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Dec 22
in Earth and Sea, Uncategorized

Today I’m going to be my own very best friend !

I scheduled today off… just for me.

The past few months have been crazy…. actually the whole year has been HUGE… and I needed to take time to just be with ME!

I hopped up early and attended to a few things and I was sharing via email what I was going to do for the day…. and I just wrote that …” I am taking today off… to just go into the forest and take some photographs… find a stream somewhere and have a swim.. and just connect with the earth and myself. Time for regeneration.. rejuvenation and connection with myself. I am going to nurture myself by being loving and kind to myself… ..and laugh with myself and just love myself for who I am and enjoy my own company…Today I am going to be my own very best friend. :-)”

…and I WAS !

It was the summer solstice – and for me a day for connection… so I decided to head to the forest and bush! I drove to a nearby State forest and walked; sat; cried; laughed at my own jokes LOL… meditated quietly and found a wonderful sense of Peace.

I held my camera in my hand and listened to what I saw. I felt the sounds of the bush. Eucalyptus oils wafted as the engine warmth and tyres released the fragrance of the bush. I reconnected with myself. It was wonderful.

My first pleasure and comfort was slipping on my walking boots, which seemed to have been abandoned in the past few months.

 

 

 

I then hoped for a splash in a stream… but alas… no water in the streams… only dry creek beds… so my desire for a splash didn’t eventuate.. Oh well.

The resonance of the sounds of the bush truly moved me… my cells tingles and buzzed with the vibration of the bellbirds; king parrots… birds in general (LOL) and CICADAS!!! OMGosh!!!… Have a listen to the sound which recorded here is only a fraction of what it was like to experience! Video quality is abysmal ..and thumbnail sideways.. LOL.. but just have a listen to something of what it was like to stand in the bush with these insects just going ‘off’!!!! AMAZING!!!

 

My new best friend and I were having a wonderful day. We both pleased ourselves what to do… LOL.. no problems…no issues… no complications… just hung out together – experiencing the sounds; the smells; the sensations of being in the forest.

Another pleasure and comfort was to stand quite close beside a yellow tailed black cockatoo… one of my two most favourite birds…. Have a listen to his quite mournful cry. Two videos here.. one as I was walking and I heard the mournful cry… and then when I came close to where it was sitting on the branch quite low down.
Yellow tailed black cockatoos – mournful cry

resonance of cicadas
The honey scent of blossom oozed in the humid hot day.  

The forest was varied and as the soil  and micro-climates of the different sides of the slopes changed…so did the species of trees and types of forest and bushland.

The roads were very quiet.. actually I didn’t see another car all day on the dirt roads. My new ‘bestie’ wished she was in the Cruiser though… but I hadn’t communicated clearly to Max that I wanted it  – so it was booked in to have a windscreen replacement… so although my car is perfectly adequate, some of the spots were a bit tricky.. and I didn’t take pics of the ‘hairy bits’ because i was busy with two hands on the wheel!

Throughout the day I found spots to put out my picnic rug and just meditate and absorb the sounds of the bush. I found a sense of clarity and was really happy. I recognised a real strength within me that I saw in so much of the forest. Strong tree trunks… tall… enduring… powerful… sustaining… protecting… providing – characteristics of myself which others also see, which means that I am often overlooked as ever needing any support.

 

 

 

 

 

I saw the remnant stump of a HUGE old tree which was felled some time ago. I reflected on the sense of time..age… and how ignorance caused the death of something so magnificent. It came to me that I just recognised how important it is to ACT and have action on something when one is ignorant no longer and has awareness of something…. otherwise the consequence is that so much is lost.

 

Thunder was rumbling all around and the sky became dark. I decided to take the ‘adventurous’ track home.. 76 km which ended up taking me nearly 5 hours!  (a few stops on the way though) LOL. It was narrow, bumpy and my new best friend was excited but also had a few OMGosh waves as it started to rain and there was no phone range… and I forgot to tell Max which forest I was actually in ! It was so much fun though! Driving through the rainforest I saw this sign… I didn’t stop and it is hard to read…but is says… “Impassable Road – when WET”….  OOPS!  No way were we turning around!

The sky to the west was filled with black storm clouds.. and the rumbles of thunder spoke to me gently to carefully get out of the rainforest otherwise I may get bogged and then I would have to work out what to do! LOL. Thank goodness that didn’t happen and after 5hours of doing about 20km an hour, with a few stops along the most wonderful track we came out to Bellthorpe to a bitumen road.

