Hello and welcome to Five Minutes in Nature with me Liz Scott.
I'm in Galway in Ireland and I've taken a little bit of time to walk along the river.
Visit the cathedral and I'm now walking back down the bank of the canal and the canal here has got a really impressive reed bed lots of reeds all over it swaying in this breeze and dodging in and out of the reeds I can see the ducks it's quite shallow here so they're swimming along and then occasionally dunking their heads underneath the water obviously to feed and there's a few seagulls around as well it's quite busy people walking talking there's traffic in the background but for me this is what I always just need is a little slice of nature a slice of allowing myself to breathe when I come into a place that's busy with people.
And today's reflection is about remembering others.
It's about remembering loved ones,
Whether they've passed or they're still with us.
Maybe you live far away from those who you love.
I've just been into the cathedral.
It's a catholic cathedral and as you walk in there's a real sense of quiet silence muffledness in the air it feels as though time is thick here the air is thick and i went and lit a candle two candles actually i lit a candle on behalf of myself and i lit one on behalf of my sister because i know she would have loved also to light a candle and then i sat and i remembered those that have passed and for me it's my dad and my aunts and uncles and there's a real sense of their names being memories for me and I am going to remember them but realizing that once I pass on their names will be pretty much forgotten so it feels as though I'm keeping alive the memory by spending time in front of the candle that I lit and just reflecting on them on them as people and being present to what they brought to my life.
And I feel that this is something that is really poignant for me.
My granddad came from Ireland,
Not far away from where I am.
He had his Irish roots and I'm deeply aware that this is a land that feels as though I have a part of me woven into its landscape.
So remembering those that have gone before,
Remembering ancestors,
Being present to the past.
It feels somehow very apt.
It feels as though this is a gift I have to give and I am being given in remembering those that went before and giving gratitude to those that went before because for me that's what this is all about.
So what about you?
If you remember loved ones past or maybe loved ones who are lost to illness or maybe dementia,
Loved ones who maybe live a long way away?
This is a time today for you to give yourself time and space,
To remember them.
That's what today is all about.
And it might be that you have a particular place that you like to go and visit.
It might be that you find yourself having a bit of time that you can call your own,
A bit of space to meditate,
To reflect,
To breathe deeply,
To allow your mind to settle.
Whatever feels right for you,
Give yourself that time and allow,
Allow something from within you to arise.
So rather than scrunching up your forehead and trying to think of people and trying to imagine platitudes or things to say,
Rather bring an awareness to those that have gone before and allow something to arise within you.
And you don't even have to have language that goes with it.
It might just be a feeling.
For me,
It arose with a sense of connection and a sense of gratitude.
You might have different language.
Today is a time just to remember,
To feel gratitude,
To feel connection,
To connect with those that have gone before,
Connect with loved ones who are not nearby anymore.
So let me know your reflections on that today,
Giving yourself that time in space.
And of course I'll be back again tomorrow with another Five Minutes in Nature,
So please do join me again then.
