Slow Into The Seasons
Slow Into The Seasons with Alice Elgie
You Are Enough
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You Are Enough

Gentle Reminders in France.
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We drove along winding roads, deep into the forest, expanses of countryside opening up as trees thinned; a landscape that stretched for miles. White everywhere. Pure. I brought my hands to my heart and felt it beating in time with the earth, with wonder. 

With gratitude.

In these moments of complete connection with nature there is nothing but gratitude. There are no other thoughts polluting my mind. Just like the white landscape, my deepest self is clear and fresh; like a blank canvas waiting for me to create the artwork.

My mind is not crowded with the words and images that sneak in from every corner of this modern world. Instead it is empty, connected only to creation.  

Those last few days of our month away spent in snowy central France, brought a silence deeper than anything before. To be within the mountains in winter is to be cocooned and from this cocoon I was able to find the strength to believe in myself; to build images of my dreams in technicolour, touch everything that might be possible. As a family we talked as the fire raged, ate simple bean stews, and read books or scribbled in notebooks. 

It was the perfect rounding off to our January decompression.

However, re-entering the world is always hard. To return and reveal, switch back on, and yet still hang on to that deep sense of knowing and understanding—continuing to believe in dreams that in the depths of quiet and nature felt tangible—is a challenge. Letting the world and all its opinions, thoughts, beliefs back in, my mind begins to falter, to doubt all that I am; all that I know I am capable of. I feel unsteady. All that was pure and clear up on that snowy mountain, becomes slightly sullied.

THIS is the struggle of everyday reality, but I believe that THIS is where the true work is—carving out a path on the battlefield of life, keeping our compass pointing towards truth, knowing, kindness, compassion, amidst the mayhem of a world that at times feels so far from any of those words. 

So here I am, back in my real life. Back on the water, preparing to untie ropes and release myself from this secure mooring—both literally and figuratively—to embark on new unknown adventures. And I’m sometimes faltering, waking in the night filled with fear and self-doubt, but also remembering this place deep within. 

This place that is within each and every one of us.

A place just like the heart of nature, like those vast expanses of rolling French countryside…a place where all that we are, is enough.

I would love for you to share in the comments the ways you gravitate back to your truth, to the knowledge that you are enough?

YOU ARE ENOUGH. This post is public so please share it with someone who needs it!

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A fantastic course I am currently studying that is helping me make sense of carving out a peaceful path on this battlefield of life is: Sacred Yogic Texts: Bhagavad Gita.


My written-with-love-e-letter!

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Slow Into The Seasons
Slow Into The Seasons with Alice Elgie
🍂 Simplify | (Re)connect | Breathe 🍂 Conversation about nature, writing life, child-led learning, crafts, yoga and mindfulness, life and death, and much much more — all with a good dash of slow: slow for the environment, slow for community, and most importantly slow for ourselves.
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Alice Elgie