– As I was walking along the beach at sunrise yesterday morning, I received a text message from one of my closest friends that his Mum had just passed away. She was a beautiful woman and one of my favourite people on the planet, so I was heartbroken, but as I continued on my walk, I could feel her presence and through my tears, I asked her to send me a sign that she was still here. A few minutes later, I saw a little baby turtle hatchling crawling out from its eggs in the sand dunes towards the rising sun and the glistening ocean - it was such a magical moment.
– After hearing the news of my friend's Mum's passing and with other stresses weighing on me at the moment, I decided to continue walking – originally intending to just do the 11km coastal trail that weaves around Noosa National Park (an absolutely stunning trail!), but ended up walking for 25km through bushland and palm groves and back along the beach. It was just what I needed.
– As we've been travelling full-time for the past three years, my youngest son has never been to a physical school and we decided to let him learn to read at his own pace - following the Steiner model and the model of countries like Finland that don't teach reading until after the age of 7. After his 7th birthday at the end of 2022 though, I started panicking about the fact that he still couldn't read, so we kept reading to him and hoping for the best, and then one day, he picked up quite a detailed picture book and read it out loud from cover to cover and has been reading non-stop ever since. This week, at 8, he's read the first few chapters of the first Harry Potter book to himself, and it was so lovely to see him curl up in bed last night with his book, excited to continue.
So those were yesterday's glimmers. :) Hoping for some more today!
Siobhan, I am sending you a warm hug for your friend and you. The circularity of your glimmer is beautiful. Also, a wonderful testament to being a creature in the world and the healing that is possible, thank you. Yay for Harry Potter!
Thanks so much, Gillian. "A wonderful testament to being a creature in the world and the healing that is possible" - I love that and how it relates to your lovely illustration. :) x
Thank you for this reminder ' We need to forgive each other our imperfections.' I often feel so frustrated by other humans, but we are all stuck in the system.
Utopia - I dream of clean oceans and waterways full of an abundance of kinds of life, thriving forests and native creatures, ecosystems restored, a human footprint that is just that, literally a foot print and nothing else.
I love that vision! It feels so right in my heart, thank you for sharing it with all of us. Re the forgiveness, my substack friend @betje drew a comic which likened our current moment in time to a crashing plane as a way to look at all the various responses people had - it was a really freeing way to frame it to allow me to let go some of my anger and frustration. I'll try and find it and post the link below. xo
Oh no, please keep dreaming ... it inspires Li'l Bean into action and give sus all some hope. Hope is very future at this time.
Love the colour of today's creation and hot apple crumble ... well, is there anything better on a chilly evening. (especially if there's a little bit of custard too!)
Your drawings are so endearing, and capture the essence of your powerful wisdom so well. Love Lil Bean surrounded by colorful earth friends in a circle of life. For me, encouraging positive contributions (as opposed to only harm reduction) is a courageous gift to ourselves, and by association, our mother Gaia.
Oh yes! "a courageous gift to ourselves" beautiful! Thank you for thinking I have powerful wisdom - that actually makes me giggle! I am mostly a hot mess that swings from one wild idea to another, just trying to make sense of all the crap that keeps going down!
Love this illustration and these thoughts!
My glimmers for yesterday were:
– As I was walking along the beach at sunrise yesterday morning, I received a text message from one of my closest friends that his Mum had just passed away. She was a beautiful woman and one of my favourite people on the planet, so I was heartbroken, but as I continued on my walk, I could feel her presence and through my tears, I asked her to send me a sign that she was still here. A few minutes later, I saw a little baby turtle hatchling crawling out from its eggs in the sand dunes towards the rising sun and the glistening ocean - it was such a magical moment.
– After hearing the news of my friend's Mum's passing and with other stresses weighing on me at the moment, I decided to continue walking – originally intending to just do the 11km coastal trail that weaves around Noosa National Park (an absolutely stunning trail!), but ended up walking for 25km through bushland and palm groves and back along the beach. It was just what I needed.
– As we've been travelling full-time for the past three years, my youngest son has never been to a physical school and we decided to let him learn to read at his own pace - following the Steiner model and the model of countries like Finland that don't teach reading until after the age of 7. After his 7th birthday at the end of 2022 though, I started panicking about the fact that he still couldn't read, so we kept reading to him and hoping for the best, and then one day, he picked up quite a detailed picture book and read it out loud from cover to cover and has been reading non-stop ever since. This week, at 8, he's read the first few chapters of the first Harry Potter book to himself, and it was so lovely to see him curl up in bed last night with his book, excited to continue.
So those were yesterday's glimmers. :) Hoping for some more today!
Siobhan, I am sending you a warm hug for your friend and you. The circularity of your glimmer is beautiful. Also, a wonderful testament to being a creature in the world and the healing that is possible, thank you. Yay for Harry Potter!
Thanks so much, Gillian. "A wonderful testament to being a creature in the world and the healing that is possible" - I love that and how it relates to your lovely illustration. :) x
Hugs to you, Siobhan on the loss of your friend's mum. And beautiful how you witnessed new life moments later.
May your boy fall in love with the wonder and beauty of a good story!
Thank you so much for the condolences and lovely words, Ian. :) x
Thank you for this reminder ' We need to forgive each other our imperfections.' I often feel so frustrated by other humans, but we are all stuck in the system.
Utopia - I dream of clean oceans and waterways full of an abundance of kinds of life, thriving forests and native creatures, ecosystems restored, a human footprint that is just that, literally a foot print and nothing else.
x
I found the comic I was talking about... https://betjecom.substack.com/p/no-time-for-perfect, enjoy!
I love that vision! It feels so right in my heart, thank you for sharing it with all of us. Re the forgiveness, my substack friend @betje drew a comic which likened our current moment in time to a crashing plane as a way to look at all the various responses people had - it was a really freeing way to frame it to allow me to let go some of my anger and frustration. I'll try and find it and post the link below. xo
Oh no, please keep dreaming ... it inspires Li'l Bean into action and give sus all some hope. Hope is very future at this time.
Love the colour of today's creation and hot apple crumble ... well, is there anything better on a chilly evening. (especially if there's a little bit of custard too!)
Go well, Gillian x
Oh, apple crumble with custard - I've never had that! I'm so glad you are enjoying L'il Bean. Thank you for being here!
Your drawings are so endearing, and capture the essence of your powerful wisdom so well. Love Lil Bean surrounded by colorful earth friends in a circle of life. For me, encouraging positive contributions (as opposed to only harm reduction) is a courageous gift to ourselves, and by association, our mother Gaia.
Oh yes! "a courageous gift to ourselves" beautiful! Thank you for thinking I have powerful wisdom - that actually makes me giggle! I am mostly a hot mess that swings from one wild idea to another, just trying to make sense of all the crap that keeps going down!
This is another image perfect for a tee shirt or merch! Love it!
Thanks Sara!
Oh that is exciting! Thank you for sharing that excitement with us!