African Soul by Michelle Frost

Dona Nobis Pacem 2015 ~The Power of Love

When Mimi declared this year's blogblast theme of Peace and the Power of love... my mind went blank. So many famous people have written or spoken on this topic. was there really anything new I could say? I couldn't think of anything to write, but then someone sent me this quote:

“Everyone says love hurts, but that is not true. Loneliness hurts. Rejection hurts. Losing someone hurts. Envy hurts. Everyone gets these things confused with love, but in reality love is the only thing in this world that covers up all pain and makes someone feel wonderful again. Love is the only thing in this world that does not hurt.”

Meša Selimović

Mesa was Bosnian-Serbian. His most famous book, Death and the Dervish, is based on his failed attempt to save his brother from execution during WWII. His book deals with the cruelty and injustice of war, which makes his quote on love all the more poignant.

 

Mesa was right - love never hurts or harms; only the lack of love can do that. And that includes self-love, because if you cannot love and respect yourself you will never be able to show it to others. Statistics show that humans are becoming less violent. 

But there's still a lot to be done. 

Statistics also show that children from peaceful loving homes are far less likely to become involved in violence. We teach our children by our actions, not by our words. 

To put it plain and simple:

We create our future society based on the way we raise our children.

And that means ALL children. 

This is the greatest challenge humanity faces, as our planet hurtles towards and unknown and seemingly unsettled future. We need to teach our world's children how to be peaceful; how to love themselves and others. 

Never be afraid to love. It is the greatest gift you have to share. It knows no boundaries of species, space or time.

When everything else fails... love remains.

Natural Beauty

I saw this photo on Facebook last week. Isn't he/she gorgeous?

The owl reminded me of a book I read and loved years ago - I Heard the Owl call my Name by Margaret Craven.

Here's a quote from the book...

“Here every bird and fish knew its course. Every tree had its own place upon this earth. Only man had lost his way.”

Being a Shaman

The Official Site of Blog4Peace: Announcing BlogBlast 4 Peace (aka Blog4Peace) Nov ...

It's time!! :D Marvelous Queen Mimi has announced the theme for Bog4Peace 2015...

The Official Site of Blog4Peace: Announcing BlogBlast 4 Peace (aka Blog4Peace)

Good afternoon, Peace Bloggers. 
It's that wonderful time of year again! Less than 60 days  ...

 This year's theme is..... Peace and The Power of Love.

This year's theme is..... Peace and The Power of Love.  - See more at: http://peaceglobegallery.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/announcing-blogblast-4-peace-aka.html#sthash.lYpjVJYs.dpuf

This year's theme is..... Peace and The Power of Love.  - See more at: http://peaceglobegallery.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/announcing-blogblast-4-peace-aka.html#sthash.lYpjVJYs.dpuf

We no longer have time to throw around useless mantras in the world. Our lives on this planet depend on the loving relationships we make with ourselves, our families, and our neighbors. Look at the world as it is today. Do we need a bigger and brighter idea?
No.
We need love.

So, this year I ask that you examine the way you interact with the people around you. Is it loving? Is it peaceful? Is it quiet? Is it meaningful? Is it for their good and yours? Does it serve the world? Are you happy and fulfilled in the circle where you abide? If not, what can you do or say to make it better?

Love is a force field. It is all the weapon, all the power, and all the remedy we need.

Peace is a natural consequence of unconditional love. I crave it in my life. I feel the pull of humanity at this crucial time in history and know that you do too. Let's make a big ole' pile of peace and love. November 4th is the day.

A New View of Skye

Several years ago, we went to Skye for the day. I'd completely forgotten about it until recently. My friend, Amel, reminded me. She was talking about her trip to London. You should go look at her photos. they're great! She even took photos of some really fancy public toilets. That made me laugh, because I've been known to take photos of public toilets as well! :D

And that's when I remembered the toilet in Skye. This was at a little place, where you stopped before going across the bridge that links Skye to the mainland. It was completely decorated with posters, postcards, toys and ornaments. I've never seen anything like it!

Here's the photos... 

Been a While

It's been a while since I felt like blogging. I think everyone reaches that stage, where the ideas just dry up or you're too busy to remember to write. For me, it's been a bit of both. And then there's the sad fact that blogging seems to be a dying thing. More people are moving to the fast and snappy media, like Twitter. 

At first, I felt really sad about that, but then I thought about how each stage of my internet experiences have brought me new friends and knew chances to grow and learn. I "arrived" online at the moment when internet forums were the hottest new thing. I met and made wonderful friends that way and I was heart-broken when most of the forums I loved turned into ghost towns or were shut down. But then, at that time, I was just beginning to blog. And in blogging I met new wonderful people and madesome fantastic friendships.

So... as much as it will hurt my heart of blogging dies out completely, I know there will be new things to learn from and new people to meet. All part of life's journey. :-)

My First Selfie

I took my first selfie this week. Yeah, I know - I'm a late bloomer! 

I think many photographers fall into that trap of being more interested in what is around them. I love nature, I find human faces awesome (wish I was a portrait artist/photographer), but with all that looking outwards I tend to forget my eyes are in a face as well. LOL LOL 

Drum roll moment... here I am.  Taken on the spur of the moment, so excuse the crazy angle. 

Baking Frenzy

I was clearing out our digital camera yesterday and found a few photos I had forgotten were there. They're all cakes my mom has made recently. She's been in a baking frenzy. ;-D

Here's the first masterpiece - our Christmas fruit cake. I took this one on Christmas eve. You can see our blended countries decorations of Tartan and guinea fowl place settings. LOL

 This next one was made for my Hubby's birthday. It's a three layer almond sponge with whipped marscapone/cream, raspberry jam and fresh raspberries. It was sooo good that I've put in an order for one for my birthday. 

Hope

A friend sent me a video today. It's been a long time since I watched something that made me cry and yet gave me hope (for our planet) at the same time.Some people make you proud to be human. These are some of them...

One Month Gone

I can't believe it's almost a month into the new year already. The month has zoomed by for our family... in a fog of ill health. We've all had a rather nasty flu bug that has left all four of us weakened and still coughing a LOT.

The hardest part of being sick has been food and drink. First tea tasted awful, then everything tasted revolting and now coffee tatstes weird! And trying to cook when food seems revolting and all of you aches is the WORST.

 Thankfully, I'm feeling a lot better and managed to cook a cottage pie last night, which most of us managed to eat.

I'll be glad when this is completely gone. I'm tired of feeling tired and sick of being sick!