I hope your week has been filled with enriched moments. I’m amazed how much has fitted into my week – I’ve even begun writing a book at last! Some of what I’ve written so far I want to share with you in this email, just because I feel now is the right time. Before I go into that though, I think you will be interested to know that Cygnus Books are running a competition.
Win tickets to a special Dalai Lama film event
Cygnus Books are giving away two pairs of tickets for a special screening of the Road To Peace in Union Chapel, London. Road to Peace is a film documentary about how the Dalai Lama inspires us to live more meaningful lives in harmony with each other, and with the planet – it captures the simple, human and humorous side of the Dalai Lama and reveals his personal and powerful legacy for this and future generations. This will be a unique opportunity to enjoy an enlightening evening of live music, film and conversation including questions and answers with the Dalai Lama‘s representative, Thubten Sampdup and the director of the documentary Road to Peace, Leon Stuparich.
To be in with a chance of winning tickets you just need to recommend Cygnus Books to your friends – which I’m sure you’ll be happy to do! Whoever has the two highest amount of friends to join the Cygnus Books mailing list, wins the tickets! Did you know that, when each recommended friend places their first order, Cygnus Books send you a £2 voucher as a token of thanks? If you’re on Facebook I suggest you get sharing their website on there (simply copy and paste, or type this website address into your status update and a link will be included: www.cygnus-books.co.uk). However you go about recommending Cygnus Books, don’t forget to ask your friends to quote your membership number when they join the mailing list!
From my future book, for you
So I was making a Southern Rock playlist on Spotify this morning. As I worked my way through the Allman Brothers, picking out the best of the best, I thought to myself how much my Dad would have enjoyed the Spotify application with it’s vast compendium of music. He was always posting a good song, from You Tube, onto his Facebook page. His taste was eclectic – as long as it was good music with substance and a strong meaning he would be it’s ambassador. My Dad influenced my brother, sister and me to listen to a wide range of music styles, introducing us to some real gems like Nick Drake, Mumford and Sons and of course there were Allman Brothers. He really lived the music. He would listen with that glint in his eye and the truest smile on his face.
“Are you hearing this?” I asked out loud, sensing my father responding to my thoughts of him. The great riffs of Jessica were playing; my sister was named after that song. “I hope you can still hear music, Dad” I thought to myself. I have to admit there was a little melancholy to my question but my Dad soon sorted that out.
“I am listening through you” I felt a warming reassurance. “The best thing about music is the feeling it gives you. That’s the flavour. You share that treat with me when you feel the music because then I feel it too – just as much as I ever did.”
So I closed my eyes and really listened to the music, with all my senses enlivened, riding the guitar solos with my soul. Cross legged on the floor and swaying gently to the music I smiled to myself … and I felt my Dad smiling too. I can tell you now, feeling music is way better than listening to it. I think my Dad is trying to teach me that it’s just the same with life. To really live it to the full, you have to feel it. Squeeze out every last drop of feeling onto your tongue and taste the flavours of life.
Hug power
If you miss a loved one, you’ll know how it feels to really yearn for just one hug with them. I had such a moment about a year after my Dad passed on. I was in tears, desperate to feel the familiar arms of my father around me … or at least that’s what I thought I was wishing for. Never one to let me down, my fathers warm presence was felt in comfort. I was gifted with a soothing realisation, as if whispered to me from the other side, that a hug is just an exchange of love and you don’t necessarily need to be physically with someone to hug them. When it’s someone you love, the feeling of a hug is there to be realised and embraced at any time. The reason we like hugs so much, why they feel so good, is because of the feeling that we get in our hearts when we make that exchange of love. Because for that moment of contact, we open our hearts a little and what a warm rush that is!
If you try it you’ll see that you can feel a hug even when the person in your heart cannot be there in person. Picture that loved one’s face, their smile, close your eyes if it helps. Take as long as you need to remember the sensation of their arms around you and next go deeper into the feeling of the hug. Have you noticed that a hug is magnetic? When you embrace, you aren’t just pulling each other close with your arms, it’s an energy connection that draws you closer, beginning in your heart and resonating intensely throughout your body. As you focus on this you may feel your heart, arms and hands tingling. This isn’t just a recollection or a recreation of love and connection – this, right here and now, is a feeling of love. As I often say, a feeling is as real as the person feeling it.
Hugs from Cygnus Books!
Cygnus Books actually have a gorgeous book about the power of hugs in the March issue of their magazine. With gorgeous illustrations and uplifting quotes, The Little Book of Hugs looks at all aspects of hugging, including its stress-reducing health benefits. Our friends at Cygnus have asked me to offer you a free gift service* on The Little Book of Hugs – all you need to cover is the p&p; you pay nothing for the gift-wrap and beautiful card. I think this is a lovely idea because we often tell friends and family that we’re ‘sending hugs’ when we know they would most need or want them, don’t we?
I leave you this time with thy lyrics of a song I wrote, again with some help from my father, about feeling your way free. I hope you like it!
One love,
Louisa
*free until Monday midnight 25/03/13
