Writing Creatively With Spirit

A journey of psychic discovery

Category Archives: Stepping stones

The small pointers that happen outside of circles or big events


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Moringa in the morning – lizard at night

Thursday 21 November 2013

Moringa pods

Moringa pods

Yesterday I had my first mosquito bite. I got a sense that I had stayed too long in there space and they just wanted me to leave. I had been six hours in the same place in the lounge writing. I took myself off to my bedroom and noticed a small lizard on the wall. My friends told me that lizards eat flies and mosquitoes. That news was strangely comforting. I felt that the lizard was protecting my personal space.

Since I’ve been in Barbados my UK mobile phone has not worked. It kept saying ‘no service.’ This morning I had my cleaning head on and was doing it to the music on my phone which was stuffed down my cleavage.

As I bent over to move some shoes out of the way a small lizard (the same size as the one that was in my room) ran out from behind the shoes. Startled, I jumped back and my phone fell to the floor. The back fell off and the battery fell out. I replaced them both and immediately started receiving texts. Service had been resumed.

As I continued with the cleaning I couldn’t find a pair of rubber gloves. The same (or pretty near identical) lizard scurried past me. I watched where it disappeared to, and there was a hand of glove.

At this point I decided to look up the spiritual meaning of lizards. When lizards show up it’s mainly an indication to pay attention to one’s dreams and visions. I have not done a shamanic journey (meditation) in over a week now. Maybe this is a prompt to either meditate, or to pay closer attention to my dreams.

In terms of writing, I stayed on the project for about 12 hours yesterday. We have a meeting tomorrow to discuss progress and I was feeling a little panicked.

It’s been difficult to get my head back into academic writing – but I’m there now. Ably assisted my regular intake of moringa, both as tea first thing in the morning, and the seeds throughout the day.

Open moringa pod, exposing seeds

Open moringa pod, exposing seeds

My friends have a friend who owns a moringa tree. It’s interesting to break open the pod and get the seeds out fresh.

No beach for me yesterday. Doesn’t look like it will happen today either – but I am going to Oistens tonight to eat fish as part of the food and drink festival that’s going on here at the moment.

 


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The blocks are off – I’m writing again

Sunday 10th November 2013

Sunday morning football in Birmingham

Sunday morning football in Birmingham

I discovered today what the real cause of my writing block was. I have been trying to write something that would be academically acceptable but would be out of step with my own beliefs. After discussing it with my friend who commissioned the piece she said ‘write what feels right for you and we’ll see whether it can be adapted to suit our needs.’

You may be wondering what the ‘piece’ is. It’s a parenting course for Caribbean parents and I’ve been struggling to write anything prescriptive because I recognise and accept that parenting comes from one’s beliefs.

If you believe that children are born as empty vessels to be filled up by the adults around them, then there are many books that will tell you how to do that.

If on the other hand you believe, as I do, that children are born with everything they need to know already inside them, and that our job as adults is to help them draw the knowledge out, then you will parent in a very different way. And there are not so many books about that.

So, I’m going to write the course from this perspective. From the view that we all come with a purpose and choose the parents who are going to best help us fulfil that purpose.

I wonder if there will be many takers.

River Rae - Birmingham

River Rae – Birmingham

Maybe a walk in the beautiful autumn sunshine also helped to clear the blockage.


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Trying to get past writers block

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In the book Walking in This World Julia Cameron suggest that all artists including writers should do something every week that have nothing to do with their art.

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On Tuesday I went shopping for a new pair of sandals in Birmingham city center.

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There was a busking band playing Latin American music. As I danced on the other side of the road the band leader invited me to come and dance with the band.

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‘What the hell’ I thought as I dropped my bags danced to the lambada. He joined me and we provided a light moment for the many passers by. I think I also helped to increase their takings.

 


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Late for Lit Fuse

Friday 8th November 2013

Less time on the phone and I may have made it on time

Less time on the phone and I may have made it on time

I went to see my friend Roy McFarlane in a performance at the Midland Arts Centre (MAC) tonight. I was early for the 8 p.m. start I thought it was, only to be told as I picked up my ticket that the show started at 7.30. Why did I think it was 8??

It was an evening organised by Britain’s leading poetry company Apples and Snakes, and showcased four very different poets.

Watching them I had a yearning to be back on stage, a feeling I haven’t had in a long time. Maybe I’ve been too focused on writing and have neglected performing.

Less time on the phone and I may have made it on time


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Thinking out of the box

Thursday 7th November 2013

Bishop Joe Aldred

Bishop Joe Aldred

I went to a book launch tonight. Bishop Joe Aldred was celebrating yet another publication. One that encourages us to ‘think outside the box’.

It was a very well attended event. The energy was great, the presenters were respectful of time and there was much humour. Then there was the one about the dead donkey, the ashes in dumplings and the spider in the soup.

2013-11-07 02.22.49His daughter‘s wonderful voice filled the open space at the Drum and the food was delicious.

I met a friend from Cameroon whom I haven’t seen for a while. He was so taken with my trip there that he’s coming to see me at the weekend to hear more.

There’s something about being in the company of writers that makes me want to write.


