It is Friday...........

Here we are again at the end of another week, we are now in June - 6 months in - in 6 months time we will all be getting ready for Christmas and doing the last minute things that the last weekend before Christmas asks for. Some of us will shop, some of us will go to concerts, and some of us will go to Cristingle services at church.

But what about now - it is mid June, tomorrow is the 21st or Summer Solstice. It is mid-summer day. Throughout history this is seen as a special day. Shakespear wrote a play about it, Philip Pullman uses Midsummer Day as a vital date in the last of the Dark Materials Books.

Celts would say that Midsummer is the day of the Fire Festival and ancient stone circles are aligned by the sun on this day. Indeed the Heel Stone at Stonehenge is aligned to let the sun on Midsummer Day rise over it. In some the Solstice is actually the 24th but when Pope Gregory realigned everything the 21st it became.............

So what does the middle of the year mean to us??

I have been told it is very bad to dwell on things past and the thoughts that are associated with this. If a person has 50000 thoughts a day, then it is logical some are about previous occurences. Sense would say reminise for a few seconds and then discard the thought.

Let's say that the thought is over an argument from 6 months ago. We will relive the event in our head, if we dwell on it we will go through all the things we could have said, and all the regrets we have. And from here we will get depressed over the occurence.

Now what if we just dismissed the though? Be honest can we travel back in time and stop the argument ever happening? No, it happened and that can't be changed. So why think about what we could have said 6 months after the event? I say LET IT GO!!!

Be honest, it could be a great thing like a delicious mince pie. Can we go back and re-eat the pie? No!!

So what is the antidote to all of this???

Take the mince pie, it was lovely, what to do - we can spend lots of time thinking about the pie or we can reminise over it's taste, we can spend another few seconds smiling as we remember how the pastry crumbled. And Then -

LET IT GO......

In another few months we can buy (or make) a new mince pie and that will be as special. Spend a few seconds comparing and then just enjoy the pie in the hand. If it is not as good, well, buy / make another batch and see how that is.

I appreciate all you people saying what has this to do with Midsummer???

Nothing, Nothing at all except the timing..............

Here is a small secret, my hidden story if you like -

I am guilty of dwelling on the past. I should be locked away for trying to blame everything on occurences that often happened 4 years ago, or longer. What if this, what if that.......

The fact is (however sad) the main occurence happened so the what if means I am trying to delve into a situation of change I CANNOT make happen.

Let's say that December 2004 my Grandmother didn't die or in the November of the same year my Father didn't. What difference would I experience now? Both would have "advised" me over the period. Sometimes I would resent this, sometimes I would be grateful for it. My memories should allow me to visualise their attendance to my issues now, today, and not think what if, more of an understanding of their opinion.

Now I cannot turn back the clock. They both died and until I pass on I don't know if there is another life to follow and if I will see them there. Can I change the outcome of my future death? No, at some point I will die too and then I will know. My own children will have to deal with their mourning. But although I don't want them to experience this I CANNOT CHANGE IT.

I have had issues, I still have issues. My story has been dogged by my inability to accept things and move on. My inability not to dwell on everything. I can't live today, look what happened XX months ago. Look what happened XX years ago. I spent so much time worrying and blaming events I couldn't move forwards or let them go.

Events that happen should be just that, EVENTS THAT HAPPEN. but they have happened and cannot be changed. Learn from them - good or bad - and then face the next (inevitable) event without the previous or old one interfering. Relate to the past but do not blame it.

The mince pie was lovely, and so is this one. It evokes memories of the other pie but this is the real thing now.

That is my story, and my learning. It has taken a long time, actually until 3-25pm on the 20th June 2008 to fully realise why things have always been an issue and problem. But I think that I may just have been able to voice what I now know. So let me see if it can be put into practice.

So how is that linked to Midsummer?? The link is simple. It has taken until Midsummer 2008 for me to realise the event. My initial thoughts and rambling were about rituals and festivals of Midsummer. Suddenly from here I have realised about memories. I don't know how I jumped from the Sun to memories. But, hey, I did and I think I actually understand about the future.

I will see how it goes, I also welcome any views about this!!!............