The wonderful Whitespring

It's Sunday morning and I'm getting ready for the day ahead. Today starts as it always does but it's a special Sunday so I wake up with a feeling of gratitude and anticipation of what the afternoon will bring. You see, this is my Sunday to keep the sacred space at The Whitespring in Glastonbury. It is something I never thought I would be fortunate enough to do and to be given the opportunity is simply amazing.
So jumping in the shower starts my preparation because every time it is our Sunday at The Whitespring I quietly state my intent as the water flows over me. I know that every time we go there it is different but one thing never changes and that is my intent~ to be ‘present’ for the duration of my time there. It ensures that I can be open to the energies there and know what is required of me for that particular day.
By the time I've packed my bag and checked I have matches, tea lights, incense and of course lunch it's time to go. Without fail I have to smile with sheer pride as we open up those bright "Whitespring blue" doors. I can’t contain my excitement as we close the door behind us and it's just me, the darkness, the powerful waters and the unique energies of the wonderful Whitespring. It's time to greet this sacred space and prepare for all those who visit today. I have a little ritual now for lighting up and kind of know intuitively what needs to be done. As the tealights and candles are all lit the space is transformed and the incense starts to rise above the bigger central pool creating a white mystical cloud. It's time to welcome our visitors.
Each time I have been there I have shared this sacred space with many people. Some are regular visitors and they are focused on their own intent for the time they are there. But I love it when people peep tentatively through the doors and wonder what is in there! When they venture in and their eyes adjust they are amazed at what they see and gasp with delight that they have found this wonderful place. I remember one time when a lady was unsure of her footing on the steps so I took her hand to guide her. When she stepped down from the last step she looked up at the beautiful sight that met her, she squeezed my hand, looked at me and was speechless. That same day a very young couple very sweetly asked if they were allowed to come in, to which I answered "of course" with a welcoming smile. They had lots of questions and kept coming back to me with more because they were so enchanted with their find. They watched inquisitively as people bathed and chanted serenely in the pool before they left. They came back a while later, took off their shoes, rolled up their jeans and stood hand and hand in the pool. They were obviously very much in love and were happily singing ballads to each other which sounded so lovely. So many lovely visitors and so many wonderful stories of why they are there that day and it is very humbling to hear them. Those days at The Whitespring’s make my heart sing!
Every time I am keeping I feel such a strong desire to nurture all those who go and to help them get the most from their visit. Some travel so far to experience what is on our doorstep and I live with eternal gratitude for the role that we have there and the gift that we have been given. I love it there and like ALL of the volunteer keepers it really is genuinely for the love of it!

Today I am glad to just be!

I am prompted to write my blog after a quiet day of contemplation. This day feels very significant, it feels different somehow. It has been a day of Remembrance all round I guess with it being Armistice Day but also my thoughts turned again to last weekend on the M5. For me this day is shrouded in mystery, with talk of 11.11.11 and the potent Full Moon. I feel a change, a shift within myself through an increasing consciousness of certain elements in me and I know others who are feeling the same. This year has been life changing in very many ways, not just for me but for my friends and I am definitely sensing the beginnings of a return to simplicity in life for us all.

I feel the need to share something with you. A week ago my heart went out to all those affected by the M5 crash. As the true extent of the horror unravelled I felt a gut wrenching knot in my stomach just thinking about the families who had to go through the trauma of hearing that knock at their door to be told their loved one had died. You see, as a family we had been through that very scenario exactly eleven years ago today, though it feels like only yesterday. For our family, the families whose loved ones died in the M5 crash and any other family who has gone through this it changes life for ever beyond what you could imagine! I started to re-live my own experience of back then with such a strong desire to hold those families close, to comfort them and tell them that I and many more share their grief, that they are not alone.

I work with death every day yet it did not prepare me for the journey I was to make, and still make, eleven years later. My work also did not prepare me for the cyclical nature of grief either, which I suddenly became conscious of last weekend. I tell people every day that grief is a cycle of phases that we revisit at different times in our lives. Yet to my surprise I forgot that this also applied to me! Watching the events of last weekend on the M5 took me back to a place that I did not want to go. I went to bed that night and cried so much for their loss and mine from eleven years ago and I felt something sink within me again. So now, I find myself on a journey again to find my place in the world that I feel is too full of material things, possessions, cruelty and greed. I am reminded again of what is important in life through letting go of someone so precious. As a family we all appreciate our love for each other and if our loss taught us anything it is to never take each other for granted but to treasure what we have. Life is fragile but in Death there is always rebirth: the wheel of life where the flow of existence is never ending.

So,my message in what I write here is to show kindness, compassion and understanding to everyone around you. We are here just a short time sharing the same planet, all of us on a journey and none of us knows what the person next to us has lived through or is living through. Everyone has a life story beyond what you see on the surface! Let’s all slow down and really “see” what is around us.