Dear Word Weavers –
Early this month, on the Celtic calendar, we had the festival of Imbolc, known as a time of new beginnings. Well, we in the Southern Hemisphere did. In the North of the world, it was Lughnasadh, or Lammas: the meaning not so different, perhaps, as that too is a time of seasonal change.
Because Imbolc looks forward to the coming of Spring, we think of it as welcoming the new beginnings. For instance my irises have already been blooming, always a joy.
As some of you who are on facebook or Instagram already know, my dear little Burmese cat, Poppi, aged 15, died in the first week of August. After just a few days of symptoms that concerned me, she had a sudden seizure in the vet’s arms before she could even be tested – indicating a brain tumour. ‘Nothing anyone could have done,’ I’m told. I have since learned that such tumours are not uncommon in cats of that age: slow-growing, benign, but eventually getting too big for the brain space. (The cause remains a mystery.)
I’m glad that it was very quick, and that life had taught her to trust she would be loved and looked after. She had passed a comfortable night and enjoyed her breakfast.
So my life has changed – just like that. My time and attention were very focused on her for these last five years since she came to live with me. Now, there’s no need to consider her wellbeing at all – taking care not to leave objects in the way of her walking or resting; being conscious whether particular doors are open or closed; planning to be at home as much as possible during her waking hours; keeping stocked up with her food … and so on.
Change can be complex. I am in the middle of grief, of course. Also I find I am getting more done – partly from my usual strategy of keeping busy when dealing with grief, and partly because I simply have more time available now that I’m freed of that responsibility (though it was one I was only too willing to embrace).
It happens that there are a few other changes going on as well – re-organising my home, including an early spring clean; adaptations to my exercise program; my pharmacist and various practitioners I see all moving (independently) to new locations; my body dictating changes to how I sleep, from decades curled on my side to becoming a back sleeper (and finding I sleep much more soundly); and a forthcoming exciting reunion with a whole family of long-lost cousins I haven't seen since they were children.
Do you have any major changes happening at present? Or even little ones? (Probably. After all, we are told that ‘change is the only constant.’) Possibly the idea of change sends you back in your mind to some – or a particular one – which took place in the past? Perhaps you are not focused on personal changes so much as the big global ones ... or maybe those in your neighbourhood?
Your optional prompt this week is to tell us about change, whatever it calls to mind for you just now. Or serve us up something you’ve previously written on the subject.
Guidelines: Poetry or prose, new or old, on topic or not, 365 words maximum (excluding title and notes). One post per person, please, and link to that post on your blog via Mister Linky below. (‘Mister Kinky,’ said autocorrect. Hmm … I’ll leave that with you.) As always, do please read and acknowledge your fellow-participants; and you may also talk to us in the Comments section below.
Next week
