(Flower seen on the indirect route)

The rain has stopped! I see the light! Well… not sunlight but light nonetheless. It’s time to get more input (I mean take more photos). So when I woke up this morning instead of turning over in the bed, I got up, had breakfast and did my meditation. It’s still fleece, hat and raincoat weather so I shoved everything on and waddled out the door. Then I took a different route to the old town. Made me realise it takes time to get familiar with a new place. A similar thing happened in Beja.

(Can’t have too many flowers…)

Here in Serpa the old part of the town is very easy to navigate and it’s not really possible to get lost in there because if you keep walking very soon you’ll arrive at the wall. When you find the wall you won’t be lost anymore. We are parked in the campsite and the campsite is situated outside the wall, so normally I take the direct route to the old town and wander around safely inside the wall. Today I took an indirect route and found some pretty input (you know, pictures) outside the wall.

(I think this is an orange flower bud! It was on a tree that looks like an orange tree)

There was a park getting a makeover, a little flower garden outside someone’s house, very, very old olive trees and a place to sit down for coffee. I was surprised to realise that it was warm enough to sit outside which is my very favourite thing to do at the moment. While I was sitting outside I wrote in my notebook. Writing always helps me understand what’s going on in my inner world and since this has been a frustrating week I was definitely looking forward to finding out what was going on in there.

(Huge urns seen on the indirect route)

What was going on was craft related. I know how important crafting is to my general wellbeing but usually when I need it the most I don’t choose it. It’s like meditation is most useful when you’re feeling stressed or upset but that’s the one time you couldn’t be bothered doing it. Or going for a walk is great for clearing your head but it’s the last thing you want to do when your head is full of junk thoughts. We are our own worst enemies.

(There it is! The Wall pops out to tell me I’m not lost! It gets sucked back into that house when I turn my back…)

So my inner world was grateful for the cards I made this week and told me to keep making them. I have often been dismissive of card making, wanting the time I put into making to yield something longer lasting. My inner world told me that it really doesn’t matter how long the thing you make lasts. It does it’s job during the making. (Like a Sand Mandala (google it) that takes a week to make and is then swept away.) What job does making do? It nourishes your inner world.

Nourish your inner world, people! Mairead.