Day 319 - A humbling experience. xx

Friday 15th November

I must have forgotten something important because I can't possibly be ready for the first Christmas market tomorrow...can I?  I am sitting next to my packed boxes wondering what I have forgotten and hoping that it is nothing.  Quite unbelievably I appear to have made this deadline with some time to spare.  It is true that I have worked incredibly hard this week but I didn't expect to be ready this early and so I am rather nervous.  I sense one of those nights when you keep waking up thinking of things you might have forgotten. 

 

Thank you for all the messages asking about purchasing products mail order.  Next week I will be selling some of the collection through the With Love from Arran facebook page so best nip across and 'like' the page to keep up with the latest offers. 

 

Tidying up was a bit of a chore though.  I am not sure how one person can make quite so much mess.  Even the cat sat staring at me wondering how this was possible.  This is the first of three events on the island and I am quite excited this year.  Every year I listen to my customers and this year I think I have got the closest to their requests.  We shall soon find out if I am right.  There will be lots of lovely things to buy at the Christmas market and I do hope it is well supported.  The big event is at the end of the month so I now have two weeks to prepare for that.  I feel my life returning. 

I have also managed to breathe some new life into One soul many hearts and have had some lovely messages.  It is becoming what it was intended to be as it is offering us all a place to pause for a while and remember what is important in life.  It has been a traumatic week in the world and I have probably seen things I wish I hadn't seen.  Working on the site and sharing inspirational things has been a tonic and I am grateful for that.  My work with international charities can be, at times, emotionally draining so one soul many hearts offer a place of peace.  We are delighted to be sharing our first serial piece of writing about a lady who took a journey.  In taking this journey she began to see the world differently and it is a truly inspiring tale.  Part one is live now and part two and three will follow in the coming days.  Late last night in comes an e-mail from Molly with a piece she has written in response to the enchanting theme that one soul many hearts is running in December.  I read it out to Pete and we truly couldn't believe what she had written.  She told us that she just started writing and couldn't stop.  As a piece of writing it responds to the theme but also speaks from a rare and very precious perspective.  Look out at the beginning of December....

Thank you so much for all the messages from those of you who have donated money to UNICEF.  It was kind of you to take time to let me know and I would just say that this is really adding up now.  Without mentioning any names I had an email from a very loyal reader who donated £100 after reading my blogs this week.  That is incredibly generous and very humbling.  Bloggers all over the world are doing what they can to tell the story as it unfolds and I think there is a place for this.  It helps keep the disaster in the minds of all of us and that will be critical going forward.  This is just the beginning of the help needed by millions of people.  Sometimes the scale is too difficult to comprehend so the individual stories are a way of getting the message out there.  Progress is being made and aid is getting through in a more organised and controlled manner.  Field hospitals and supply centres are being established and temporary shelters are being erected.  I am sure that those working in the field are overwhelmed with what needs to be done.  One image I was sent this week was of a child laying dead where she had fallen.  Most of her body was covered in rubble but her hand was outstretched and visible.  This will haunt me forever.  There is nothing we can do for that little girl but let her outstretched hand reach each and every one of us and let us do what we can to help. 

Photograph of a Syrian child from UNICEF website. 

 

I have an idea to allow Scottish island mum to continue helping into 2014 and it is almost ready to share.  It is amazing what can be achieved when heads are put together.  I can not praise the team at UNICEF more highly.  They are remarkable people doing a remarkable job and not just in the Philippines.  Take a good look round their website to see where else they work.  Their work in Syria is so vital as lives are on the edge on a daily basis.  UNICEF provides the necessary components to start putting the lives of children back together again.  Children in Syria have lived through the worst of all moments and they need our continued support.  More than one million children are now displaced because of the violence in their country.  We can only help one child at a time as each and every one is precious.  You can pledge your support for a period of twelve months to support the children of Syria and that has to be the way forward.  I do not think the crisis in Syria will be solved any time soon. 

So, a huge thank you to the readers of Scottish island mum for all they have done.  I know a number of you are holding fundraising events this weekend so sending you all every best wish for success.  Together, I believe, we are making a real difference. 

Until tomorrow.  xx