Living to love, uplift and encourage others.

What if I asked you, what is your favourite flower or plant? Some may say roses, daffodils, acacia dealbata, a lily or perhaps a succulent plant. There are a wide variety of plants that come in all shapes and sizes, some flower and some don’t. Each needing similar methods of nurturing, watering and varying levels of sunlight.

Now image I open my hand and reveal a variety of seeds. Each different, unique and with the potential to grow into something beautiful given the correct care. I point to one of the seeds and identify that is the seed to grow your favourite plant. You take up this seed and place it in the palm of your hand.

With care and love, you plant this seed and grow it, in the way your research teaches you to but you know your plant therefore knowing when it needs a little more water or pruning. A little more love and attention goes a long way.

Now with this is mind, why do we try raise our unique and beautiful children exactly the same way, to fit the ‘ideal’ mould of what a child should be and should learn? Yes we follow the basic instructions respect others, love those around you, be kind especially to those who are sad or lonely, respect the law and hard work pays off, but how do we expect them to learn and grow in exactly the same way as their peers? Or reach the milestones at the same time and in the way that the books we read tell us they should? When they are beautifully unique and precious in their own right?

Sometimes the pressure parents place on themselves and on children is unnecessary, we live to love and dream to succeed. Life is not about ticking all the milestone boxes but often all they need is a little more love and attention, to flourish and grow into the people they were meant to be.

Let’s be childhood champions for the unique and beautiful people our children are!

As the colder darker nights draw in, have you stopped to see the wonder?

I find this time of year often brings with it, thoughts of failed new years resolutions that didn’t ever get off the ground, reflection on highs and lows.

For most the thought of glimmering Christmas lights, warm meals with family and friends, gifting loved ones and threasured moments are enough to see them through, for those of us who’s year has been tough, who’ve labour in pain and grief through dark valleys the thought of Christmas and the twinkling wonder it brings does not fill us with hope, I guess this post is for me and for others that share similar feelings of dread.

Tonight as I looked up, not a cloud in the sky, I stopped and embraced the wonder that the cooler darker nights bring. The moon is gleaming and the stars beaming in the nights sky, I felt the kiss of the cool air on my cheeks and ambraced the silence of the night.

I took a deep breath and for the first time in a very long while I felt a release in breathing in deeply and exhailing with purpose. You see these nights come with silence, the hustle and bustle is shut off in doors and you can stop, hear your thoughts and see a world alight by the moon.

I wonder if with Autumn, like the trees shed their leaves if we too should let go, let our pain, regrets and fears fall to the floor with the leaves, allow them to dry up, allow the frost to freeze them. Embrace the glimmer of sunshine on them in the fresh winter morning. So that come spring, growth, strength and new life, new hope can sprout. What if this is the beginning of a beauty you have never known?

There have been a handful of times where I’ve thought, the world is out to get me. Asking myself how is it even possible to continue this journey when I cannot see the light or a way forward…

Mental health is a prevalent topic of late but why then do we then have such shame in admitting to those around us that we suffer?

Suffering in silence is a painful and dark space where there feels to be no beginning or end. During these times in my I often questioned if anyone would ever ‘see’ me, or ask with true conviction “how are you?”

I’ve often felt that people say “hi, how are you?” yet they do not pause to hear the answer or engage in a heartfelt conversation to discover the place within my being that no one tends to see. This compounded my feeling of not being ‘seen’.

How have I come through these days? Faith, hope and courage to keep going to find my ‘more’. Breakthrough comes, when you start looking at least one joy, one spark in your world during the day, sounds easy? When your world is a sea of various hues of grey.

Has it been easy, of course not this journey is one that has taken me years to overcome. I do find it tough at times but I made a promise to myself in the depths of my darkest places to never let myself fall that far again… And I have kept that promise to myself.

I have made it my life’s mission to identify and see those who feel unseen, the lost and broken.

I speak encouragement and I make myself available to see them through their dark days and as soon as there is light the natural progression is that they then have a support system aroun them, it is not that I let people go… More that my purpose is done. I will still be present but on their terms and always a phone call away.

This has been a privilege and honour to do. Encouragement and presence are underestimated tools which help people more than you can imagine.

Today’s challenge is to see someone in your world who needs a call, coffee or text once or a couple times a week to be seen and to know they are not alone. This is a journey, I once supported a friend for a year before they felt safe enough to open up, the depths of their pain and loneliness was an eye opener for me. Keep going, keep trying and love those in your world even when it is hard. What if breakthrough was just around the corner?

Savanna Rose xxx

Sitting here waiting for my son to fall asleep, I question how I got here, and where does the story truly begin?

Taking this journey on a page and hopefully my words will create a picture, a story that’s characters and plot are being formed.

My aim, is to inspire, uplift and encourage others to seek and find their “more” in life, more love, more laughter, more joy.