Beloveds,
My ode for the first edition of 2023 Musings
is the brilliant mends we choose for a broken heart.
What’s yours?
I’ve learned from Dr. Nature and Mind You First for the mend.
Here's a current mend of mine.
My heart guts,
as I digest the violence, hate and deceit.
My ruptured emotions directs me to learn again
the alchemy of a gentle sauté whilst in the frying pan
of current events.
The tonic for me?
Love
in all of its forms.
Divine
Sensual
Filial
Parental
Earthly
Heavenly
I seek
union of my emotions with the outside world.
Alchemize the violence, hate and deceit.
I carry on while brushing the burnt bits off.
I arise with the joy of Us
and all things love.
Here's to your best mend.
❤︎ M
Ask Dr. Nature
Ireland is a heart centric place.
Plants know this of Ireland.
Every May-ish the Hawthorne trees begin to bloom.
A diverse range of colours from pure white to magenta explode throughout the emerald green landscape.
Taking a mucky turn down a lane is a tonic for me.
My heart perks up when dazzled with the visual candy and scent of the Hawthorne.
The Hawthorne as an aromatic is one of the best remedies for heart imbalances.
Heart function, blood vessels, chest pain, low/high blood pressure, atherosclerosis, high cholesterol and irregular heartbeat are toned by its properties.
Living in California isn't always zen.
I top up with a Hawthorne tincture.
The scent hits the brain as a huge fizzy ball of relaxation.
Our neurotransmitters smooth out and Yes....dopamine pervades.
It's my go to in many Apothycaria formulations.
Used wisely it's a relaxant in tinctures, oxygenator for facial tonics
and an intuitive mender of broken hearts.
The soil of Ireland has a way of getting under and in everything.
My mucky boots from adventures down an unmarked path are easily cleaned.
For this Californian the scent of Hawthorne and earth of Eire remains in her heart and remedies.
Take a turn down my well traveled modern day apothecary; Apothycaria....
where time and space suspends and the eternal wisdom from Dr. Earth blooms.
Let’s alchemize the perfect tonic for you.
Mind You First
My fav adage,
"put your oxygen mask on first before helping others."
It aptly describes the necessary act of Mind You First.
Dragging a half empty you to an already empty world outside
creates more flattened emptiness.
Not helpful and certainly unproductive.
My tonic?
I choose romance, communing with nature and poetry to stimulate my heart first.
I don't expect you to embrace 18th century Bridgerton~esque romance, mucky walks and Pablo Neruda.
I am advocating turning on your creative channels.
Allow what gets you in the mood to start topping up your happy hormones.
Your oxygen mask on first
and then go out and fill up the world with your joy.
An example of my oxygen mask.
In honor of martyred Saint Valentine,
who married Roman soldiers forbidden to marry because of Christian dogma,
a poem.
Saint Valentine died 14 February 269AD
and was buried in Whitefriar Street Church Dublin Ireland.
He found his way back to heart-centric Ireland.
Ode to Craters
presence to impermanence
determined seed
craters of the heart begin to recede
asking for our true nature
to bring together
to take up the lead
unite what vastness our mind separates
Doubt casts
Faith invades
Surrender cements
us to our heart's desire
love love love