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Back to the start

Monday 28th October 2013

This last week I’ve taken to my bed more than usual, the result of being exhausted after my Cameroon experience.

2013-10-09 14.02.57When I wasn’t actually sleeping, (which I’ve done a lot of), I’ve been reflecting on the way my blog has been dominated by this ancestral search in the past few months.

Blogging has become a significant part of my writing. I’ve been reminding myself that I originally began the blog to try and trace whether my spiritual development would have any discernible effect on my creative writing.

At the moment I seem to be doing less and less creative writing. I’m trying to regain the drive and passion for the purely creative.

I’ve never seen myself as a journalist, yet I have spent many hours and many thousands of words journaling, both publicly and privately.

If there are any creative writers who also blog I’d be interested to know how you manage the split.

I head out to Barbados in a few week’s time. It’s the place that inspirited my first novel Dare to Love. I’m hoping that I will reconnect with that purely creative energy when I’m there.


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Never on Sunday – would you read it?

Never on Sunday by Penny Dixon

Never on Sunday by Penny Dixon

It’s been a while since I wrote a blog. This is because I’ve been busy editing and working on completing my latest book Never on Sunday. It’s already created a bit of controversy as the pastor who first gave me the idea to write it didn’t want to be associated with it. He said that although he personally thought it was brilliant that his church board wouldn’t approve. In addition,  the first person I approached to proof read it for me said she had to pray about it. She came back and said, based on the description of the book, she was unable to read it.

I’ve attached the book cover (Thanks to Pam Neaves of Mint Creative Solutions) and the description of the book. (See below) I would love to know what you think. Would you read such a book? Would you at least be curious to look at it?

It’s a difficult job being the head of a church in these times.  Pastor Brown’s focus on meeting the deadline for his new book distracts him from what’s going on in his congregation. Yet beneath the songs of praise run deep sexual passions that struggle to find expression in ways that are acceptable to the church.

As members of his congregation attempt to reconcile their religious beliefs with their sexual urges they grapple with issues such as infidelity, erectile dysfunction, pre-marital sex, abuse within marriage, and more.

His members face a number of challenges which Pastor Brown tries to guide them through; but who will guide him when the bomb lands in his own house?

These stories are touching in their ability to connect with what is real. They illustrate of the powerful redemptive nature of forgiveness, and confirm that true love is the only way to heal. 


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Messages from Butterflies

Tuesday 30th July 2013

On Sunday I worked in my lounge which has a beautiful stained glass window. Throughout the whole day a white (well kind of cream really) butterfly kept my company. Well, maybe ‘kept my company’ is a little misleading; it would be more accurate to say we shared the same space. We didn’t communicate with each other. The butterfly flapped its wings manically against the window, as if trying to push through the glass, for longs periods of time, and then was still for equal lengths of time. It carried on like this all day making no attempt to leave the room or the corner it was in, even though the door was open.

On Monday morning when I did my cards a single one fell out – the butterfly.

When I went into the lounge the butterfly from the day before was still there, sitting on the window ledge. I vacuumed around it but it didn’t move.

There were lots of white butterflies in the garden, and have been there for some days, I asked it if it didn’t want to go out and join its friends, but it didn’t move or acknowledge me.

My son came to visit and I told him the saga of the previous day and the morning. He was fascinated, but could offer no explanation.

As I drove off on the hot summer day with my windows down to attend a friend’s funeral, I realised there was a white (cream) butterfly flying around in the car. It went into one of the spare pair of my shoes that was on the floor of the passenger side.

As I pulled over to call my son to tell him the butterfly flew out of the window.

Animal Spirit Guides Stephen D Farmer, PH.D.

Animal Spirit Guides
Stephen D Farmer, PH.D.

Today the one in the lounge is still there, so I looked up the meaning of butterfly again. I knew they meant big changes but wondered if there was something else I was missing.

Here’s what Stephen Farmer’s book  Animal Spirit Guides says:

If BUTTERFLY shows up it means:

  • Lighten up and stop taking everything so seriously.
  • Get ready for a big change, one where an old habit, way of thinking, or lifestyle is going out, and a new way of being is emerging.
  • It’s time to make the changes you’ve been considering.
  • In spite of the challenges, you’ll get through this transition, and as always, you know that ‘this too shall pass.’
  • Express yourself by wearing more colourful clothing.

I read the meanings to a friend and joked about the fact that I was wearing cream and black – hardly the most colourful of clothes. She suggested that I should speak to the butterfly and ask it what message(s) it had for me.

Oh yes, I became Mrs Doolittle. I spoke to the butterfly as it sat motionless on the window, as it had done for hours.

‘What’s with all the flapping and all the hanging around?’ I asked casually.

As if in answer it began flapping around, not as frenetically as on Sunday, but definitely flapping. When it opened its wings I noticed the black markings on the outside. It wasn’t just cream, it was black and cream. We matched! Not all butterflies are colourful. Then it was still again. Then another little flap, and a longer spell of stillness.

Then I swear it said to me, ‘I was a pupa before I became a butterfly, learn to be still. At the moment you need more stillness than activity. Be still.’

Have I officially flipped???