UBC Day 27 - Paying It Forward

Ultimate Blogging Challenge Day 27

Almost at an end

Many new blogs discovered

Travelling is fun

The April Ultimate Blogging Challenge and the A to Z 2014 Challenge is nearly at an end. I discovered many new blogs but the ones I enjoyed a lot were the travel blogs. So here they are:

Eli's blog Expatliv 

Debbie's blog The Doglady's den

Rajlakshmi's blog Oh Snap

But I must also showcase the following blog, described in my haiku

And then there were dogs

Hope in times of great despair

Carol's Battered Hope

Do check out these awesome blogs.


The Jigsaw Pieces of my journey so far

Check out some blogs participating in the AtoZ Challenge


Written for: The Ultimate Blogging Challenge


Drop by my facebook page Suzy's Ilation and if any of your posts needs some tlc, leave a link there and I'll drop by and give it some love.

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Warm Regards

Life's Jigsaw - Soul

Life is like a jigsaw puzzle. Each little piece is an aspect of our journey through it. And when at last we find that last piece and fit it into place, we eventually see the meaning of this life.

UBC Day 22
The S Piece - Soul

Note that all thoughts in this post are merely my thoughts and beliefs.

Our ultimate relationship is with the Divine. So how do we start that relationship?  I believe we do that through our soul.

Over the years the words, know yourself, love yourself, go within to find yourself, forgive yourself, be your true self, be your authentic self etc,  came at me through many discourses and blogs. I simply could not understand these concepts. How does one love oneself or know oneself or forgive oneself, be authentic, be real, go within. Go within?  - where, how?

Then the theories that we are really our souls, that the physical body is just that a body. That the soul controls all. The idea that we are not us (the physical self) but we are our soul somehow didn't feel quite right. If we are indeed only our souls then why are we always in disharmony with life, after all the soul is all knowing and all loving and peaceful. And how do we explain heinous acts that occur? That could not be an all loving, peaceful and caring entity.

I do believe that the soul is immortal and a spiritual entity that has probably lived many lives via many bodies and that it is ever loving, ever knowing entity. But the ideas that the physical self and the spiritual self are merged entities or that my physical self is only defined by my soul, I constantly questioned.

And so I concluded (for myself only) that the physical self and the spiritual self (or soul) are indeed two separate entities. For the soul to grow and experience life on earth it requires a body and for a body to be a living conscious entity it requires a soul. The relationship between the two is coexistent.

Now the idea of going within, of loving ourselves, of forgiving ourselves, of being our authentic self starts to make sense because our physical self can seek its soul and emulate it.

The physical self is controlled by our minds, circumstances and the choices we make.The soul is our life guide, our compass, our source of wisdom beyond the physical world, our source of Divine love. And when the physical self is in harmony with our soul, when it can tap into its love and wisdom and when it is prepared to be guided by it, then life is in harmony and the soul takes us towards that Divine source. Because meeting that Divine source is our soul's ultimate purpose.

These 2 poems that I wrote on my poetry blog Reflections Of My Soul depict my thoughts regarding the relationship between our physical self and our soul:

The Mirror Of My Soul

The mirror of my soul my moments reflect

Not just of this life but of sojourns in time

Somehow I know but ever warily suspect

But like a nurturing mother she repeats the mime

If only I look and heed her care

For she is the essence of His love

And yet I rebel and ignore and dare

And close my eyes to her and above

Gently she coaxes and shows me the way

Patience epitomised love never wavering

Until at last in my life breaks that day

When I finally understand my soul's labouring

The mirror of my soul my moments reflect

Not just of this life but of sojourns in time

My soul I am blessed, for you I have met

Now the journey with you in this life is sublime

Running With Me

I can't get away from myself by moving from one place to another

My load I carry everywhere, that much I know

No matter where I run it's never going to be further

For with me I travel wherever I go

I don't know what you look like or from whence you came

But without you I would be lost, that much I know

What would my life be if your guidance you refrain

My life would be more ebb and less of the flow

Wherever I travel, I blend in with the landscape

For earth is my present home, that much I know

My travels with you, my soul, my life does reshape

And through my adventures you learn and you grow

I wish I knew the reason for this life's quest

But you know all lifetimes, that much I know

And each step that I take is a cause and effect

And of journeys you planned a long time ago.

May your journey with your soul in this life be sublime.


The Jigsaw Pieces of my journey so far

Check out some blogs participating in the AtoZ Challenge


Written for: A to Z Challenge and The Ultimate Blogging Challenge


Drop by my facebook page Suzy's Ilation and if any of your posts needs some tlc, leave a link there and I'll drop by and give it some love.

