Guest Blogger/Author Feature… The Magnificent Mark Lanesbury
September 4, 2017
Welcome my Divine brother… the Magnificent Mark Lanesbury to this quiet and sacred space for awakening Hearts to indulge in the wonder of each moment and find inspiration and support. IAM honoured to be able to share your beautiful presence… of Who YOU Truly Are… Mark with all my friends and family. It is so nice to have a face and body to put together with your writing, that i’ve enjoyed reading for the last few years.
For the ones who haven’t yet met Mark and read his heart felt words, you are in for a treat.
And eventually we do put ourselves first…not as we normally do in life, forcefully…but by understanding our fears, and giving a love to ourselves that we initially did not dare because of how we felt about ourselves. It is in putting us first instead of our fears… Mark Lanesbury
Mark lives in Australia, enjoying the warmer climate and bright sunlight, he loves nature in all its facets and just being part of life as it effortlessly meanders forward, forging new patterns in the sacred ground of Mother Earth. Mark has journeyed far and deep within himself, has felt all the pain, shed the tears and reaped the rewards… the Joy of the heart that he shares with sacred friends who are ready to Awaken and consciously walk their own journey.
You can find Mark through his WordPress Blog, Healing your Heart from Within. I personally love his enchanting words in The Journey that I know for sure will motivate you to explore your own answers to the questions…What’s going on? and What’s the point?
This site is for when life reaches the point where it just seems to be one long dark tunnel! Your coping has reached that point where you ask… ‘What is going on? I can’t do this any more! Is there an end to all this?’
It’s referred to as ‘The dark night of the soul’. A journey that tests who we REALLY are! And this is the place where I hope I can show you something that will give your ‘life’ some sense, and begin something that will start to bring some light and smiles back into who you are!
Mark shares his feelings on Compassion…
What an incredible word. It brings so much feeling to whatever it is applied to.
But…why is it that some people have it, and others appear to have none. Where is this switch that it can be on or off at the drop of a hat?
And that my dear friend’s is where the secret of compassions is.
We all have compassion because it is built on our ‘experiences’ in this life. And if we aren’t shown compassion in our journey, we find it difficult to show others. But it is very difficult to have true compassion for someone when they are struggling with something that we don’t truly understand, because we haven’t experienced it.
I would feel compassion for a man who is married, lost his job and has fourteen children and struggling to make ends meet…but, when I realise he sits around all day drinking and chatting to his friends with not a care in world, my compassion diminishes…why?
Because my upbringing in life tells me that I should put effort into things, to achieve by that effort and within those struggles to create what I want, is the path I should take. And I measure everyone else by that, realising that everyone does have different dreams and hopes in this world, so shouldn’t be judged by their different dreams or their efforts. But to actually sit around and not really try to do anything lowers my compassion because I only see laziness or a lack of effort.
So in judging this man, I confront him and say ‘what a life! I wish I could do this, lazing around drinking and chatting to friends all day, it would be fantastic’. To which he burst’s into tears, shows much emotion to this accusation. And then begins to tell me of his journey where as a fireman he had rushed into a building to save four people, two adults and two little children. He had brought them out but heard their calls for their pet dog, to which he went back in but was caught in a collapse and badly injured by breaking his back and burning his lungs. Hence the sitting around drinking and chatting was just his friends giving him compassion for what he had gone through. And the fact that he could no longer contribute to himself, family or community because of what had happened.
I would be stunned, my compassion going through the roof for this man that had put his life on the line for the safety of others.
So because of what I had seen and experienced in life, I was judging another, when in truth I had no idea.
My compassion has changed five times in relating the above story. But why?
Well, in saying the above, there is one more thing that drives our compassion more than any other thing in this world.
Yes, our experiences are a big driver. To experience something means we can have true compassion because we relate to it directly, and can then truly understand what another is experiencing. But even then there is one other thing that will affect our compassion, and by its very nature it is a block to all that we do.
