Success

In these unusual times of lockdown and social isolation, all of our lives have been impacted to some degree, whether in large or small ways. From my perspective, as a mother to be with a baby boy ready to arrive any second now, it has brought challenges like not being able to give my own Mother a big hug or spend precious time visiting our Granddad to share a simple bowl of tomato soup and rolls, like we used to.

This time has not passed without blessings, however. I'm grateful for the stillness it has brought with it, like helping me find my way back to the joy of writing, which was often pushed aside by work, every day life and lots of 'busyness'.

This morning I woke up feeling the urge to share a few thoughts on the meaning of success. The abundance of time at home many of us have been granted has been a two edged sword for several of us, including myself to some extent; increasing pressure of having to 'achieve' something in this period and spend it 'productively'. Especially as a brand new mum to be, in my head the list of things to sort out inside and around me seemed somewhat neverending.

Then one day, inspired by a friend's sharing, a sweet little book arrived on my doorstep; The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse dreamed up by Charlie Mackesy. In it stood the humble and gentle, yet so powerful reminder:

"What do you think success is?" asked the boy
"To love," said the mole

This simple yet so beautiful thought stopped me right in my tracks and warmed my heart immeasurably.

I so wanted to share it to encourage all of us to keep sight of what's really important, whether it's calling that person who lives alone and so needs to know that they are loved and thought of, being kind to the ones around us we might have slightly taken for granted in the last few weeks, or simply lovingly nurturing that beautiful flower growing in our garden. That is my hope and wish for us all in getting through these unprecedented times; success in sharing that precious love we all hold inside of us.

Kahlil Gibran - On Children

Our dear Child,

Your Daddy took this beautiful photo.

I wanted to share with you a quote from one of my favourite books, The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran.

This is what he writes on Children:


"Your children are not your children
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you, And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies, but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.

You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies, so He lives also the bow that is stable."


I hope and pray these words will be a gentle reminder to me in moments when everyday life might tempt me to lose sight of them.


With all my love, your Mum ❤️

Részlet kisfiamnak írt naplómból - angyali sugallat

Édes Kisfiam,


"Különösen szeressétek a gyermekeket, mert vétek nélkül valók, mint az angyalok. A mi örömünkre vannak a világon, hogy jobbá tegyék szívünket..."

Ezt a Dosztojevszkij idézetet olyan örömmel teli szívvel másolom Neked egy számomra nagyon felemelô üzenetbôl, amit tegnap kaptam egy csodálatos írónôtôl, Eszterhai Katalintól. A történet tavaly júniusra nyúlik vissza, amikor utóljára jártunk Debrecenben. Ott bukkantam rá egy könyvárusnál erre a számomra oly becses kötetre Szeretném még elmondani: szerettem címmel. Egybôl a lelkemhez szólt. Ahogy belelapoztam, üdítô színek, szívmelengetô képek a tengerrôl, virágokról, égrôl, csoda tájaktól, bölcs idézetekkel teleszórva. Úgy éreztem talán egy nap egy ehhez hasonló kötetet tarthatok majd én is kezemben, a saját tollam által írottat...

Ugrunk elôre jó pár hónapot, áldott állapotom nyolcadik hónapja körül a koronavírus csendjében elôkerült a könyvespolcról ez a kõtet és teljesen beleszerelmesedtem minden szavába, ékes sorába. Katalin olyan felemelôen ír az életrôl, a szeretetrôl, az élet megpróbáltatásairól, azokról a hétköznapi csodákról, amikben mindennapjainkban örömünket lelhetjük ebben az életben.

Annyira gyógyítóan hatottak rám sorai, hogy elhatároztam megkeresem és írok neki, hátha megtalálom... És mit hoz az élet, tegnap meg is találtam és azon nyomban gépelni kezdtem neki hálás szīvemmel köszönô levelemet. Gondoltam magamban biztos rengetegen teszik hasonlóképpen és nem vártam választ egy jó ideig, így majd kiugrottam bôrömbôl, amikor ugyanaznap este érkezett egy válasz levél, és méghozzá írásaihoz hūen egy olyan bûbájos és szeretetteljes válasz, amiben megkaptam Tôle a korábban említett Dosztojevszkij idézetet.

