
I once had a dear aunt called Ivy, one of the leaves on my family tree.
Just before heading overseas for an indefinite period, she and my uncle came to say goodbye. She said, “you won’t forget us will you Kerry?” - for some reason this seemed like an important moment, one never forgotten.
“Of course not Aunty Ivy!” I smiled.
Years later, when I returned home from my overseas stay, sadly Ivy was the one who had forgotten - me and all those she loved. Her devoted husband cared for her until her Story Book as the character called Ivy, came to a close.
Ever restless, years passed and I wanted to roam again, yet at the same time anchored with guilt to remain in the UK. It just never felt like home. It was full of characters I loved, beautiful memories and the comfort of the familiar. But it wasn’t home. That was out there...somewhere. Pain and difficulty eventually helped me to leave, this time I felt like I was amputated from the family tree, not quite as bittersweet a parting as the first time.
Arriving in New Zealand, another Ivy waited for me. She was a white dog, a companion of destiny and I always felt like she was a big part of what I had come to find. We shared 13 years together. Read "Ever Caught a Mayan Wave?" to discover more about the powerful significance of our encounter.
Ivy the dog, soon became Jessie, renamed by my sons after the cowgirl rag doll in Toy Story.
Memories, sweet or sour they may be, but those precious fallen leaves of seasons passed, feed the life you and I live now. What would we be without our memories? As Aunty Ivy showed me and so many others like her today – we would be a vacant shell, staring into space, lost in time, often repeating the memories of times long passed.
It is said that memory is formed and given staying power through emotion. Anything novel stays with us, because it activates our emotional body. The senses enrich memory; colours, smells, sounds, tastes. Beautiful memories, tragic memories, traumatic memories – these are the ones that highlight our lives because so much emotion is attached to them.
So why would we forget...ourselves and everything we love? Have we allowed our senses to be dulled? Have we lost the ability to connect with new and novel experiences so that emotion can rise and glue a moment in time for us into place forever? Have we shut down and repressed our emotional body to such a degree that it’s powerful energy can’t do what it was designed to do? Have we stayed in safe and predictable circles of experience?
If time moves like the hands of a clock, repeating the same thing over and over again, dulling the senses, repressing the emotional, creative aspect of your true self, wouldn't it be all too easy to forget the days – 100’s, 1000’s of them blurring together with nothing significant to define them or create markers and signposts of a life richly lived.
To heal the wound of forgetting, enrich your brain and senses, engage in new relationships, let your emotions flow and step out of your comfort zone over and over again, so that your emotional, creative self can rise and leave markers on your life. Step back into Nature's waiting arms for you are her creation, made for a purpose.
Nature's embrace brings us back to a nurturing, repeating rhythm, that is nothing like the clock ticking our lives away. Nature is ever-changing and soulful, enriching the senses and engaging the emotional self. Our dear dog companion, Ivy - Jessie, filled our life with lessons, she was part of our family and will never be forgotten. The animals, the plants, the stones are part of Nature's miraculous kingdoms, here to share in and enrich the human experience. Nature helps us to remember our true nature. That we are all a part of something miraculous. If your senses have been dulled by monotony and routine - step outside, breathe deeply, be thankful for the memories that are still yours to hold. Then go and smell the roses, marvel at the ivy, and pick a sprig of rosemary, the herb of remembrance.
And commit to remembering the real you. Why are you here? What were you born for? May Nature and her infinite blessings remind you of what might have been forgotten.
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