Our world is built on ‘conditional’. Loaded with it. And as we grow up it will implant its fears in such a way that we become that ‘conditional’, avoiding many things because of their pain. And in doing so we ‘hold’ much emotion within…because of that pain, and the love that we feel we are losing or we don’t deserve. And those walls are a buffer to the one thing that this life is trying to teach us. To love ourselves!
We cannot give out what we cannot give to ourselves. We are a reflection of what we are. If you are angry, you give out anger. If you are sad, you give out sadness. You can cover it by ‘acting’ a certain way, but deep inside you are still the person that you are from your experiences.
So our compassion is built on our experiences and how we are able to reflect that into the world.
Now I’m going to rock your boat a little further. Spirit said to me…’We know everything, but we do not ‘know’ it!’. Meaning that as Spirit they too must experience this conditional world to understand ‘unconditional’ love. That is our whole purpose down here. It is the only thing we take back ‘up there’, the compassion and love that we experience and develop ‘down here’.
So I will tell you something that happened to me many years ago.
I was with a beautiful friend who was going through a very rough period with her diagnosis of being Bi-Polar. During this afternoon I was watching her escalate beyond anything I could even imagine, becoming angrier and more agitated as the afternoon went on…and as a healer I could ‘feel’ that struggle of this little frightened girl inside struggling to come out of this wilderness that she was in…and my heart just ‘opened’ with so much compassion, and my heart totally went out to her.
And the most incredible thing happened…I was suddenly no longer there, I was ‘somewhere’ that could touch and feel everything. I no longer needed to ask any questions…I ‘knew’. Time was irrelevant, and the most incredible love and compassion I could never put into words, I would diminish it if I tried. But the one thing I did know was…I had ‘let go’ of my worlds fears and totally gave from my heart to this friend from a place I ‘know’ is within us all, a place that is all our destinations as we experience everything on our individual paths. And to reach this place we ‘need’ to have ‘conditional’ so that we can then truly ‘know’ and understand ‘compassion’, to achieve that ‘unconditional’ place within us all. We cannot ‘know’ happiness, unless we ‘know’ sadness. We cannot ‘know’ compassion, unless we ‘know’ fear. We cannot ‘know’ unconditional, unless we ‘know’ conditional. They are all our experiences.
So my journey has been built on that understanding, that all that we do is guiding us ever closer to that unconditional love that we all seek. To find that happiness within that is built on our ability to find that compassion within all that we do. And do it we will, because all experiences show us more and more of who we truly are within, the beauty that is only a wall away from a freedom like no other, and that happiness that we all search for.
I no longer judge anyone…no, not even a murderer. They too have their journey that affects them and all around them…but it all has purpose, to find that heart within by ‘seeing’ and ‘experiencing’ and find that balance inside, the one that says go past my fear, understand that it is just in place so that I can ‘see’ the truth within, release the duality of not loving myself because of that fear, and find that oneness that will make us whole once more.
Mark’s photography… The beauty of his home Environment…
”Life and all its hardships, the rivers we do dare Traveling dangerous waters, captaining its glare The mastering of the winds, the swells of our pride The holding of our tiller, for there is nowhere else to hide But if I could but show, the beauty that dwells within The reality in this path, built from where we’ve been We see so much in our wake, but only through our fear All the while on lookout, glancing to the rear So grab that tiller firmer, know through this gale we go That the sails of this journey, need this truth to blow Find the hearts compass, point it as a guide Hold it with gratitude, for in there you know you’ve tried So seek out all your glory, venture to every port above For within that travel far and wide, is a journey full of love”.
~Mark Lanesbury
Mark’s Biography… I have been blessed with touching something that is initially unseen by this world. And when I was ready, it came knocking to see if I was listening. And when I was ready, going through one of the most tumultuous times in my life, I was at a place where I asked God, ‘Why?… what meaning was there in such a ‘dark night of the soul’ experience. Show me, at the least, some purpose in what we do’.
And God did.
