Hello dearest friends!!
Today marks our monthly "By Invitation Only" post by a wonderful group of International Bloggers. The theme for this month is just simply,"Thoughts for October"
Our gracious hostess and my gorgeous friend, Marsha from Splenderosa is hosting us all as usual. Thank you!!
For most of the participants in "By Invitation Only" this means, that they are going into Fall/Autumn, but down South here, at the tip of Africa, we are heading firmly into Spring (well, I guess its a matter of opinion!!!! The veld and mother nature is buzzing, but sadly the weather remains pretty much wintry) We have had sooo much rain we almost need an Ark!!
So, for me this is going to be a very personal post and I beg your indulgence please....
I started blogging as a birthday gift to myself when I turned 49! I loved every moment of the Blogosphere and meeting amazing like minded people who are just so incredibly inspiring, talented and supportive. I have made the most wonderful friends locally and from all over the world!!! I never expected that...
So, I am deeply grateful for the unexpected blessings that came my way through Blogging, in the form of amazing friends!!
Each and every one of you are treasured and appreciated!!
As you know I have been absent from your blogs, as well as my own, for some time now....
It has been the most difficult year of my life! At times, I just could not see the light and in those times my creativity and need to blog just deserted me.
Starting last September and finishing this September it has been a "Annus Horribilis"!!!
The first tragedy was my young son's friend, who passed away in a tragic accident at University, right in the middle of a Film Festival that the two of them were working on together. I am so proud of my son for seeing it through amidst all the sadness. On the way home from that funeral, my husband had a heart attack. He recovered well and was doing fine, only to present me with divorce papers a few weeks after that. Yes, the rug was pulled from under me... Loosing family, friends, my home, etc and dealing with the impact it had on my two beautiful children took its toll, no matter how I tried to stand tall. I think here of another blogging friend, who also went through the same ordeal of divorce, at the same time! Well, twelve months on, and I have not been able to sell my house, yet, and move on with my life. My son and daughter have been amazing, and my friends have quite literally been the wind beneath my wings.
Then, in the last month, my brother-in-law took his own life and my ex husband landed in hospital again from all the stress. Those have been my major calamities with all the drama and oddities that divorce brings, thrown in for good measure...
Now, you are thinking....well, and....???
Well, I have learnt a few things...
I have learnt who my friends are and they are angels, each and every single one of them!!! The buckets of love I received has renewed me time and time again.
Being a painfully private person, I have had to learn to share my calamities with others who have offered the most amazing insights and advise. Thank you!
I have found solace and daily strength and been deeply grateful, for the privilege to live in such a magnificent place, surrounded by so much natural beauty to feed my endless quest for answers...
I have found a new appreciation for simple pleasures...
...of just lying in the sun on the beach in such a magnificent setting!
I have also learnt, that in chasing after what you want, you run right past what you need!!!
And I was going to say...."oddly" but there is nothing odd about it... My house has not sold and the reason, was that I had to give up the dream of big and beautiful and scale down to small and easy!!!
The Hand of God and His timing and Plan is clearly visible to me now!!!
There has been the wonderful blessing of new friendships with people who, in the words of Mr Leonard Cohen, ...has shown me, "what I only knew the limits of..."
Do you know that wonderful song "Dance Me to the End of Love"???
Wonderful, isn't is? As is all his songs and his deeply touching lyrics, each one a poem of life's mysterious ways..
So, as the sun sets on your summer and our winter, bringing us both to a new season, alive with possibility, I am ready to go forth and live with renewed vigour in the knowledge that all will be well and as it should be...
Thank you for your precious company and for your indulgence.
Now, hop over to join the party by clicking here to enjoy all the wonderfully gifted women who contribute so generously of themselves. It promises to be a feast!!
May each and every one of you spread your wings and fly high and enjoy the view while you journey to a new or a familiar destination.
Live Well
Veronica
xxx
All images are my own