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Warm Regards

UBC Day 20 - Paying it Forward

Life is like a jigsaw puzzle. Each little piece is an aspect of our journey through it. And when at last we find that last piece and fit it into place, we eventually see the meaning of this life.

Some old and some new

Bloggers known or discovered 

All hidden treasures

Featuring some bloggers from the AtoZers group. Some bloggers I've known for a while and some I've newly discovered

Janaki - I love Janaki's poetry but I'm also enjoying her AtoZ prose

Jean's fake words and fake meanings and some awesome sketches

Sulekha's story in 26 parts each starting with a letter of the alphabet and written in 55 words

Nabanita's short stories with emotions beginning with the letter of the day

Cynthia's series on Sermons in Stones - voices that speak

Vasudha didn't reveal a theme but her posts usually have a social or cultural aspect to it.


Do drop by and enjoy these blogs


Written for: The Ultimate Blogging Challenge


Drop by my facebook page Suzy's Ilation and if any of your posts needs some tlc, leave a link there and I'll drop by and give it some love.

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Warm Regards

Life's Jigsaw - Quatrains and Quindecasyllabic

Life is like a jigsaw puzzle. Each little piece is an aspect of our journey through it. And when at last we find that last piece and fit it into place, we eventually see the meaning of this life.

UBC Day 19
The Q Piece - Quatrains and Quindecasyllabic

Having embraced the Universe's flow by paddling downstream

I also need to fearlessly take all that it throws my way

And believe whatever occurs is part of a greater dream

A greater purpose that is all part of the Lord's Divine play

Perhaps I must learn to live in solitude and contemplate

Perhaps I need to quiet the heart and mind to seek my soul

For connecting with Divinity to discover my fate

Is best done in solitude and silence with surrendered whole

Quatrain =  A quatrain is a stanza with four lines and a rhyme scheme. While a quatrain is only one verse, a quatrain poem can contain any number of quatrains (including one). definition from wiki how.

Quindecasyllabic = containing 15 syllables. (each of my lines has 15 syllables)

Some years ago I suddenly started writing poetry. The words just tumbled into my head. A year ago I started my poetry blog Reflections of my soul where I pen my poems, mostly with a spiritual twist.

When you do things from your soul, you feel a river moving in you, a joy ~ Rumi

Somehow I think I am meant to write poetry for not only does it bring me great joy but I feel that river move in me.


May you find that river move in you too.


Written for: A to Z Challenge and The Ultimate Blogging Challenge


Drop by my facebook page Suzy's Ilation and if any of your posts needs some tlc, leave a link there and I'll drop by and give it some love.

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Warm Regards

UBC Day 13 - Paying It Forward

UBC Day 13

Stories and fiction

Books, authors, weddings, guest posts

This week's ensemble

The A to Z group on facebook have divided the bloggers into groups so this week I thought I would feature some from my group:

Tulika is featuring authors and their books - Loving this theme heaps. So many new authors and books to explore

Sitara is weaving an extremely interesting story around Indu - can't wait for the remaining parts

Archana's theme is fiction fragments - her K post was a real killer

Shiva is educating us on the fineries of the Indian marriage - one of my favourite theme's this challenge. Loving each moment of the Indian marriage.

So that's the round up this week from my group.

But I'm also going to throw in a post that touched my heart. Please check out this post from Kim who was Corinne's guest at Everyday Gyaan:  11 things I learned


My A to Z theme: Life's Jigsaw


Written for: The Ultimate Blogging Challenge


Drop by my facebook page Suzy's Ilation and if any of your posts needs some tlc, leave a link there and I'll drop by and give it some love.

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Warm Regards

Life's Jigsaw - Grace

Life is like a jigsaw puzzle. Each little piece is an aspect of our journey through it. And when at last we find that last piece and fit it into place, we eventually see the meaning of this life.

UBC Day 8
The G Piece - Grace

Having learned the lesson of forgiveness sometimes in difficult and harsh ways, I am also reminded that we are constantly being showered by His grace. 

Some years ago, I came across a youtube video where a guest speaker (forget who) read some Rumi poems. This one really stood out for me and Rumi became one of my favourite poets.

The wine of Divine Grace is limitless

All limits come only from the faults of the cup.

Moonlight floods the whole sky from horizon to horizon;

How much it can fill your room depends on its window.

Grant a great dignity, my friend, to the cup of your life;

Love has designed it to hold His eternal wine.

~Rumi~

The verse is a good reminder that God showers his love and Divine grace in abundance. But how much we are willing to receive is up to us.

Until very recently I was one of the many who found it real hard to accept a compliment or a gift graciously. But compliments and gifts are all part of His Divine grace. I have now learned to receive graciously and with gratitude.

And in doing that we not only bring the giver joy but we also send a message to the Universe that we are open and willing to receive.


May the cup of your life hold His eternal wine.


Written for: A to Z Challenge and The Ultimate Blogging Challenge


Drop by my facebook page Suzy's Ilation and if any of your posts needs some tlc, leave a link there and I'll drop by and give it some love.

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Warm Regards

Day 6 - Paying It Forward

UBC Day 6

Paying it forward

Some blogs that I have enjoyed

Sunshine in my day

Here are some blogs that are participating in the A to Z Challenge that I am enjoying:

Roshni's theme of Weird Words

Shilpa's 55ers on Marriage

Psych Babbler's 26 ways in which she lives her life (over cups of coffee)

Dagny's 26 reasons to Step Out 

Kajal's Movie Masala


More blogs to be featured in a week's time.


My A to Z theme: Life's Jigsaw


Written for: The Ultimate Blogging Challenge


Drop by my facebook page Suzy's Ilation and if any of your posts needs some tlc, leave a link there and I'll drop by and give it some love.

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Warm Regards

UBC Day 27 - Useless

Written for Haiku Heights prompt Useless

Growing collection

Neither use nor ornament

Time for a spring clean

image source: google images

Check out these awesome bloggers who are also taking part in the UBC challenge:
  Shilpa  Kajal  Richa  Jairam  Sheethal  Kathy  Swati  Michelle  Nabanita

My previous UBC Jan 2014 posts here

Drop by my facebook page Suzy's Ilation and if any of your posts needs some tlc, add it to the goodwill thread there and I'll drop by and give it some love.

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Warm Regards

UBC Day 21 - Sharp

Day 21 Ultimate Blogging Challenge

Written for Haiku Heights

Sharp pointed pencil

Smoothly glides across paper

Creates Zentangles

Haven't done a haiku in a long time and Zentangles seem to be on my mind.

Have a Zen day.


Check out these awesome bloggers who are also taking part in the UBC challenge:
  Shilpa  Kajal  Richa  Jairam  Sheethal  Kathy  Swati  Michelle  Nabanita

My previous UBC Jan 2014 posts here


Like my facebook page Suzy's Ilation and if any of your posts needs some tlc, add it to the goodwill thread there and I'll drop by and give it some love.

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Warm Regards

UBC 1 Year in Review

Written for:  Ultimate Blogging Challenge Day 1  and  ABC Wednesday

Okay so I should've written the 2013 year in review last year but as I'm taking part in the Ultimate Blogging Challenge for Jan 2014 and Y is the ABC Wednesday letter this week, the Year in review just seems to be best done today.

I started the year 2013 with my chosen word "Abundance".

Image courtesy of xedos4 / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I wasn't quite sure exactly how that would unfold, but I am astounded by the abundance that flowed my way in many achievements for me and loved ones, love and fun, spiritual guidance and more. So here are some of the highlights of my year:

I landed up in an awesome job. I enjoy it so much, the year really flew by. Sometime at the start of the year I stopped writing the script and just went with the flow. Amazing how the door opened up when I thought it had been firmly shut.

I got my full driver's license - I never thought I would ever do that. Somehow ever since it's been in my hot little hands, the confidence just flows. I never thought I would actually enjoy driving. Wow I never thought I would ever say that.

2013 was a good year for both my kids (Thank you God) - my daughter also landed a good job and my son got into University. There were some tense moments waiting for the admission to come through but such great relief. He did so well and got into 2nd year too. I am truly blessed to have such beautiful kids. The love that has flowed between the three of us this year and the fun we've had together cannot be expressed in words.

I started my poetry blog and I am astounded at the response I've had on all my 3 blogs. I've won a haiku contest, had my poem published in a book and many posts got chosen as WOW posts (here and here).So grateful to all the awesome bloggers I have interacted with this year and who have helped many writing dreams come true.

I have connected with nature and learned more respect for her after Wellington was hit by 2 big earthquakes and many smaller ones. And I have found joy in the little things like the Saturday Farmer's market, watching the skies and the hills early in the morning and feeling their serenity, feeding the birds in my garden and watching their antics.

