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2021 was an especially shitty year, although it looks like it will be surpassed. In the January, the day Biden was inaugurated, though that has nothing to do with it, I had to say goodbye to my best friend, my buddy, my darling, Billy. Any dog lover will feel my pain, so I won't go on about it, except to say that I am in tears writing this and my heart hurts.  I don't want another dog, I have developed a morbid habit of looking at all dogs and their owners while silently thinking, 'oh no, it's going to happen to you one day. That utter dismantling of your heart and soul. The wretchedness of a lost love, a warm body ripped from your concave tummy where once there was a beating heart.' Miserable, I know, sorry about that. It gets worse though. My daughter, on the day that Billy died, announced that she was pregnant. This was supposed to 'lift the mood.' It did for about thirty seconds, but I was too distraught to really take it in. Her pregnancy wasn't gre

                                                                                                          (Copyright. Celia Turner)  I painted these sunflowers a few years ago onto a special edition of The Times. The painting seems horribly poignant now. The sunflower is the national flower of Ukraine. The beautiful sunflower takes her name from Clytie, a water nymph who turns into a sunflower after grieving the loss of her beloved Apollo. The mythological symbolism is that Clytie (in her form as a sunflower) is always facing the sun looking for Apollo's chariot to return that they might rekindle their love. The sunflower grows tall and moves to face the life -giving rays of the sun and is often used as the symbol of spiritual faith and worship.

Root Chakra: I am Colour: Red. I am safe. I feel grounded. I feel connected to Mother Earth. My roots are deep and strong. I believe in myself. I am brave. I am strong. Sacral Chakra: (Splenic) I feel. Colour; Orange. Affirmations: I am a creative soul. I easily find creative solutions for all the challenges. I honour and accept my sexuality. I feel excited and passionate about the things I do. Solar Plexus Chakra: I do. Affirmations: I am a confident being. I have strong willpower. I believe in myself. I trust my abilities. Heart Chakra: I love. Affirmations: I am a being of love and light. I can forgive myself and others. I am kind to myself. I am kind to people. I am kind to material things and creatures of Mother Nature. Throat Chakra: I speak. Affirmations: I am an honest person. I can convey my feelings. My ideas matter. My opinion matters. I can listen and honour the opinion of others. Third-eye Chakra: I see. Affirmations: I am a wise being. I have an innate ability to look bey

 

 

  Open Chakras It is so easy to find chakra cleansing and balancing, guided meditations on YouTube that I thought I would share with you the desired results of the meditations rather than the practice. I like Crystal Beach Chakra Healing Meditation as it is easy to follow, and I like the man's voice! So, you could try that one. The voice in a guided meditation can make it or break it so that's a very personal choice. I find it quite strange that there are so many meditations but few explanations as to the desired effect of the practice. Again, you can Google galore and research the benefits of chakra healing, so I am going to give a bite sized guide as to why it's worth taking the time to relax for twenty minutes or half an hour and feel so much better for it. If you look at the picture (above) you can see the chakras, energy centres, in the body. We start at the root, at the base of your spine and work upwards. The Root Chakra. Red.  Survival When the root chakra is open a

  Regular readers will be aware that I voted to Remain in the EU in the referendum, I was gob- smacked when the result was announced, and the Leave voters won. There are lots of posts here from 2016-2019 charting my reasons for a soft Brexit or better still, the withdrawal of the Withdrawal Agreement altogether.  I decided to publish these posts as I wanted to leave a record for my grandkids, so far one born, another still 'cooking.' I thought it was important that they can read about this time of momentous change in the UK's political history. I stopped writing the posts during the negotiations although I continued with writing every day 'Below the Line ' at The Times and The Sunday Times on the subject. So why start again? Well, obviously the world is enduring the pandemic, life has been put on hold and nothing much Brexit wise was happening due to the transition period. However, the transition period ended on 31st December 2020 and the new rules were to take effe