I didn’t know it at the time, but I had made the decision in my life to have meaning in what I do, so I became a Remedial Massage Therapist to help heal others. And it was within those healings that I began to actually ‘see’ myself within others as they responded to me. And as this grew, from each fear that I faced and understood, the clearer I could ‘see’ and understand others. The more I opened my heart to myself, the more I could share that opening to others. And as each step was taken, spirit would show me many things to understand what this journey really means.
And with those incredible experiences is the one thing that spirit has always been very constant with…we are all here to find that self-love, it is what unconditional love is…that ability to no longer hold anything against ourselves, that negativity, self-loathing or fear because we feel we have been rejected by those we love and look up to as we have grown up. Always thinking deep down, ‘they don’t love me, there must be something wrong with me for them to treat me like that’ and not feeling loved because of those actions, and building emotional walls to block the pain that they cause. And we hold those doubts for a very long time, slowly simmering below the surface in all that we do.
Then along comes that event , a divorce or a death of someone very close, or a rejection from those we love, that will bring it rushing back up so that we can begin that journey to break free from our fear, a rebirth if you will, to finally understand and be released from its shackles…and touch that happiness we have always looked for.
And have that one compassion that always seemed to elude us…that compassion for ourselves.
Only then, in ‘knowing’ conditional, will we then ‘know’ unconditional, and a true compassion in all that we do.
Mark loves sharing his journey with others… I urge you to pop over, introduce yourself and enjoy his continued journey of the heart.
Thank you so much Mark for being YOU, for walking the path between Fear and Love, for your truth, support and inspiration that keeps us all going AND last but not least for your words on Compassion that I know will touch peoples hearts and allow openings to happen.
Do you want to be part of my Guest Blogger Feature… Your Magnificent Self? Every other Monday throughout this year, I will host a Guest Blogger/Author Feature and put YOU, my magnificent fellow Blogger/Author in the LIGHT. Not only this, I will feature your book/link to purchase in my website library and include your writing on Compassion in a FREE E-Book at the end of this year.
I know this is an incredible venture that is deeply impacting the world we live in.
For more information and how to apply, please read my post here.
Call to Action
Thanks for helping me share this Guest Blogger Feature with your friends… (Sorry I don’t have a reblog button as I host my own website… but maybe you could write an introduction and link back to this post?)
Together we can support each other and create an abundant, joyful and harmonious life.
Barbara Franken… Creative Visionary & MasterCreator Inspiring New Energy Consciousness
A paperback and Digital Book is available from all Major online stores… Amazon and Apple
I share my own magical journey, exploring Who I AM with the help of nine Elemental Beings and expand from a world of fear, struggle and limitation into a New Energy Consciousness of love, grace and freedom. It is in this loving space that I discover my Divine and ALL LOVING self and allow myself to integrate together as one Body Consciousness… a DivineHumanBeing… and Magnificent Master Creator who expresses and creates heart and soul passion on the physical plane and beyond.
Are you READY to dive deep within yourself and prepare for your new role as Master & Creator? As Earth & Humankind find themselves amidst great change and transformation… my MasterCreator Class guides you into unknown territory for you to create a life of freedom, compassion and celebration.
All the money raised from my books and classes goes to my non-profit Business The Magnificent Consciousness to help inspire others through creative expression to explore, discover and express the magnificent Consciousness each person truly is and their unique space in the heart of life.
Hi Denzil, lovely to feel your energy here too… Isn’t Mark just awesome, he really knows how to entertain the ❤️ heart. Thanks for joining this magnificent feature… Barbara
Thank you for your kind words Denzil…and no, I’m not a ghost writer. I think after this I might put this image as my proper profile. I just fell in love with the ‘stairway to heaven’ image I have used over the years 😀
Hi Brad, isn’t Mark just another treasure amongst us… and his words, so unique, know how to crack the heart… Thanks Brad for your support and indpiration, love Barbara x
Thank you Brad, your words are appreciated also. I have found that in expressing my journey it gives others something to ‘see’ and understand , instead of that constant fear in the background of not understanding what it all really means.