Ezt el akartam mesélni Neked, mert ha talán egyszer az én kötetem is megjelenik, az égiek is úgy akarván, akkor Eszterhai Katalin könyvének ahhoz nagyon sok köze lesz. Mintha az angyalok küldték volna hozzám imáimra válaszul, hogy újult erôt, ihletet adjon, és hogy sugallatával nagyobb szeretettel és megbocsájtással tekintsek múltamra és a Veled megáldott jövôre.

 Az angyali hang ❤️

 https://youtu.be/EZeizMQ3rbc

Preparation for your arrival 💕

Dear Baby Boy,

Although I'm already writing you a very detailed diary of all the things we're getting up to while waiting for you to join us, I still wanted to add an entry in my blog with a bit of photographic evidence.

These are the weird and wonderful events of our lives at this moment of time, a period of bittersweet anticipation of expecting our first healthy baby during a worldwide lockdown due to COVID-19 pandemic.

Our lives are thankfully much more on the sweet side and we hope you are enjoying these days with us too, bouncing about in my amniotic fluid!

So much love and cuddles,

Your Mama, Daddy, and furry sister Dorka 💕❤️🐾🐾

In our tiny but very precious garden, we've planted 3 fruit trees, plum, apple and pear, of which the apple as you can see is magnicently showing off its first blossoms!
We've got a herb garden and a blueberry bush, as well as a veggie planter with courgettes, carrots, radishes and lettuce waiting to make their appearance.

By the time you're born we might even be able to admire the sunflowers and other little flowers also enjoying the spring sunshine outside.

We've also spent many hours with you in my tummy exploring the surrounding forests, enjoying the fresh air and birdsong and hugging trees (instead of family for now) that would be me! Your Daddy and Dorka leave these kinds of weird things to me!

After several years of dust collecting the guitar has made an appearance in our home again. I've been practicing some songs for you, like Woodstock by Matthew Southern Comfort, I'm Yours by Jason Mraz and my next one to tackle is Somewhere over the rainbow, Eva Cassidy's version, which is proving to be a bit of a challenging one. I'm doing more procrastinating than strumming when it comes to that one! 

I usually start my mornings with a bit of quiet prayer or journalling, sending out love to all the beautiful family and friends we can't see and share cuddles with at the moment.

With going out for meals out of the question at this moment in time, we have made lots of healthy homemade meals with the things available in the shops, in this way discovering how delicious baked beans pizzas are!

There's been the other fun jobs of figuring out how the bottle steriliser works, sorting baby clothes (with Dorka as my main helper), putting together prams and playpens, (your Daddy's main area of expertise, I just tried to keep out of the way!) And then there was swaddling teddy bears and practicing drawing paw patrol characters, thanks to your cousin Danien's birthday, and getting your nursery ready, with lots of love and enthusiasm.

After all this was accomplished...

...this is all we had energy for :D

We love you so much and can't wait to meet you. I hope one day you'll enjoy this little snapshot of our earliest days together. With all or love, your nutty family 💕

Gratitude for trees - dedicated to Wild Child

There's something so magnificent about trees... They inspire me on so many levels. I can never tire of looking at them and always discover something new and wonderful about them.

We are so fortunate to live in an area surrounded by green, which allows me to breathe in their healing presence on every walk with little Dorka.

Today I was reminded by these beautiful creations of the saying 'don't worry if your shadow is bent if you know you're standing straight'. I reach back to these comforting words so often for reassurance as I very often feel misunderstood and oversensitive in my communication with fellow humans. Hence my love of animals and nature, for their uncomplicated simplicity. When you're already quite a sensitive soul and take so much of what people say or don't say personally, pregnancy hormones really do not do you any favours in that department. Add a bit of Corona virus to the situation, making you rely on technology for most of your interactions = recipe for disaster...

