Thank you!
a new baby,
Seasons Greetings,&
a final “C” Word

Dear Reader

A Heartfelt Thankyou

One of the hardest things with a newsletter is knowing whether it is read. Well, I do know that of course. My convertkit.com account shows how many opens there are and if I can be bothered, exactly who opened them! Cheeky! So what I really mean is it’s hard knowing whether you enjoy what I write. Is this resonating with you on some level.

I am grateful for your many replies. It’s heartwarming to know you feel a connection to what I write. To be honest, I think of you when I write, picturing we are sitting down for a cosy chat. Imagining like this helps the words flow. Writing can be such a lonely endeavour, sitting at the computer with my fingers flying across the keyboard, trying to put the words scrambling in my mind onto the screen before they disappear. Seeing you in my mind’s eye and chatting with my fingers brings the piece I’m trying to write to life.

So thank you for joining me in the conversation!

Welcome to Vienna Maraea Cowley

I’ve been flummoxed when I count my grand, great grand, and great great grand babies! Finally, when I held Vienna Maraea in my arms on Christmas Eve I realised why I was plagued with this confusion.

Vie is number 52 in that long list of grandchildren. As I held her and looked at her perfect little face, I realised the reason. I’m the link between the past and the future. I’m blessed with being the oldest of five generations and I’m sure that there will be more before I go to meet those who have gone before me.

I rejoice that I am now a great-great-grandmother. I am so grateful this year to have found my great-great-grandmother who is the first person we can identify in my Australian Aboriginal family line.

I’m in the middle of the four generations who have gone before and the four who have come after me.

And I am only one of Mary Ann’s lineage – counting me, through me she has 60 descendants who carry hers and my DNA. I can only hazard a guess at how many others of us there are. A sea of us, some who don’t know Mary Ann, and many who don’t know me.

But in gazing at Vie and holding her sweet soul close I got an insight into where she’d come from, that she carries with her the love and hope of generations past. Named for two very special loving women, and also carrying the hope and joy of Mary Ann in her veins, Vie will always be a reminder to me that there is great love and joy in being part of a large family. Vie’s birth brings the puzzle pieces together, assuring me I am centred in love. I am surrounded by love. I am grateful to belong to this beautiful family.

Season’s Greetings

Here in New Zealand we say (or for me learning to say is more accurate!) Meri Kirihimete (Merry Christmas). It’s become politically incorrect to refer to the Christ of Christmas as many cultures do not acknowledge or celebrate Christmas. So I’ll say Season’s Greetings to us all, whatever our spirituality is, and may we all be kept safe and find peace and joy and love as we take a break from the busy-ness of life.

Last “C” Word for 2023

I want to end the year with a final C word for 2023. And for today I’ve chosen to share my thoughts on Christ as a word, not necessarily the person.

I was taught that Christ is not the person’s name, but a noun describing a particular energy – an energy we can all aspire to emulate.

It’s a particular energy that we think of especially at this time of year when we think of the gifts we will give our loved ones. But it’s also an energy we all exhibit and seek to grow more of all through our lives, and especially at this time of year.

Here in NZ, and you will have experienced this elsewhere I know, we are encouraged to be kind during the pandemic, to think of others during times of disaster like the effects of cyclones, to share our homes and our surplus with those less fortunate. The word is not often said in the media but the intent is to love.

Christ is an energy – feelings of compassion, of love, of serving, of sharing, of laughter, of peace, of neighbourliness, of selflessness. Christ is an energy whereby in giving of ourselves we find more of ourselves for ourselves. Does that sentence even make sense? It does to me!

In pondering great exemplars of this Christ energy, Jesus of course comes to mind, as do many of the great spiritual leaders. Others, like Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, Victor Frankl, Mahatma Ghandi, Mother Teresa, and Edith Egar have inspired my to understand what it truly means to love.

Above all, these people are human, like you and me. They have their imperfections too, just as we do. How they inspire me is through their ability to find the will and ability to express love in among all their trials of life.

In the final analysis, it doesn’t matter what word you use if the word you use helps you remember to cultivate loving and kind energy. I grew up with the Christ word. What is your word? And if you’ve felt motivated to learn a little of any of my exemplars of love, who have you chosen? What, if anything, impressed you? I’d love to know.

Final thoughts for 2023

Whatever happens on a global scale, or a national level, or locally – I hope I can keep my thoughts centred on what is of the greatest importance to me. My heart is big enough to wrap you in my love. If I could, I would keep all of you closeby, so we could natter all day! That’s my wish. And, whether you know it or not, that’s my reality. I talk to you all day and maybe all night as well, depending where my dreams take me!

My goals for 2024 include to write more in my projects and to be more active on social media, especially my readers group on facebook. I’ve enjoyed the writing life in 2023. I hope I can take you on more of my journey during 2024.

And hopefully I’ll see some of you at Waitakaruru Sculpture park on 13th January.

Not long now!

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On Saturday 13 January 2024 at The Sculpture Park at Waitakaruru Arboretum between 10 am and noon the Writer’s Chat event will be held in the cafe area shown in the photo. I’ll be joined by fellow creatives Phoebe Wilby, my daughter visiting from Ireland, and Bella Hessell, my granddaughter from Waiheke Island. Phoebe is also an author and Bella is an artist and illustrator.

Save the date, for those who are close by. Join me, Phoebe and Bella and enjoy the park at the same time (and morning tea!)

My thought for Living Life in 2023 and beyond:

“Write it on my heart that every day is the best day of the year” Ralph Waldo Emerson

I must look for a new, or another, thought next year!

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