I should confess straight off that I’m not really a fan of snow. I don’t get excited by its arrival; at least not in London, maybe in a wintry Switzerland or if I was in the country and didn’t have to go out and do anything. But I’m a summer-loving person born under the Sun sign of Aries and I live in London. Snow in London may start pretty but it doesn’t last long. Everything grinds to a halt because we don’t have the infrastructure to support snowy weather and walking along slippery pavements and driving on icy roads is seriously hazardous.
But let me not be a total misery! I know – some of you love it! And after I’d taken the bus into Richmond this morning and had a welcome, warming coffee in Paul, I walked part of the way back home, across Richmond Green and down to the River Thames and along the towpath, before crossing Richmond Bridge and jumping on a bus again, because even though there was snow on the ground, the sun was also shining. And even I couldn’t fail to see the beauty of Richmond with its light blanket of snow set against a glorious blue sky. So of course out came my iPhone and I started snapping.
But I also got thinking about the positive side of the weather; not just its beauty. I had to slow down. I’m always rushing but rushing on ice is dangerous, so I walked slowly. And because it really was quite icy underfoot, I practised the Walking Meditation that I learnt in Mindfulness Meditation where you are aware of each movement of your leg as it moves forward and steps down; the lifting of the other leg as you go forwards into another step. It takes you totally into the moment; you can’t think of anything else and plenty of studies have shown that a mental break like this is good for us. I worked on accepting change and going with the flow; aware that my nice plans for the days immediately ahead may have to change, be postponed, with more snow forecast. And I remembered when I first visited Richmond, long before marriage and children, because a friend was at college here, and I thought how lovely it was and how wonderful it would be to live here. I really wanted to live in Richmond one day. And I did. I do. So sometimes dreams do come true! And here is some of beautiful Richmond to share with you:
