Important Things in Life

Alison Rhodes:I've always found writing my thoughts down very therapeutic and from a young age I discovered that I would often automatically write in rhyme.I didn't find the courage to share my writing with anyone until, at High School when I was 15, our English Teacher asked us to write a poem about 'Sight'. It was very poignant as my Mum had recently been diagnosed with a disease that would gradually rob her of her sight, so I wrote from my heart. When our teacher said she had "a particularly beautiful poem that had been handed in and wanted to read it to the class," I was amazed when it was mine!As life became busier with work, marriage, and so on., I found that it was at the saddest times of my life that I would feel compelled to put pen to paper. When I devastatingly miscarried our first much-wanted, long-awaited baby, I took some comfort from writing poems for her and then when our incredibly precious son arrived I was able to see the world through the eyes of a child again and wanted to convey the magic around us in my writing.In 2010 I trained to be a Reiki Healing Practitioner and, in order to get to know the others in the class better, we were asked to tell a little about ourself and our interests. I mentioned that I wrote poetry and though I was reluctant at first, I was persuaded to share some with the group. The teachings I received from the course gave me more confidence and self-belief, things I had been distinctly lacking, and helped me to regain a sense of inner peace which was then reflected in the type of things I wrote about.

• ContentsPoem: SightIntroductionA Morning Blessing 1Creating our future 2You are enough 4Where I need to be 6The start of a new week 7Yin and Yang 8Stepping stones 9Live for the day 10Before your life is through 12The important things in life 13Full moon intentions 15A lesson from nature 16Life's magic 17Life's unfolding the way that it should 19The sun will rise 20Freedom 21The storm 22The magic within 23Sign of hope 24Guardian Angel 25Mindfulness 26Survive and thrive together 27Blessings 29Our Higher Self 30One more sunrise 31Solitude and silence 32Gratitude at the end of the day 33A Better World 35