It may not resonate with some, but it gives a ‘view’, and like all views what stands out for us will be remembered. Thank you for sharing 😀
Thank you Barbara for your kindness of sharing a place here so I could share my journey. Your site has given such an awakening of your journey in the many posts you have shared and shows the possibilities that we can all allude to.
It also always has such a beautiful array of fellow bloggers showing the beauty and love of their journey’s in life, allowing us to ‘see’ and understand this wonderful journey on this great big beautiful world.
Again, many thanks for sharing your heart to allow me to be a part of your lovely world of Me, My Magnificent self, the one understanding we all strive for, the compassion and unconditional love of ourselves <3
Thankyou for your kind words Mark they make the heart all warm and mushy… and encourage me to further blossom on my journey and walk shoulder to shoulder with more and more fellow Divine brothers and sisters. It has been my pleasure to get to know you better and place you on the pedistoel for all to see #YourMagnificentSelf Much love Barbara ❤️
Thanks Misifusa for popping over to indulge in Mark and how lovingly handsome he is too… I remain grateful for all my divine friends here on WordPress who inspire and support each other. Love to you x Barbara x
And thank you for the visit Misifusa. Barbara always inspires us to stand in our truth and share what we have become <3
And thank you Barbara for your kind words, even if a little bashful in my reply. But love to you also 😀 <3
What a great post Barbara! Mark is a fantastic soul and his words are always beautiful and deeply touch your heart! We follow each other from long time, I am so happy to see him featured here on your wonderful Blog! <3 🙂
Thank you Carolina, your kind words are appreciated. Compassion touches us all in our many ways, reaching out to those in need as well as to ourselves as we slowly realise that love inside us all <3
And it has been a wonderful follow of your site as well my friend. Your art is a gift and it is a pleasure to watch each creation being born. So much so that I see you are doing commissions for people with their books etc, well done 😀 <3
Barbara, its wonderful that you Hosted Mark as a guest Blogger.. This was a wonderful piece of writing by Mark.. A friend for some years in our blogging world.. And it was so good to get to see a picture of himself too.
Mark, this was a profound piece of writing, and a journey. One that takes us through many situations and scenarios in order for us to learn compassion as we get to alter our perspectives, learn not to judge and to reach out to others..
But also as you have rightly said.. this journey is also teaching us to reach inward.. to our hearts.. And to learn to learn that we much also love ourselves.. All too often we leave ourselves at the bottom of the pile.. neglecting to see that its often our inability to nurture ourselves that holds us back from the true experience of Compassion.. As we learn to be compassionate with ourselves..
A wonderful insightful, thought provoking piece Mark.. and wonderful to read..
Thank you again Barbara for sharing Mark here so many more can value his wisdom..
Thank you Sue. Compassion is an incredible thing as it is built in our lives, and a reflection of what we have faced and understood within. And as life goes by it continually gets tested in our external relationships, slowly focusing on the one that we have with ourselves 😀
As painful as it can be as we go through those many things, it is a great indicator in how open we have become, to ourselves and others, and our ability to give that love and no longer be blocked by those fears we have built from our childhood days 😀
Thank you for sharing Sue, especially that love and compassion you now feel after your journey. May it always be filled with the love you have created in your many paths <3
Many thanks dear Mark.. It has been a wonderful journey, and the best bits is in meeting like-minded people like you and Barbara and others here on our blog sites, that understand the ebbs and flows and that we are constantly learning and growing, and that no obstacle in our path is restricting, it only comes to test us, to show us how we can over come and and continue more surefooted..
Love and Blessings.
Sue xxx <3
Hello Sue, lovely to see you here at our compassionate party… parading Mark this week! I remain starry eyed at everyone’s story of compassion, so many unique perspectives that resonate and I know for your help opens people’s heart to a little more self-love. Thanks as always for your thoughtful words x barbara x
You had me back and forth with the fireman story! Made me realize if my compassion is based on judgement, it’s not very solid. Should just be compassion for the human condition . . .
It was just to show how the conditions and fears of our journey affect our love.
