BLOSSOM & BLUEBELLS
Springtime's beautiful array of colours and fragrants lift our spirits. They can also evoke good childhood memories. Perhaps you were one of the children who were allowed to pick bluebells from the wayside and woods before the ban and preservation order came into being? A little hand wrapped around the green, sometimes slimey, stems would delight in stretching out to present mother or grandma with a free bunch of flowers. An empty jam jar would be filled with tap water and put on the kitchen windowsill as a prized possession. Their fragrance would fill the air for a few days longer.
Each year there are places near you to visit, often freely, to encounter the spectacular blue carpet in the woods. It appeals to the child in us but also delights our adult eyes and nostrils. Take photos of them as an alternative to being able pick them. Or plant some in your own garden - they grow best in shaded areas.
Our inner child's voice often goes unheard as many of us experienced the 'children should be seen and not heard' days. Many a day was silently spent making daisy chains, rose petal perfumes and blossom confetti. Nature was a playground and flowers were toys. It kept us quiet for hours on end and out of the adults way.
Occasionally, it is good to be in touch with the child within and listen, as an adult, to what you were saying back then that no-one heard, even if you spoke the words. Sometimes that inner voice gets louder and begs you to take notice. It asks you to do something different - to be kinder to yourself, to speak it out again now, to let go of unhelpful learnt behaviours and troubling thoughts. What delighted you back then is good to revisit and perhaps start a hobby of - making things, drawing or painting, writing or train spotting, skipping, roller skating, cricket, or hula hooping. It is a shame to leave these treasures behind; they served us well with exercise and creativity.
Yes, there are good memories and not so good memories, for some terrible memories that have been boxed up in the brain with the lid shut tight. But as the media tells us these too have a way of nudging people into action to resolve issues, right some wrongs, and experience another way of being. If you are seeking to sort out your head and to be as carefree as a child in a bluebell woods, do seek a counsellor to journey with you. Feel the release from those unspeakable words being out in the open in a safe environment, it could possibly be a first step for you to grow into the adult you were meant to be rather than the one you are.
