The Reward is the Journey

A series of recent conversations and coincidences discovered along the way have prompted me to navigate the not uncomplicated pathway to log back in to this Blog. It has been like meeting and sitting down for a cup of tea with an old friend.  Well, a pot of tea, perhaps.   Whilst I have continued writing since last posting in this forum, I have done so far less regularly, despite being anything short of inspiration. And so, without any pledge or commitment, but rather with an intention to pursue with curiosity something which feels to call to me in this moment, I am delighted to begin again. As I do so, the below words of a poem I have read aloud a great many times, to myself and into circles during mindfulness trainings, come to mind. “Begin” Begin again to the summoning birds to the sight of the light at the window, begin to the roar of morning traffic all along Pembroke Road. Every beginning is a promise born in light and dying in dark determination and exaltation of springtime flow

And the summer season is underway... With a delicious 4 loops of a kilometer course* in the sunshine with the majestic swans in a reservoir in a beautiful spot in South Yorkshire. How happy I was, enjoying the sun on my back, and spotting an elegant pike in the depths, just before cramp cruelly caught me out (rendering both legs next to useless). Sometimes the most important thing to know is when you've reached your limits. And so to surrender... After a brief exchange with a friendly kayaker out on the water for exactly this purpose, and paddling close by me at precisely the moment cramp struck, the safety boat was summoned and I was 'rewarded' with a scenic boat trip and an exit from the water far less serene than my entrance 1h 45mins earlier... An instructive event (note to Self: don't scrimp on brekkie) made possible by a wonderful team of volunteers whose work in putting on events such as this one mean a very great deal to me. Whilst recorded as a DNF, I'll ta