I had a wonderful day of connection – with my new best friend. Think I might have her hang out with me all the time!

 

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About the Author: Julie
I am a Journeywoman. I live my life as an explorer. An adventurer. An Observer. An Artist. There is no differentiation between how I live my life and the art that is an expression of it. It is through my experience adventuring the unknown, that I learn more about myself. My aim through this connection is to live where my expression is fully in alignment with the essence of who I am. “In the field of Fine-Art Photography, Julie stands apart from others with the way she sees the world and expresses her connection within it. Julie Stephenson’s photographs are sublime. Her work is an expression of her deep connection; and a gift to the world.”

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skeinydipping

I looked down and saw my hands. Hands which have t I looked down and saw my hands. Hands which have touched; have loved; have created; have worked; have nurtured. My hands.   

I looked down and saw on my wrist and fingers items from around the world which have so many stories; items which have all been created from the heart and made by the hands of others. 

I looked down and saw beautiful yarn. Yarn which has been handled carefully through shearing, dyeing, skeining, balling; and now being knit in my beautiful hands. 

My hands are one of my gifts. This year I’ve really missed the touch of another with my hands, to feel the heart of another through my fingertips; but so grateful and love my hands which touch and feel; work and play!

What do you see when you look at your hands?

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Knitting a fabulous  #slipstravaganzamkal by @westknits .
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#gratitudeattitude #westknitsarethebestknits #westknitsmkal2020 #knittersofinstagram #knittersoftheworld #knittersofaustralia #indiedyedyarn #handmadewithlove #handmade #handmadejewellery #fromtheheart #createeveryday #livetotravel #healing #healinghands #creativehands
My life is wonderful… and I have so many stories My life is wonderful… and I have so many stories. I’ve had adventures on all continents. Slept being rocked by the sea; felt the ice on my skin in both polar regions, and felt the silence of the deserts. I’ve walked stone steps in monasteries at altitudes where each step I’ve taken consciously and mindfully; focussing on treasuring every molecule of oxygen in the rarefied atmosphere. 

COVID has paused those adventures, but I draw upon my experiences as I navigate adventuring my days in a different way, on our ‘home range’. 

I recall my steps in Tibet as I walk through our bushland. I am mindful and conscious of my surroundings. I listen. I feel. I feel happy here. I am content.

My new stories may not hold the same experiences of connection with others; and may not be of extreme challenges or crazy things  (which I am rather prone to doing! 🙂 ) but they are not less wondrous… as I smell the warm eucalyptus waft from under my feet. 

I weave my stories, and this story is of my personal journey on my daily walk through our bushland. 
You can see some of my other woven stories on my website - link in profile. 

How do you express your life’s stories?
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#weaversofinstagram #indiedyedyarn #indiedyed #rigidheddleloomweaving #ashford #inspiredbynature #contentcreator #emotionalbalance #homedeco #handcrafted #makersmovement #creativelifehappylife #wellbeing #travellerlife #journeywoman #weavingaustralia
“....The Assookinakii cowl was created for those “....The Assookinakii cowl was created for those times in your life when you need a meditative and healing knit. Assookinakii (ass-s-oo-kin-uh-k-EE) means ‘healer’ in the Blackfeet language, thank you to Cut Woods School in Browning, MT for the tradish language support”. –  Candice from @thefarmersdaughterfibers 

Knitting this beautiful cowl by Candice from @thefarmersdaughterfibers for @sistersunitedmt ; WAS healing. 

As my hands gently formed the repetitive stitches I reflected on the word ‘Assookinakii ‘ - healer. I am a healer. I don’t understand it. It’s something unseen. Something within me which has been recognised by Ngangkari and ‘clever men’ here in Australia; and shaman and healers around the world as we travel. This recognition always has caught me by surprise; as I seem to walk a line between two worlds. 

As the stitches slipped from one needle to another and the beautiful colours of @spincycle_yarns revealed themselves; in the pauses between the stitches I heard a voice whispering to continue to seek connection with the natural world and listen deeply. 

What has been healing for you this year?
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#healingjourney #meditationpractice #dyedinthewool #assookinakii_cowl #knittersofinstagram #knittingaddict #livinglifetothefullest #happydays #shaman #healer #healersofinstagram #listentoyourheart #indiedyedyarn #handmadewithlove #knittersgonnaknit #knittersoftheworld
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2017 All photographs created by and property of Julie Stephenson.