The Art of Spirit

I was particularly fond of my Grandad. He was a sign writer and artist and in later life a keen fisherman. He was fishing in his favourite spot when he suffered heart failure and died shortly afterwards in the hospital.

A few days before his funeral, a neighbour of ours who also enjoyed fishing, brought round a postcard of a fishing lake he liked to visit. I put it on a shelf in the kitchen, slipping it between some other papers and forgot about it.

On the day of my Grandad's funeral, one of the pallbearers didn't turn up at the church, so my husband volunteered to stand in, for which my family was most grateful. After the service we went on to the crematorium. It had beautiful gardens filled with the distinctive call of dozens of Jays. I'd never seen a Jay until that day and in the 12 years that have passed I haven't seen one since....that was until just a few days ago .

The day after the funeral, I decided to sort out the paperwork which had been piling up in the kitchen and I found the postcard of the fishing lake. I couldn't believe my eyes! A watermark had appeared which looked to me like the outline of my grandad in his cap and wellies!

I accepted this as very special message of love from my Grandad and confirmation that life still goes on even after we leave this world.

During the recent Easter break, I saw my first Jay since the funeral and immediately thought of my Grandad. I felt he was there to help me with something.

For quite a few years now I've been suffering from a build up of tension in my neck which creates migraines. My osteopath, who I have to visit regularly to keep the tension under control, says it's because I have a kink in my spine where it joins the skull.

Even though I believe that many physical conditions have a metaphysical cause and in the case of the neck, it's probably to do with being "inflexible", I'd forgotten to apply this wisdom to myself....until I saw the Jay.

A few days later, I was out cycling on a forest trail with my family on my new bike (which I'd been careful to choose so as not to put too much pressure on my neck whilst leaning over the handle bars). As I cycled, I reflected on the idea that perhaps I was being too rigid in my approach to life. I accepted that this was probably the case and just as the acceptance flooded through my body, I heard the call of a Jay and saw one concealed by a tree. I got off my bike to enjoy the sighting but it quickly flew off, so I got back on my bike. As soon as I started to pedal, I felt an almighty snap in my neck as something released itself. Immediately, the stiffness in my neck disappeared and I felt my spine free up.

By becoming aware of my inflexibility, being accepting of it and simply choosing to let it go, my neck was transformed.

The magical reality of my life never ceases to amaze me.

A wise man once said that life has no meaning other than that which you place upon it.

So I choose to place lots of meaning on everything because it makes for a more interesting life story.