I have found that I am at ease with my own company, I have enjoyed my moments of solitude. I've learned that I am okay just the way I am and that things are just as they should be. I have learned to let go of things, to not take things personally, to stop writing the script and simply go with the flow.

But most of all this year, the spiritual abundance has flowed in waves. I've had some amazing experiences - divine visions, messages, greater understanding. I have felt connected to the Great Spirit and in flow with the Universe. I have felt immensely blessed. And my heart has moved into a place of peace.

Wish you all an abundant, joyful and peaceful 2014. May your dreams come true and may you receive many blessings. Namaste.

image source: google images

Check out these awesome bloggers who are also taking part in the UBC:
  Shilpa  Kajal  Richa  Jairam  Sheethal  Kathy  Swati  Michelle  Nabanita

Like my facebook page Suzy's Ilation and if any of your posts needs some tlc, add it to the goodwill thread there and I'll drop by and give it some love.

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Warm Regards

  

Obsession and Original Sin

A Nonet poem written for:
The Write Tribe prompt and for the letter O at ABC Wednesday
Linking to: Poetry Pantry #173

A nonet is a nine line poem. . A nonet can be written on any subject and rhyming is optional. The poem starts with a line that has 9 syllables in it. The second line contains 8 syllables, the third line has 7 syllables and it continues to count down to one syllable in the final line (ninth line)

The prompt:
The subject? Your choice. The only catch is – it must be close to your heart. If possible do let us know why you hold the subject close to your heart. (This may or may not be a part of your poem. If the reason is not a part of the poem, mention it somewhere in the post.)

So here it is, my first nonet poem on a subject close to my heart.

Melody of my eternal soul
Obsession of my lonely heart
You, my original sin
Mesmerising deep eyes
Captivating smile
Etched in my soul
Merged spirits
Fused hearts
Bliss


In life one comes across someone that leaves an impression on your heart that simply cannot be erased. Perhaps that person came into your life for just a fleeting moment in time but somehow you just cannot shake that spirit out of your sphere. He or She becomes a kind of obsession but one whose very thoughts brings you intense joy, peace, bliss.

This person, I believe is not just a soul connection, but a great soul connection. I am blessed to have had that moment in time to connect with such a being..

This poem is dedicated to that beautiful soul, who "got underneath my skin" and left an unforgettable imprint in my life and in my heart, that will forever be locked in the depths of my soul. Be at peace D.

And sometimes songs take you back to that moment in time that is etched in memory. So here it is, the song that takes me back in time. One of my favourite songs ... Elton John's Original Sin.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=occgl5Y_d8k


Have a day of wonderful moments and memories

Warm Regards


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A Very Berry Haiku

baby berries peep

refreshed from nurtured slumber;

warm leafy cradle.

Written for the Write Tribe Contest: picture haiku - interpret the picture through a haiku.

Update 26/10/2013 - 
So chuffed that Kathy The Giggling Trucker's Wife and I won the contest - see Results at the Write Tribe
Check out Kathy's post The fate of the berries


Warm Regards


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Haiku - Rain

This week's prompt at the Write Tribe is Haiku:

We will use a “Kigo” as our prompt. And since it’s the rainy season (at least here in India!) what better prompt can there be! So write a Haiku, with some element of the Rains in it. Your “Kigo” can be anything, clouds, raindrops, frogs, paper boats …. Let your imagination soar!

Here's  one I wrote sometime ago so sharing again

Raindrops splashing down

Creating puddles of fun

Children jumping in

And some new ones

Nectar from Heaven

Flowers reaching for the sky

Riot of colours

Wet pitter-patter

Face looking skyward refreshed

Thirsty earth relieved

Warm Regards

Write Tribe - Three Friends

image source: http://www.fotolia.com/Info/Images/FreeImages

A lonely brown door

Waiting for someone to knock

Waste not a felled tree

A pretty blue line

Outlines the lonely brown door

Pretends to be sky

A little cactus

Enhances beauty of door

Three friends beckoning

Written for the Write Tribe Photo Prompt.

Warm Regards

UBC 26 - AtoZ - Waterfall

Day 26  of the Ultimate Blogging Challenge and the letter  W  for the  AtoZ Blogging Challenge.


W is for ... WATERFALL

Linking to Haiku Heights Waterfall prompt

Horseshoe or Canadian falls taken in Summer

Oh Niagara!

Thundering, tumbling waters

Demanding respect

The Niagara Falls are truly a sight to behold. I've been there twice - once in Summer and once at the tail end of Autumn.

