Sebastian sends me a message

Dear Diary,

Yesterday was such an amazingly beautiful day.  I did manage to dead head a lot of the iris but I also made time to go sit in the meditation garden.  In the little brick sitting area I found a calling card from Sebastian the snake.

I have these stones scattered throughout the circular garden with words inscribed on them.  All of them have been given to me and I love them.  Right beside the one that says "simplify" was Sebastian's cast off skin.  Every year I look for it and I even collected one that sits on my window sill along with other found objects from nature.

The message was very clear.  We outgrow things and we must put them aside if we are to continue to grow.  What worked for us at 20 or 30 seems silly and unnecessary at 60.  Now, a quiet hour in the garden with my flowers and birdsong is all I need.  Simplify your "needs" and you will always be happy.

I chose a meditation to read and it was about telling our stories, what Joan Chittister calls "harvesting your life".  I have her book The Gift of Years and from it I have taken the meditations to read in the garden.  I thought it was a timely one given the exhibition I just saw.

So, all in all, a perfect day and today is looking just as nice...we're on a roll!