It is when we finally realise that it is in moving past these fears that only then can we truly love ourselves. And also because we have experienced this ourselves, and in releasing them, we can be totally open and fully compassionate to others then, because we now understand those fears in ourselves.
Thank you for sharing Kay, firemen will never be the same for you again 😀 <3
Yes now I do see you don’t have hair yet even though that is true your Presence is far from bald. It is bold and gentle and bright and calm. SO good to SEE you!
Your words as always are so insightful and deep. And true. It always starts with Self doesn’t it, Mark? I’m always saying if we don’t understand by experiencing what the other is living then we really don’t know how to show appropriate Compassion. Beautiful post, dear friend. Just so well written and so well thought out. And this part ….
“Then along comes that event , a divorce or a death of someone very close, or a rejection from those we love, that will bring it rushing back up so that we can begin that journey to break free from our fear, a rebirth if you will, to finally understand and be released from its shackles…and touch that happiness we have always looked for.”
stopped me in my tracks and really got me thinking. Because all of that dysfunction that I THOUGHT to be put to light is now all over me like a bad skin rash. That shows me there is just more to sift through on a deeper level and when all is said and done, I will have gained much growth and much wisdom. I have touched Real Happiness, dear friend. I know it. I had a conversation with one of my bio sis’s recently when she said she believed we were put on this earth not to ever experience real happiness. I so totally disagree with her and I told her so. I’ve know that Happiness and at times it puts me into such Bliss, such Glory, that my feet barely touch the ground. Right now I don’t know it for the acute pain in my Heart but I know I KNOW it shall return. Yes another Dark Night of the Soul for me and though so hard as you well know, I will make it through. Thank YOU for this most excellent and inspirational piece of writing, Mark. You look wonderful FYI. Peace is all around you! 💝
Thank you Amy, your compliment is taken with gratitude kind lady, and the love it was given <3
My mosquito aerodrome on top is for letting the heat out if I'm thinking too much 😀
But seriously, our journey does have a magnificent compassion behind it all, so that we can relate so beautifully to ourselves and others. But first that dark night of the soul, so that we 'can' see us, and understand why we are holding so much pain in our walls. And in that understanding is a love like nothing else. You have now 'touched' that love within by that lovely connection with your mom and understanding the why behind all that time apart.
You now can relate to others with so much compassion because of it, and more so to yourself because you are now beginning to realise the journey you have completed within yourself, opening that lovely heart to a time that is for the first time, fear free. As you understand the 'why' behind those fears they begin to fall away, finally losing their grip on you as your understanding reduces their power.
My major fear was confronted a few years ago, but even now it will rear its head to 'see' if I have resolved it within myself, and each time its power becomes more and more diminished. Our fears take a lifetime to face, and more years to let it go…depending on how we face them.
Initially I went…ok, I can see that now, but hadn't given myself time to resolve it within myself so when it came up again, it still hurt but no longer that awful, painful pull back that I used to face it with. Now I nod my head to myself, smile in recognition as it slides on by, and walk on. Until I know its appearance will no longer register as anything but the knowledge that I have gained much love, wisdom and compassion because of that journey, and the understanding that it was given to me so that I could become that unconditional love, and happiness I have always sought in my life. Only ever something that seemed impossible to obtain.
But it is there Amy, I have felt it in all its glory, leaving me in the most incredible tears because of its touch, and much compassion because I can now very much relate to our journey and see it in us all. The journey is given with a great love. Hard, but so much more appreciated because of what we have endured. And as we open up from years of being 'closed' everything begins to change, even the air smells differently, the bird sounds become a chorus to listen to…and love…it comes from an newly opened heart, no longer from behind a wall that blocked us from so many things.
Just take your time my friend, your heart wants that compassion for you. It has given much but now it wants you to heal and become the truth of that love <3
That’s ok Amy, just be gentle with yourself, your trying to digest something that may not have fully ‘opened’ yet, after many years of being in that holding pattern. You’ve begun the journey by that re connection with your mom, which has asked you to look deeper as you realise the meanings behind it. You will also ‘see’ within you bits that you’ve done for years, lose their appeal because you are changing and becoming something more clearer and open. And it can make you feel a little lost and unsure, but that is only you letting go of what was ‘safe’ in your life which will now no longer have meaning, and beginning to create what you do want in your life because of what you have found with your mom, and that takes time.
