Tea! I love it, but don’t love caffeine and managed to kick caffeine out of my diet in 2018. I still love tea, my favourite drinks being Turmeric tea or Rooibos.
I start each day with a cup of rooibos in my fairy godmother mug that was gifted by my Goddaughter Alice. I’m a Godmother to 3 people all of who are adults now.
As I am in writing mode I set myself a challenge to think of 9 different Fairy God Mothers, each one would drink from one of these mugs.
1. She never forgets any event in your life. Always there ready to give a helping hand.
2. She collects Godchildren like the child catcher in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
3. She longs to be a Fairy Godmother, has the presents, the speeches, the tokens of love but is locked in a house and cannot get out.
4. She thinks Godchildren should be seen and not heard and preferably not seen.
5. She loved being a Fairy Godmother but is out of wishes right now.
6. She was not asked to be a Fairy Godmother and is trying really hard not to mess up the christening.
7. She has 12,458 Godchildren. As an ant Fairy Godmother, her work is never done.
8. She is a ghostly Fairy Godmother. Occasionally she gets to help in the liminal space between sleeping and waking.
9. She has just been voted the top 1 out of 100 Fairy Godmothers and is prepping her costume with new gossamer wings for the award ceremony.
It is quite amazing what I can write whilst I nurse a cup of tea.
As I walked, I had to step around the bodies. Standing still, faces bathed in a golden glow. Cameras out pointing to the sky. I glanced up, the clouds high, puffy and white against a deep blue sky. That blue sky that I love so much accompanied me on my journey.
I walked on a little further, crossing the busy junction continuing to dodge the statue bodies all looking up. Men, women, teenagers, workers and shoppers on one of the busiest junctions in London at Oxford Street yesterday the 6th October late afternoon.
As I crossed the road I stopped in the middle and turned and looked to my right.
I too was then transfixed by the wonder in the sky. My fellow humans had been sending me messages that I for a short time had ignored. ‘Sam, stop, pause and lookup.’
They were drawn to the energy from the evening sun as it lit like a beacon, low in the sky. We were all taking part in a collective moment of awe and wonder. The sunlight lit the busyness of the street, bouncing off the tops of buses and the bonnets of the cars and taxis. Each person knew that this was something special.
As I took in the view, felt the sun on my face, I too pulled out my camera to capture the glory of that moment. Then put away my phone and stood #savouring the moment.
Drinking it in, I could feel the sunshine warming my bones, topping up my energy. I had a moment when I wanted to talk to someone near me, but not wanting to break into the reverie they were experiencing, I stood still and shared the joy that they were feeling. There was a palpable sense of joy all around me.
As I crossed over and continued on my way, there was a lightness in my step and a smile on my face and the faces of others who had savoured the beauty that evening.
This moment fitted so beautifully into my week as on Tuesday I had led my late summer/early autumn masterclass which was all about savouring. The power of savouring that I experienced yesterday was pretty special.
So join me and use this hashtag and share moments of #savouring this autumn. I would love to share those moments with you.
I am interested in finding out how you are savouring life right now.
I joined a wonderful Kitchen table creative writing group last week. We had 3 prompts and had to write to a time limit of about 12 minutes.
This first piece was prompted by a recording of a leaf blower. I enjoyed writing this. I promise I am not a noisy neighbour!
“ Pete, this is it! You have used that leaf blower so many times this week. There cannot possibly be any leaves left in your garden to blow!
What is it with the blower, can’t you use a rake or a brush?
Yesterday, my book club friends came around and we had just fired up the BBQ and you started.
The day before we were all trying to enjoy the paddling pool and the waterslide and you started.
Sunday, when we were having a late night drinks party to watch the perseid meteor shower you started.
What exactly is going on?” screamed Sam over the hedge.
“Don’t stop there Sam, what about Saturday, when you had a mini sports day in your garden to celebrate the Olympics?
