Monthly Planning MTN: March 2016 overview

It's halfway through April, so high time for March Monthly update in my Midori Travellers Notebook. A lot of fun stuff happened last month, but also some tragedy's.

It's very cathartic to take the time and process it all. 

 On the creative side: I've used some more illustrative rubber stamps and color combinations this time. The sakuralala 365 stamps being the base as usual. The large hot air balloon and cracked egg are hand carved stamps. The Bird stamp is from Oxford Impressions and The city stamp from Stampothique. Fountain pens and inks used: Sailor Sapporo LE seasons Sky with Montblanc Turquoise. Lamy Vista 1.1 nib Eyedroppered with Sailor Tokiwa Matsu. Pilot Parallel with Pilot Red. Franklin Christoph 66 with 1.1 nib and Faber Castell Deep Sea Green for the numbers and days. See them on my currently inked page op March 27th.

On the fun stuff: I had my 36th birthday on the 14th and this year we took a trip to Turkey visiting Kapadokya (Cappadocia) for a week. We went on a Hot Air Balloon ride, saw some beautiful sights and well... pictures tell more than a thousand words...

It was amazing. So beautiful and serene.
If you ever have the chance to go there, you definitely should!



And there were some tragic days as well. In the time I spent in Turkey there were three bombings: two in Ankara and one in Istanbul. They did not have a lot of media coverage, but that doesn't make them any less tragic. There were more bombings occurring in Turkey and before we left my father in law asked us if it was a good idea to visit a country that is in such turmoil and can be really unsafe to be. I told him that "being safe" is a relative concept these days, seeing with what happened in Paris and Brussels last year. But of course we would not visit the capital and the borders as those were marked as "unsafe to travel" zones. On 22 March the bombings in Brussels showed us again that "being safe" is a relative concept. That sadly in these times, there is no place that is really safe from psychopaths with bombs.
 I share the grief and loss. 
They are attacks on humanity which transcends borders, race and religious beliefs. 
I do not want to end this post on such a tragic note.  
However I hope that by sharing with you what I do when these feelings of powerlessness arise and overwhelm me, could provide a positive outlet for you as well.
 I pray for peace and well being for all of us living on this earth every time I write down my Mindfulness Metta Meditations in my journals. 
This month in my Mindfulness Compassion in Connectivity training's I learned the practice of Tonglen which I find healing to do in these strange and unsettling times. 

In tonglen practice, when we see or feel suffering, we breathe in with the notion of completely feeling it, accepting it, and owning it. Then we breathe out, radiating compassion, lovingkindness, freshness; anything that encourages relaxation and openness.- Quote from Pema Chodron from When Things Fall Apart:Heart Advice for Difficult Times (more here) 

 We can change the karma of this world. 
With one heartfelt, compassionate breath at a time.  

Thank you for stopping by.

namasté