But you can never underestimate the restorative power of a walk in nature. For me these experiences are hightened by prayer, as hidden wooden paths are my favourite spots to have hearty conversations with the One Who Knows.

In this time of so much uncertainty and not being able to be with so many people you love and care about, I find gardening and my daily walks in nature pure medicine.
I looked at the trees on my sunny path today and was mesmerised by the way their leaves reflect the rays of light pouring onto them and how they show their gratitude by growing towards that source and stretch out their branches in what resembles a warm embrace.

There's something so inviting about a row of trees winding along gravel paths enticing you to explore further... even if you are 8 months pregnant and exploration gains a whole new speed and manner falling very far short of graceful!

Spotting these two directions I was transported back to a poem I came across in my studies in Kuwait many many years ago, The Road Not Taken, by Robert Frost.

...

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-
I took the one less travelled by,
And that has made all the difference.

...

Looking back at this poem 20 odd years on I tried to figure out the reason why it stayed with me for so long and realised the more I tried to interpret it or understand others' interpretations of it, the more it lost of its beauty. I came to the conclusion that it was satisfaction enough for me to admire life's twists and turns and decisions, whoever made them. I feel a deep sense of gratitude for all the paths I took, that have led me to the exact moment I am living now. I guess this is what the poem means to me. I dedicate this entry to a dear friend
living Germany now due to life's circumstances, whom I have nicknamed 'Wild Child', for her love and fascination of nature that reminds me of mine. My dear Wild Child, may you keep finding peace and solice in nature and may the paths you choose take you on wonderful adventures. Love Noémi PS: Don't forget to embrace every opportunity for fun on the way as the pebble on my walk today reminded me!
...

New Life - Dedicated with love to all those affected by COVID-19

Once I read a quote from a lady in my favourite Hungarian magazine that went something like this: 'Even if I knew the world was going to end tomorrow, I would still plant an apple tree today'

I always found those words deeply hopeful and uplifting.
 Last year I planted an apple tree. Not because I thought the world was going to end, but because I've always had a deep rooted appreciation for trees and growing my own fruit seemed like one of the most wonderful things I could imagine. Also I was expecting my first baby and wanted her/him to be able to walk out into our garden and pick an apple straight from our tree.

Although the world didn't end as such, that first baby of ours never got to pick any apples from that tree as her time here with us was a very brief three months. Her little heart carried on beating somewhere else after that...

Jumping forward a year, the UK and pretty much the whole world is in lockdown because of the spread of COVID-19 and I am in my last month of pregnancy with our second child. The world, yet again, has not ended, but life as we know it has been shaken to the ground with a lot of questions and uncertainty for us humans...

To have this outbreak coincide with the arrival of our baby and Easter is both unsettling at times, to say the least, yet filled with hope and promise for a brand new way forward.

Our time during lockdown has been blessed with rest and tranquility, a chance to nurture and enjoy our garden, the company of our sweet furry family member, Dorka, who has been putting a smile on our faces for 15 years now, and allowed us much needed quality time together before our new arrival joins us.

Having said all that with much gratitude, not one day goes by without our thoughts and prayers going out to those who have had to carry on working and putting themselves at risk for the well-being of others, including my own mum and brother, my colleagues at the Lantern community, the people providing food and supplies for us, collecting our waste and other services, and last but not least, the incredible NHS and care staff having to face the toughest challenges of all day after day.

My heart is also daily with those who have found themselves face to face with the illness, whether it be themselves or their family members, and especially those who won't be able to cuddle those loved ones after the lockdown is over.

I dedicate this entry to all these people and my wish is that God's grace and healing be with them in this difficult time.

I sign off with a picture of the first blossoms on the earlier mentioned apple tree, that presented their delicate selves over the Easter weekend. May they be a sign of hope and healing to all of us. ☀️🍎☀️