Family Life

Celebrating 5 Years and Looking Ahead

October 22, 2015
Pink Rose

This time last week, TJ and I were in Glastonbury, celebrating 5 years of marriage. We hadn’t had a holiday since the last time we visited in 2012, and we never had a honeymoon, so this felt like a really special moment…

New Wedding Rings

We decided to create a little ceremony to mark the occasion and give each other new rings, as I had lost mine during my pregnancy (I had to take it off as I started reacting to the metal and it just disappeared). We originally planned on getting wooden rings, to celebrate our 5th year of marriage, but then we found these hematite rings a few months back and decided they were a good alternative.

It was such a wonderful opportunity, to get back to Glastonbury (one of my favourite places on earth), meet up with a dear old friend (who I managed to forget to take a photo of!) and hold a sweet little ceremony in the Chalice Well Gardens, the exact same place we held Little Man’s blessing ceremony 3 years ago. This time, however, he was very much an active participant in the ceremony…

Family Ceremony

I wrote the ceremony for us the morning of our anniversary, and purposefully included Little Man into it. We recognised how much has changed in the past five years, celebrated the growth of our love and how Little Man arrived into our lives, and shared our dreams for the coming 5 years. I used to feel so self-conscious and uncomfortable with ritual, but I am beginning to really love marking moments in our lives in this way.

Lighting Little Man’s candle with the flames from both of ours and then inviting him to join us in lighting a “unity” or “family” candle was so beautiful and really helped him feel involved with the entire thing, as he chose the colours for each of our candles that morning. It gave us a way to include him in what we were doing and express his own ideas into it, which we all loved.

Candle Lighting Ceremony

Which brings me to how we’re looking ahead to the next five years…

When I knew we were actually able to get to Glastonbury this year, I knew how important it would be for me symbolically to use the break as a chance to return to my roots, let go of the pain , sadness and anger of the past few years, and begin to really focus on moving forward in my life. This past year has been a crazy one, to say the least, and I have learnt a whole lot about myself and the changes I still need to make. One of these changes has been taking more time for myself and not filling it with needless activity but rather being present in the moment.

One such moment brought an idea into my head that has not let go since. More than an idea, in fact, it was a calling from my soul to fully embrace a part of myself that I have hidden from the world for many years, only letting glimpses of it show, in the hope of preserving something that can feel very fragile and intimate. I’m talking about my faith, or rather my interest in spirituality…

I have sometimes spoken about it here at The Patch, but it has always been in a guarded way. I had thought this was simply because it didn’t fit (and that is a part of it) but the reality is that I have closed my whole mind and heart off from the thing that brings me the most comfort and joy. Through fear of being seen as a multitude of negative words such as “deluded”, “dogmatic” or “naive”, I have actually prevented myself from enjoying all the positives such as “inspiration”, “peace”, and “exploration”. This is not only affecting me, but also affecting my ability to raise Little Man to know his own mind, follow his own heart, and carve his own path in life.

Pink Rose

More than anything, I want Little Man to grow up to know his own mind (and heart) and choose a path that reflects what he feels inside. I want him to be confident in this, secure enough to live in his own way whilst respecting the ways of others. And I am beginning to realise that I cannot do this without first living this way myself.

So it is beyond exciting to me that I am suddenly inspired to start something new, something that reflects the things I love most with the skills I have to create something that I hope will begin a lifelong journey of learning, friendship and community.

Spirit Kid Network

Spirit Kid Network is a brand new blog and community for people like us, looking to raise “spiritual kids” who are confident and excited about exploring life and finding their own paths. TJ and I are working, whenever we can, to get everything ready for going live, but you can get a sneak peek at the new site by visiting www.spiritkidnetwork.com

You can also pre-register your blog or business with the site, or join us on Facebook and Twitter. We’d love to see some of you there. And if you like what you see and fancy getting involved (by providing blog content, helping out on social media, or working with us in other ways) do get in touch. We want this to be far more than just us – we want it to be open to all.

And don’t worry if spirituality isn’t your thing… I’ll still be posting about our day-to-day lives here at The Patch, this isn’t a replacement for my online home here, rather an addition to it. And as Christmas is fast approaching, you can be sure there will be some posts coming up about how we’re preparing to celebrate on a budget!

 

  • Reply
    Simone
    October 23, 2015 at 11:20 am

    I love your rings Amanda! I wish I had thought of having a haematite ring 27 years ago when I married! Your little boy is adorable and growing up fast. Good luck with your Spirit Kid Network. My boy is now grown up – he was 17 this year and becoming his own person so I think my time raising him is done! x

  • Reply
    Gifts from the Goddess - learning to receive with grace | The Family Patch
    June 24, 2022 at 10:27 am

    […] did wonder whether I had subscribed and forgotten about it, because I had seen the magazine during our trip to Glastonbury in October 2015 and it had really caught my eye – had I signed up and not […]

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