Mermaid and I

Dear Reader,

We all have special people in our lives that add that something to your life. I am very blessed to say that an extremely special person that makes life, living comes in the form of my sister. From my experience of being and having a sister, I can appreciatively say that it is a great privilege! A Sister for me is synonymic with having a lifelong friend; someone who you have known for always, someone who knows all of your quirks- good and bad- and is accepting of them and someone that is always there.

A sisterly relationship such as the one I have experience can be rare; I am really puzzled when I’m asked “So, do you get on with your sister?”  I have only one answer My sister is my best friend.”

My sister, I will introduce you to on here as Mermaid, has such an importance in my life and makes me a better stronger and more confidant person, always telling me to ‘’go, get it,’’ when I present doubts. You know them people who make you forget your woes? – Well meet Mermaid. She has the ability to do this. With Mermaid around you are never down beat for too long; laughs are endless. Whether it’s the everyday girlie questions – ‘’What shoes go better with this skirt’’ or the more in depth conversations where we’ll go on a long drive and chat everything out, or the ‘let’s just have fun’ days, I know I call on Mermaid.

My sister and I have always been close, but as time goes by years and experiences pulls us closer together and allow us to have a better understanding of each other; it is these insights that enable us both to be stronger people and with this can encourage each other in areas we are not so great in and celebrate and enjoy other parts of our lives.

A voice of reason, a zest for life and radiance of sunshine is how I would describe Mermaid. She is such a great motivator to me and shows me just what courage can do, if you are to fully embrace it! I love Mermaids fearless  pursuit of wanting to explore the world and her countless traveling stories are so inspiring, I’m sooo excited for her travels later this year.

I believe her positive soul is influenced by her spirituality. With this, she has used her spirituality to not only empower the self but others in her life, which is a really wonderful thing. Mermaid has taught me and others so much through her journey of spiritual growth and has shown me how deeply connected we all are to the Universe. ’Everything you need is within you’’ as Mermaid would say.

Recently, Mermaid has started a new venture and is turning what she once saw as a dream into a living reality, setting up her online jewellery business, The Wandering Mermaids. Her ideas and creativity are simple brilliance. These authentic handmade pieces are constructed with thought, imagination and array of vibrant colours. The jewellery created captures Mermaid’s heart; fun, liveliness and love, infused with elegance. She has also displayed her mystical side by incorporating elements of spirituality in her designs. Below are some of my favourite creations Mermaid have made:

This new project is really exciting for Mermaid and I am so thrilled at how wonderfully it’s taken off. Watching her making custom made orders with so much love makes me so happy. You can also follow her journey and also request orders on her Instagram page @thewanderingmermaids

She has shown me that there are no limits, that limits are figments of the imagination and that with a little self-believe, you can do anything! She continues to me my guiding light.

I have really enjoyed sharing with you this treasured person in my life. Through writing about my sister and describing the beautiful relationship I have with her, it has made me more grateful for her existence; I truly would be lost without her. I am forever thankful for my experience of sisterhood.

All my love XX

A Dedication

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Dear Reader,

We all think we have time. Time to do that thing we keep putting off, sometime next week. Time to go to that place we promise ourselves we will go to, someday. And the dangerous type mistrust put in time, time to phone or message someone tomorrow. But in fact in a flash, the imagination invested into how things would be and creating in our minds the how a particular event would go, the experiences we may gain from a certain place, or the conversations we may have with someone, all is suddenly gone. Just like that. Just like that all our fantasies are left as fantasies without them ever evolving into play. Just like that all this hyped emotion surrounding anxiety and anticipation over the predicted future disappears. Just like that we find ourselves grieving over yesterday and wishing we had acted sooner. It is these ‘cold shower’ moments, which make us be in sync with our senses and in touch with where and who we are and who we could become if we were more open; if we can’t do this for ourselves, do this for what has been lost. This is a very hard concept to grasp; it can take hours, days, weeks, months or even years to realise and come to terms with what was taken by time, unable to comprehend the present. It could be something that we are able to just barely touch with our fingertips.

I had this school friend. This friend and I shared a mutual fondness, laughs and banter, and used to speak with eyes when speaking with words were an unavailable option. School years went by and it was time for my friend to move onto university (they were 2 years older), we said we’d keep in touch and for a while we did. However we lost contact, only saying a quick hello at birthdays- they were only two days apart, but my friend was never far from my mind, they were too special. Although my friend and I shared similar ground, both living with a physical disability, we did not share much about our personal difficulties; maybe this was because we were caught up being teenagers, maybe they too big to express, or maybe they just escaped our minds for a while. One thing I didn’t know about my friend, at the time, is the extent of their condition: that it was life limiting. But maybe if I knew this, the friendship we had would have been different, maybe we just shared enough- in order for both of us to enjoy and benefit from the exchange. Recently my friend has passed away. To say the least, this was quite shocking. My friend was only 25 years old. They were at an age where most people at this age are trying to get a handle on adulthood, with some having freak-out moments of not being where they thought they would be. But, really, are these mind crippling thoughts worth it? Life is more than career, money, materialistic things-that eventually you grow tired of. The one question that we all should be asking ourselves is what makes us happy? As I write I wonder what thoughts my friend had. What did they think of peoples’ worries about the trivial things? Did they have thoughts which began ‘what I would do is’? What did they prioritise? A dominant question in my mind is, was my friend scared?

I feel guilty that l lost touch with them and didn’t let them know I was thinking them. I feel guilty that now it is too late to turn my thought -maybe I’ll send them a message- into an action. I hope this post connotes how much I did value the friendship we had.

These times of grieve and loss, are reminders that we have only now to live. It is now we can make changes. Now we can remove the negatives and focus on the positives and finding, or living, in our personal definitions of life. Most importantly it is now that we have to reach out the people we care about and build on our relationships’, don’t let it be too late to demonstrate how much you value others. There might not be tomorrow.

I am dedicating this post to my friend. A friend that has taught me not to take time for granted.

All my love XX