But above all will be the clearing of the heart, as all of the above leads to it. You have dared your pain and removed its walls and opened to yourself, stepped through its pain to finally be with your mom. That takes great courage, and from a spiritual sense, something you and your mom chose to do so that you both have been able to ‘see’ that love blossom again.
She has left you a great gift, just as you did for her. Yes, it is painful but required so that you will look within, just as she did after you reconnected with her.
One step at a time. Take your daily walks, even if only for 10m minutes, it will clear you. And talk about how you feel…not what you think is expected of you, but what has true meaning…and forget ‘others’ at the moment, this is asking you to find you, the most important person there is.
Your mom is now in a very beautiful place, safe and held in much love. Now be gentle with yourself for a while and give that love to you <3
33 Comments
Join the discussion and tell us your opinion.
Great to see Mark “in person”. Thanks for featuring him and his work; he has a lot to offer through his insights.
Hi Denzil, lovely to feel your energy here too… Isn’t Mark just awesome, he really knows how to entertain the ❤️ heart. Thanks for joining this magnificent feature… Barbara
Thank you for your kind words Denzil…and no, I’m not a ghost writer. I think after this I might put this image as my proper profile. I just fell in love with the ‘stairway to heaven’ image I have used over the years 😀
Another great guest interview Barbara. I appreciate Mark’s story and views on compassion.
Hi Brad, isn’t Mark just another treasure amongst us… and his words, so unique, know how to crack the heart… Thanks Brad for your support and indpiration, love Barbara x
Thank you Brad, your words are appreciated also. I have found that in expressing my journey it gives others something to ‘see’ and understand , instead of that constant fear in the background of not understanding what it all really means.
It may not resonate with some, but it gives a ‘view’, and like all views what stands out for us will be remembered. Thank you for sharing 😀
Agreed Mark. I believe that sharing our insights and vulnerabilities helps others.
[…] To read this guest post on compassion at Barbara’s site, please click here… ‘Compassion!’ […]
Thank you Barbara for your kindness of sharing a place here so I could share my journey. Your site has given such an awakening of your journey in the many posts you have shared and shows the possibilities that we can all allude to.
It also always has such a beautiful array of fellow bloggers showing the beauty and love of their journey’s in life, allowing us to ‘see’ and understand this wonderful journey on this great big beautiful world.
Again, many thanks for sharing your heart to allow me to be a part of your lovely world of Me, My Magnificent self, the one understanding we all strive for, the compassion and unconditional love of ourselves <3
Thankyou for your kind words Mark they make the heart all warm and mushy… and encourage me to further blossom on my journey and walk shoulder to shoulder with more and more fellow Divine brothers and sisters. It has been my pleasure to get to know you better and place you on the pedistoel for all to see #YourMagnificentSelf Much love Barbara ❤️
Barbara, thanks for sharing Mark’s blog on yours today! Mark, great post! So lovely to see you as well!
Thanks Misifusa for popping over to indulge in Mark and how lovingly handsome he is too… I remain grateful for all my divine friends here on WordPress who inspire and support each other. Love to you x Barbara x
And thank you for the visit Misifusa. Barbara always inspires us to stand in our truth and share what we have become <3
And thank you Barbara for your kind words, even if a little bashful in my reply. But love to you also 😀 <3
What a great post Barbara! Mark is a fantastic soul and his words are always beautiful and deeply touch your heart! We follow each other from long time, I am so happy to see him featured here on your wonderful Blog! <3 🙂
Thank you Carolina, your kind words are appreciated. Compassion touches us all in our many ways, reaching out to those in need as well as to ourselves as we slowly realise that love inside us all <3
And it has been a wonderful follow of your site as well my friend. Your art is a gift and it is a pleasure to watch each creation being born. So much so that I see you are doing commissions for people with their books etc, well done 😀 <3
Thank you Mark I always love to read what you write and follow your Blog has been a great enrichment of the soul! 🙂
Carolina so lovely to feel your presence here… doesn’t Mark just know how to touch our hearts… Thankyou for your kind words x love to you, Barbara x
Thank you Barbara is always lovely and inspiring to read your posts! Love to you too <3
Barbara, its wonderful that you Hosted Mark as a guest Blogger.. This was a wonderful piece of writing by Mark.. A friend for some years in our blogging world.. And it was so good to get to see a picture of himself too.
