Everywhere you go...always take the weather with you...Crowded House

on the way back from the farm, near San Gregorio-a beautiful day and view -high energy!

Calogero, one of my hosts and the wonderful "Panda"

Fresh Artichokes, another amazing meal at the B and B

Beach at Capo D'Orlando

Some of the rubbish I collected from the beach-energy shifted

the view from my "Qi Gong" spot- amazing energy!

Capo D’Orlando Friday 25^th March

Most of us have a certain energy that we bring to whatever situation we encounter. We may not be aware of how other people “feel” us, but we usually make a judgement about other people based on the energy we pick up from them.

Often we connect with people who are a similar fit to us, energetically speaking.

Some of us are thunderstorms waiting to unleash our lightning and thunder. Regardless of whether the situation calls for it or not, we adopt a defensive position, perceiving everything (and everyone) as a potential threat and so are poised to strike and defend just in case. Other people are by nature like a summer shower, eagerly awaited and refreshing. Some people are like a spring day, hopeful and inspiring and brimming with possibility. Winter energy can be bitterly cold and can also be felt as a kind of disconnection, while relentless heat and humidity can be exhausting. No energy is “bad” or “good” but its impact on the person receiving and generating it can vary.

I am not talking about “energy” in any esoteric way here. There is no question that we are energetic beings. Our very existence depends on it. When someone “flat lines” medically speaking life is extinct because there is no electrical impulse, no energy circulating in our physical body.

All emotions are a kind of energy state; consider the energy of love, curiosity, fear, greed, loss, excitement and anger. Imagine yourself in that state or being close to someone else in that state and then tell me that energy is not palpable!

Some of us are more aware of, and/or sensitive to our own and other’s energy. The more aware we are of our own energetic tendency, and what energy we are bringing into a particular situation, the more we can retain or regain equilibrium during challenging times and recognise what impact our own energy state can have on a situation and its outcome.

By nature I am optimistic, energetic and creative. However, I can also be gloomy, melancholic and introspective at times although I rarely stay in negative states for long.

I have learned that some things deplete my energy, and others increase it. I have also learned that my energy can be affected by physical, emotional, mental and spiritual factors and that equally I can affect my energy levels by making changes in any of these areas. For example physical energy can be affected by the type and quantity of food I eat, the exercise I do and the length and quality of sleep I get. Mental energy can be affected by the number and kind of thoughts I have each day and how often and how easily I can switch from thinking into my sensory world. My emotional energy is affected by doing things that make me feel good, (not just things that are temporarily pleasurable but that give me a sense of efficacy and connection) and are aligned and congruent with my core values, the things that are really important to me. My spiritual energy comes from a sense of connection with myself, with others, and particularly with nature. For other people spiritual connection may come from a connection with spirit, God or a higher being. 

Yesterday I was walking along the beach here at Capo as usual, listening to Italian music and looking out across the water to the Aeolian Islands.

Initially my energy was high. I felt happy and relaxed and was enjoying the music and the solitude. Then I noticed plastic bags, bottles, shoes and other rubbish littering the beach, the more I walked the more rubbish I saw. I became aware of my thoughts and feelings and that my energy was shifting. For a while I tried to ignore the situation, focusing on the music and the crystal clear water in the distance, but then after nearly stepping on yet another pile of dog shit that was left on the path, I got angry (Don’t these people realise they are shitting in their own bathtub?) then I felt impotent (what can I do about it?) Then I decided that I had to actually do something about it.

This morning, I got up early and walked along the waterfront to a small house that my sister and her husband will rent for a week in August. I decided that this would be my bit of the beach, the place I would adopt and clean up, and in doing so I can not only make a small contribution to this place but also do something that makes me feel good. As I started to sift through the various rubbish (plastic bags and bottles, cigarette packets, odd shoes, construction debris, syringes, plastic tops, cans etc into a pile for later collection, I noticed that my energy was high.

It is now late afternoon. The sun is starting to set. It has been a wonderful day. I have driven the fiat panda to a farm in the Nebrodi hills that was only accessible via a steep narrow track (the panda had to stay in first gear just to make it to the top!). There I met with a “client”, a young woman whose energy is sorely depleted after enduring a number of painful losses. She has had some symptoms of mental illness but my sense is that she has been feeling very isolated and disconnected in the home of her in-laws. She told me of her love of painting. It is the one time she feels good, confident and capable. Later we went for a walk to find wild asparagus and she proudly told me of her mushrooming skills as well. Her energy shifted noticeably as she described how she could find the mushrooms even when they were underground. She showed me what plants to look out for to find the wild asparagus and I was so excited when I eventually found just 1! We returned to the farm and had delicious home made pork and fennel sausages (I know, I know …I am a situational almost vegetarian at times) cooked on a small barbecue with home made bread, chillies and local sardines.

Sitting there in the company of those simple, hardworking , hospitable people, with a belly full of delicious food, looking out across a fertile valley to the distant sea, the sound of my hosts laughing and telling stories and a few forests birds calling out to each other, having spent some time in the company of a young woman in need of acknowledgment and kindness and feeling proud of my solitary wild asparagus find, I felt privileged ,  and a deep sense of connection and that energy stayed with me for the rest of the day

A presto

Mon x