ideas, letters, life, past, penny post, poem, poetry, post, post box, postaday, postal service, royal mail, the past, thoughts, world wide web | Leave a comment

Weekly photo challenge (Urban)

Posted on August 27, 2012 by greenmackenzie

I took these shots wandering around central Edinburgh this Monday morning…following what would have been a typically lively night at the Festival last night. It was no surprise to find drink featuring in some 🙂