With Cloudy....

With cloudy skies in all direction and the constant patter of rain upon the roof the joyous gift of water has brought tears and smiles. Last night going to sleep snuggled under my duvet listening as strong gusty winds sent leaves and branches crashing down and the eerie howling song as the wind built in intensity was like a ghostly chorus.

Falling asleep to the sound of Mother Nature as she brought relief to the burning land with gentleness and ferocity she unleashed her bounty. 

This week has given many lessons about what to do in a fire. Firstly trying to catch my wildling free range chickens to take them to safety was a fiasco. Firstly attempting to catch the ones that like a little cuddle now and again wasn't happening. The to and fro of the helicopters flying overhead was driving them crazy and me catching any of them was something I could not do on my own. So, they needed to stay here. Thinking about what would happened to them if the fires reached my door was awful, I left plenty of water and plenty of food and prayed for protection.

In the end it was them I came back for.  

When it was time to think about what I wanted to take with me, what was precious, there actually wasn't that much I wanted.

I am not materialistic, and stuff and things and houses can be replaced.

Lives can't.

I stood for a moment and thought about it, what in the house did I really want?

The cat's, myself, but what else.

I went around my little abode and realised that I didn't really want that much. Computer, camera, food, useful documents and a few clothes.

I know that not all people have the same thoughts on the things that adorn their homes, some people put so much value on things, it doesn't matter how much money something cost, at the end of the day it is still a thing, stuff. 

Interestingly enough I realised that when I left I forgot to grab photos, and as I thought about that I knew that memories are kept in my heart I didn't really need a hard copy. 

After returning home the first thing I did was to go through my wardrobes, picking out anything I hadn't worn in a year. This was all piled into bags and taken to a drop off point where donations of clothing, household items and food can be left for those whose homes have been taken by the fire.

Why do I need so many clothes? And given how I have lived in other chapters of my life the amount of clothes I use to once have, what I do have is nothing, but as I discovered it's still too much. I don't need it all. I can after all only wear one outfit at a time.

Things are exactly that, things.

All these things we collect in life really are quite pointless in the grand scheme of things, be they shoes, bags, clothes, knicknacks, books, whatever it is each person collects over the course of their lives in reality they are meaningless.

You can't take them with you when you die and yet humans have come to treasure things and stuff over other people, nature and creatures. 

There are those who think that because of all their money and treasures they are different to the rest of us, but they are so wrong. 

We are all born into this world with nothing and we all leave this world with nothing, 

We are all the same without the stuff.

This last week has really highlighted to me what is really important in my life, and possessions certainly isn't one of them.....