Mark, this was a profound piece of writing, and a journey. One that takes us through many situations and scenarios in order for us to learn compassion as we get to alter our perspectives, learn not to judge and to reach out to others..
But also as you have rightly said.. this journey is also teaching us to reach inward.. to our hearts.. And to learn to learn that we much also love ourselves.. All too often we leave ourselves at the bottom of the pile.. neglecting to see that its often our inability to nurture ourselves that holds us back from the true experience of Compassion.. As we learn to be compassionate with ourselves..
A wonderful insightful, thought provoking piece Mark.. and wonderful to read..
Thank you again Barbara for sharing Mark here so many more can value his wisdom..
Love Sue xxx <3
Thank you Sue. Compassion is an incredible thing as it is built in our lives, and a reflection of what we have faced and understood within. And as life goes by it continually gets tested in our external relationships, slowly focusing on the one that we have with ourselves 😀
As painful as it can be as we go through those many things, it is a great indicator in how open we have become, to ourselves and others, and our ability to give that love and no longer be blocked by those fears we have built from our childhood days 😀
Thank you for sharing Sue, especially that love and compassion you now feel after your journey. May it always be filled with the love you have created in your many paths <3
Many thanks dear Mark.. It has been a wonderful journey, and the best bits is in meeting like-minded people like you and Barbara and others here on our blog sites, that understand the ebbs and flows and that we are constantly learning and growing, and that no obstacle in our path is restricting, it only comes to test us, to show us how we can over come and and continue more surefooted..
Love and Blessings.
Sue xxx <3
Thankfully it slowly builds that beauty in us all Sue. Thank you for sharing your love here <3 😀
💜💜
Hello Sue, lovely to see you here at our compassionate party… parading Mark this week! I remain starry eyed at everyone’s story of compassion, so many unique perspectives that resonate and I know for your help opens people’s heart to a little more self-love. Thanks as always for your thoughtful words x barbara x
You are most welcome Barbara xx
You had me back and forth with the fireman story! Made me realize if my compassion is based on judgement, it’s not very solid. Should just be compassion for the human condition . . .
I agree Kay, Mark’s words gave us all something to mull over… lovely to have you here… your turn next! Love barbara x
It was just to show how the conditions and fears of our journey affect our love.
It is when we finally realise that it is in moving past these fears that only then can we truly love ourselves. And also because we have experienced this ourselves, and in releasing them, we can be totally open and fully compassionate to others then, because we now understand those fears in ourselves.
Thank you for sharing Kay, firemen will never be the same for you again 😀 <3
👨🚒
Yes now I do see you don’t have hair yet even though that is true your Presence is far from bald. It is bold and gentle and bright and calm. SO good to SEE you!
Your words as always are so insightful and deep. And true. It always starts with Self doesn’t it, Mark? I’m always saying if we don’t understand by experiencing what the other is living then we really don’t know how to show appropriate Compassion. Beautiful post, dear friend. Just so well written and so well thought out. And this part ….
