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Life is very short and there’s no time for fussing and fighting my friends

Somewhere in the silence and sadness of this hazy moment, the Great Swan is flying strong. The spirit of Cygnus lives on, guided and fortified with the same sustenance from which it grew, when Ann planted that special seed 23 years ago. I imagine that Ann is flying now in the company of that Swan, alive and bright with Divine Love. At peace.

It’s going to be a bright, bright, sunshiny day

In a surreal kind of way this peace is finding it’s way to the Cygnus team. It’s as if the dark clouds have dropped away along with Ann’s pain and we can see clearly a vision of the bright future that Ann always believed in – for the whole Cygnus family. Maybe this profound sense of light through haze is Ann’s gift of the rainbow we were all praying for.

Together in the sacred garden

When I first learned that Ann had passed to the other side of life I instinctively wandered into the garden in a numb daze, maybe because Ann would often invite her guests to the family garden to sit and drink fresh peppermint tea with her and Geoff, and talk among Nature. As I sat with the warm sun on my face I felt, in my heart, that I was in Ann’s presence. One particular line from a Beatles song came to me: ‘Life is very short and there’s no time for fussing and fighting my friends’. I was led to consider how there has been so much struggle to just keep going – to keep Ann with us as a loving mother and wife and dear friend to many, and to keep Cygnus Books above water during this difficult time. What came next was such a blessing. I imagined Ann smiling as I felt the joy of this struggle drop away. I was made aware of what really matters with the image of a flower in full bloom. I could hear Ann gently speak to me, as if in memory, about how every flower blossoms for a different duration of the summer. It’s not about how long you are in flower, it’s about unfurling each petal, revealing your true and brilliant colours … it’s about letting yourself bloom! With the sunny scent of Sweet Peas lifting my senses, I thought of all the splendid flowers that nature bestows – each one radiant, beautiful and extraordinary. When the path we walk is graced with a flower in full bloom, it’s distinctive beauty and ardour touches our hearts; we experience a unique joy from each flower and a certain succour for the soul – all of which lives on long after the last petal falls. How fitting it was that Ann’s youngest son, Sam, compared his mother to the sacred lotus in the July issue of the Cygnus Review.

The message I took from the feelings that came – in relation to Cygnus Books, which Ann cared so fervently about, as well as in relation to life – is that it is time for us to focus our consciousness on the blooming, the colour, the vibrancy, the joy. In loving devotion to Ann’s wishes, The Cygnus team continue to nurture and grow this special, heart-and-soul-led book club. A new and exciting website and community hub is being worked on and is full of positive potential. It’s nearly ready and, when it is, I hope you’ll join me there so that together we can forge a powerful and meaningful collaboration – online and in our hearts – in memory of Ann and in homage to love, solidarity and celebration. Together we can share experience, knowledge, feelings and life. Together we can grow. Together we can bloom! This, I know, would make Ann so very happy

One love,

Louisa

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