Or Friday when your teens had their very own rave till 3a.m.
Or maybe last Monday when your whole extended family came out to celebrate ‘freedom day’. There’s plenty more I could go on.” retorted Pete.
“What the heck”, Sam replied. “Are you trying to tell me that I make too much noise, that I’m the one who is at fault? That my social engagements are too much for you?” shouted Sam who had turned a lovely shade of puce.
“Yes, they are,” replied Pete.
“Too much
Too loud
Too often
And just too bloody noisy!”
That was it, Sam turned on her heel and stomped indoors. Her blood boiled just a little bit more as Pete switched on his leaf blower.
12 minutes, written on the prompt of anger and to the noise of a leaf blower.
I like the practice of writing non stop for a period of time. It allows my brain and body to get into sync and let the ideas flow.
This piece was written whilst I sat in the National Portrait Gallery in February 2017. I pulled this one out as I remember the day very well. It was cold out but warm inside. The art attendants were almost snoozing in the heat of the building. There a few people in the gallery, out of tourist season (when there was a tourist season) a couple trailed around giving a cursory glance at the paintings. I sat quietly, put pen to paper and let the thoughts flow onto the paper.
Here’s my wandering thoughts captured in time that day ending with a short poem.
Dark, grim, determined and resolute. Sure of what they know, what they do and what they have done.
Averted eyes, cast down make me think that they are scared to look the artist squarely in the eye as they are afraid that the artist will see into their deepest desires.
Was this the fashion of the time to avert our gaze? Is looking straight forward a challenge, a risk too far? By looking ahead you could be caught off guard, hit from behind by a glancing blow, a push or a shove.
This is how it feels now in this world. The feeling around makes you want to hunker down, hid away from the darkness which is rising in the west and is setting in the east. By looking down away from the challenges you do not see what changes you can make?
Who are these people before me/ The political thinkers of their time quickly forgotten except for the oil paintings which hang in this gallery for all to see.
Aahh, now I read the labels and see that they are not politicians but poets and philosophers.
Algernon Charles Swinbourne 1837 – 1909 Friend of rossetti and poet, a young man in the portrait with red curls and a piercing stare into the future, holding his head up and looking out. As a poet who wants to see the world and be ahead of the game.
John Stuart Mill – Philosopher 1817 – 1904 Looking down, an old man with thinning hair. His eyes almost black and downward looking. His mouth in a set determined line.
What did he think about when he died? What were the first thoughts that came to his head? When did he realise that the world was a bigger place than his family? did he just sit and think, learn and read or did he work in another way to earn his keep? What seasons did he prefer and why? Did he ever learn to swim. What would he make of the world today? Would he want to follow another path? Who knows, there are no right answers for time has taken both poet and philosopher to a different place. Poet and Philosopher together placed near but not near in thoughts and ideas, wealth and power, age, youth and fitness of thoughts, deeds and works.
My first published poem on the online platform Words for the Wild
I have very clear memories of writing this poem. I was sitting in the classroom we used for our writing group. I could hear the pens of the other writers in the room as they scribbled their own poems and prose around the theme of trees.
I took my mind to a set of oaks that had captured my heart the first time I set my eyes on them. Standing tall in the grounds of the school where I was the Headteacher. These trees were a huge part of the reason why I wanted to work in the school. At least 250 years old, they towered over the playgrounds and the field surrounding the school. I loved them, the children loved them, the staff loved them.
When a child would have a tricky time, they would often escape to the field. The oaks would always provide a natural distraction from that heightened emotion and help them self-regulate to a safer space. Trees are pretty amazing.
I wrote this in a short burst in my writing group time in 2018. Now as I train to be a somatic coach, I recognise the beginnings of focusing and looking inwards. In the chapter – Writing as a practice, Goldberg talks about the need to practice whether you want to or not.
I’m taking this to heart and have built in a half an hour each day to write.
Only writing is writing.