“Then along comes that event , a divorce or a death of someone very close, or a rejection from those we love, that will bring it rushing back up so that we can begin that journey to break free from our fear, a rebirth if you will, to finally understand and be released from its shackles…and touch that happiness we have always looked for.”
stopped me in my tracks and really got me thinking. Because all of that dysfunction that I THOUGHT to be put to light is now all over me like a bad skin rash. That shows me there is just more to sift through on a deeper level and when all is said and done, I will have gained much growth and much wisdom. I have touched Real Happiness, dear friend. I know it. I had a conversation with one of my bio sis’s recently when she said she believed we were put on this earth not to ever experience real happiness. I so totally disagree with her and I told her so. I’ve know that Happiness and at times it puts me into such Bliss, such Glory, that my feet barely touch the ground. Right now I don’t know it for the acute pain in my Heart but I know I KNOW it shall return. Yes another Dark Night of the Soul for me and though so hard as you well know, I will make it through. Thank YOU for this most excellent and inspirational piece of writing, Mark. You look wonderful FYI. Peace is all around you! 💝
Thank you Amy, your compliment is taken with gratitude kind lady, and the love it was given <3
My mosquito aerodrome on top is for letting the heat out if I'm thinking too much 😀
But seriously, our journey does have a magnificent compassion behind it all, so that we can relate so beautifully to ourselves and others. But first that dark night of the soul, so that we 'can' see us, and understand why we are holding so much pain in our walls. And in that understanding is a love like nothing else. You have now 'touched' that love within by that lovely connection with your mom and understanding the why behind all that time apart.
You now can relate to others with so much compassion because of it, and more so to yourself because you are now beginning to realise the journey you have completed within yourself, opening that lovely heart to a time that is for the first time, fear free. As you understand the 'why' behind those fears they begin to fall away, finally losing their grip on you as your understanding reduces their power.
My major fear was confronted a few years ago, but even now it will rear its head to 'see' if I have resolved it within myself, and each time its power becomes more and more diminished. Our fears take a lifetime to face, and more years to let it go…depending on how we face them.
Initially I went…ok, I can see that now, but hadn't given myself time to resolve it within myself so when it came up again, it still hurt but no longer that awful, painful pull back that I used to face it with. Now I nod my head to myself, smile in recognition as it slides on by, and walk on. Until I know its appearance will no longer register as anything but the knowledge that I have gained much love, wisdom and compassion because of that journey, and the understanding that it was given to me so that I could become that unconditional love, and happiness I have always sought in my life. Only ever something that seemed impossible to obtain.
But it is there Amy, I have felt it in all its glory, leaving me in the most incredible tears because of its touch, and much compassion because I can now very much relate to our journey and see it in us all. The journey is given with a great love. Hard, but so much more appreciated because of what we have endured. And as we open up from years of being 'closed' everything begins to change, even the air smells differently, the bird sounds become a chorus to listen to…and love…it comes from an newly opened heart, no longer from behind a wall that blocked us from so many things.
Just take your time my friend, your heart wants that compassion for you. It has given much but now it wants you to heal and become the truth of that love <3
I read this … just not able to reply. 💖
That’s ok Amy, just be gentle with yourself, your trying to digest something that may not have fully ‘opened’ yet, after many years of being in that holding pattern. You’ve begun the journey by that re connection with your mom, which has asked you to look deeper as you realise the meanings behind it. You will also ‘see’ within you bits that you’ve done for years, lose their appeal because you are changing and becoming something more clearer and open. And it can make you feel a little lost and unsure, but that is only you letting go of what was ‘safe’ in your life which will now no longer have meaning, and beginning to create what you do want in your life because of what you have found with your mom, and that takes time.
But above all will be the clearing of the heart, as all of the above leads to it. You have dared your pain and removed its walls and opened to yourself, stepped through its pain to finally be with your mom. That takes great courage, and from a spiritual sense, something you and your mom chose to do so that you both have been able to ‘see’ that love blossom again.
She has left you a great gift, just as you did for her. Yes, it is painful but required so that you will look within, just as she did after you reconnected with her.
One step at a time. Take your daily walks, even if only for 10m minutes, it will clear you. And talk about how you feel…not what you think is expected of you, but what has true meaning…and forget ‘others’ at the moment, this is asking you to find you, the most important person there is.
Your mom is now in a very beautiful place, safe and held in much love. Now be gentle with yourself for a while and give that love to you <3