{ L E O N I E . W I S E }

i am back in a place where my heart is full and my head is empty…
…because i don’t have any words to adequately describe the weekend i’ve just had with seven glorious women.

so, in lisa’s words…

the realest of real women gathered this weekend. shed, nourished, clear, expanded, relieved, and ready to give voice and take action on all possibility.

emma, jo, lisa, megg, penny, sas and susannah… i love you more than crumpets toasted over an open fire.

anxiety.

it’s a small word that really doesn’t adequately define the feeling…

… the one where I go to meet a friend, perhaps for the first time, perhaps one I have met many times before. it is the quiet moments before the encounter, where I am opening my heart, readying myself for the moments we are together.

it’s when i wonder if i am spiritually presentable; whether the gift that i bring of myself, my heart, my willingness to meet and be seen is enough. i wonder if i am about to be caught out somehow, shown up as being a fraud, an impostor, coversationally or spiritually inept.

yet, to my surprise and [often] delight, i discover that the people i find myself gathering with are a reflection of where i am in my life…

this friendship.
this conversation.
this meeting.

… these are perfectly timed, beautifully orchestrated moments that exist because of all that has gone before.

i let go of wondering how on earth it was that i got to meet this person, or that person, and trust instead in the magical way that life opens up to me in all it’s glory simply because I show up and am willing to be met, wherever i am, however i am, in this moment.

these moments exist because i am ready for them;

this friendship,
this conversation,
this meeting…

… and they are ready for me.

dear friends,

do you remember that feeling… the one where you have butterflies in your stomach… meeting someone new for the first time? someone you have ‘met’ through blogging and feel close to but you’ve never met in person?

we had a friend come to visit. one i have struck up a friendship with since a book swap we both participated in about 2 years ago. we’d never met before and i had quiet moments of anxiety, wondering if this person i only partly knew would be someone to call a friend in real life…

i needent have worried at all. she is beautiful, playful, adventurous…

she came bearing gifts of fabrics and coffee beans (i knew we’d be friends from this moment – hehe). she also brought with her my new polaroid camera (found on etsy).

we took her to mudchute farm for a picnic lunch

then, took her on a mystery train ride – a daytrip to paris on the eurostar, eating croissants and drinking champagne for breakfast on the way over. we visited the Père Lachaise Cemetery,

merci store,

and had a picnic supper of bread, cheese and wine under the eiffel tower

us girls went shopping at my favourite girls dress-up store (two floors of pretty things), where my alter-ego had a ton of fun and bought two dresses; then we met nic for a good british sunday roast lunch

we took a trip to kew gardens to see the bluebells in bloom (#2 in my 101 things in 1001 days list)

we laughed, we drank, we spent time in quiet companionship.

we had the *best* of times.