Here are some more pictures of this grand waterfall

American falls in Summer

American falls in Autumn

Horseshoe or Canadian falls in Autumn

Rainbow bridge in Autumn

Canadian falls from inside the tunnel behind the falls

So grateful to have seen some awesome forces of Nature and the colours of Autumn that are spectacular.

Have a wonderful day

Warm Regards

UBC 25 - AtoZ - Voices

Day 25  of the Ultimate Blogging Challenge and the letter  V  for the  AtoZ Blogging Challenge.

V is for  ...  VOICES

Thought it was time to write a poem.  Sharing the poem from my poetry blog  ...

image source wikipedia

Take the road less travelled

Said a thought inside my head

That road is long and gravelled

But to treasures you'll be led

Take the next detour

Said a thought inside my head

Though it drizzles, maybe pours

But to sunshine you'll be led

The feet they keep to familiar path

Squashed is the thought inside my head

Then Spirit nudges without wrath

The road I walk is shred

You cannot reach the highest heights

If you cannot try be bold

Learn not to push away or fight

The voices of your soul

Have a happy day.


Warm Regards

UBC 21 - Tree - Haiku

Day 21 of the Ultimate Blogging Challenge

Haiku Heights and Sensational Haiku Wednesday = Tree

Pohutukawa

Graceful, pretty, big and bright

Shelter from wind rain

picture source: wikipedia

The Pohutukawa is a native tree of New Zealand and is fondly called the New Zealand Christmas Tree as it flowers during Summer (Dec - Feb).

There are many Pohutukawa trees down my street and one near the bus stop provides shelter on windy or wet days.

Today's Haiku is dedicated to that tree.

Grateful for the Pohutukawa that provides shelter.

Have a fun day.

Warm Regards

UBC 19 - AtoZ - Quintessential Love

Day 19  of the Ultimate Blogging Challenge and the letter Q  for the  AtoZ Blogging Challenge.

Q is for  .... Quintessential Love

Quintessential means "Representing the most perfect or typical example of a quality or class"

I have to say the letter Q stumped me as well and then quintessential kept appearing in my mind.

Quintessential? Quintessential what? and then the brain flashed the word Love so Quintessential Love it is and with that I will go ...

Love is such a beautiful and profound emotion when one connects with the spiritual aspect of it.

There are so many famous couples in history Anthony and Cleopatra, Lancelot and Guinevere, Paris and Helen of Troy and one of my favourites Romeo and Juliet among many others.

In India too we have some very Divine couples depicting the most perfect love:  Rama and Sita,  Krishna and Radha,  Shiva and Sati-Parvati. These are "shashwat jodis" - perpetual, permanent couples - soulmates never parted in life and in Spirit - always merged for only together are they whole.

But I wanted to define quintessential love for me, that is what I understand it to be from my perspective so penned it down in a poem, for poems are the language of love,

I have lived through the aeons of time with you

We have traversed universes in a multitude of lifetimes

I have loved each beat of your heart, every thought in your mind

I have smiled at every rhythm your soul has orchestrated

And immersed myself in the ecstasy of your every moment

I have seen you in every aspect of my existence

And felt you in the minutest fibre of my being

I have merged my consciousness with yours

And thus bridged the chasm of this vast, endless cosmos

Wherever we are, we reach through thin veils

And blend together into one presence 

Now, and then forever.

Grateful for that soul that brings my definition of quintessential love to life, wherever you are.

And to all my Indian friends, Happy Ram Navami - God's love for us is truly quintessential and ineffable.

from google images

Have a love-filled day. Namaste. Blessings to all.

Warm Regards


Also posting this on my poetry blog Reflections of my soul

UBC 14 - WIND - HAIKU

Day 14 of the Ultimate Blogging Challenge

Haiku Heights and Sensational Haiku Wednesday  =  Wind

A whispering wind

Cheers me on in challenges

Stops me giving up

A whispering wind

Clears the cobwebs in my mind

Places thoughts that spur

A whispering wind

Channels the words to present

Guides the way to blog

Have a breezy day!

Warm Regards

UBC 7 - Active

Day 7  of the Ultimate Blogging Challenge

A short post today. Haven't written a Haiku for a while so here is one for day 7 using the 5-7-5 format.

Sensational Haiku Wednesday and Haiku Heights - Active

Mind overactive

Blogging challenges taxing

Time to hibernate

Grateful for time to relax and unwind - Thankful that the AtoZ challenge has a day off today.

Warm Regards