Skandinavisk candle – Koto An old Finnish word for ‘home’.
Mind over matter
So many parts of me, all connected by sinew, tendon, cartilage, nerves and more. I ignore my body until it starts to hurt when it puts on the brakes and calls me out. Stop, stop, stop – a pounding migraine in my head, the throbbing pain in my neck and the sharp stabbing pain in my knee. Up until the pain arrives, I feel like I am invincible, bounding through time and space. Moving this way and that, tramping footpath, field and verge. I am oblivious to the stresses and strains I place on the tendons, nerves, cartilage and more.
As the red lights flash, I know the time has come to stop, take stock and be aware of the parts of me which make me whole. To get back to green, I use my mind.
It is a quiet pause in the day to slow down my breath, and be aware of everything around me – a chance to still my thoughts and focus on the senses which help navigate the days and nights.
My sight moves into the foreground, focussing on my palms, noticing the lines on the creases in my fingers, the curve of my nail and the joints in my hands.
My ears tune out the immediate sounds all around, hearing once again in the distance the blackbird on the fence as he calls to his mate, urging her to take care.
The smell of the washing as it hangs on the landing mingles with the fragrance of shower gel and deodorant … the morning smells of get up and go. And the taste of toothpaste in my mouth; the minty freshness which I inhale as I breathe deeply.
And my sixth sense suddenly switches on. I am aware of the energy surrounding me and in me which is all powerful and awe-inspiring.
As my body stills and quietens, I begin to listen to the shouts and calls from within. The knots in my shoulder begin to unwind as each breath loosens the tendons, relaxing the clenched muscles which in turn take oxygen to my furrowed brow.
I straighten and lengthen my calf, allowing my knee to relax and slip back into a more comfortable easy state. The release of pain cheers my brain and my breath quickens. As I bring myself back into the here and now, I use the sinew, tendon, cartilage, nerves and more and take a step forward into the day.
I added this photo to my insta page today and thought that it also needed to be here.
To remind me just to get on and write.
To write because I enjoy it and to stop worrying about what other people think or like.
One of the challenges of writing for me is letting go of the editing pen. I have to consciously make myself leave it in the box. Sometimes I have to wrestle it out of my hand.
Joining a writing class has helped me lose the editing pen. In timed conditions I can let my mind go and just write.
Now, I am trying to get this as a daily practise and scribbling down half formed ideas that can be fleshed out into fully formed poems or prose at a later stage.
Earlier this week, I started a story that had been rumbling about in my head for months. It will be worked on over the next few months and as the ideas come, I’m just going to get them down.
Today, I’m putting aside an afternoon to write and if the weather is nice, I’m off to a cafe to drink tea, eat cannoli’s and write.
After a long hiatus, I have decided to bring back the blog.
The image I chose to restart my blog made me smile. Fear really holds back my writing, but I’m letting go of fear now.
Over the years, I have written more and more and want to share it with the world.
My plan is to share some of the ways in which I try to find the best routine for writing. I might share some of my work, I might share some of my drafts.
Over the past 6 years, I have periodically joined a writing group where the sole purpose is to put pen to paper and write.
I have really enjoyed the way of writing, it helps me be less critical of my stories and poems. Some of these I have entered into competitions. I have had two poems published which I will share with you in later weeks.
So for any of you who might not know me, who am I and why do I write?
My name is Samantha Jayasuriya and as the blog title says, I truly love my home. It is where my heart lies. But from my desk just like my role models in my life, I can travel the world.
We all do this when we pick up a book and open the cover. A writer can do this too when they pick up a pen. I may not have been in the places that I write about but I can use my imagination.
I have used the work of Natalie Goldberg to kick start my writing when I get stuck for ideas. Her wonderful book http://Writing down the bone makes me smile each time I read it and give me hope for a new idea.
In her preface, she says
“Trust in what you love, continue to do it, and it will take you where you need to go.”
No place like home 