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Newsletter Feb 2015
Mbl 0419 531 859; Business owner/Editor/Columnist - Raili Tanska
email – soulgifts2012@gmail.com
http://www.facebook.com/SoulGifts http://www.youtube.com
https://www.amazon.com/author/railitanska
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… has plunged headlong into its newness. Is it just me, or does life seem to have
picked up its pace? Christmas was just yesterday, wasn’t it!! And yet I find myself
sitting down to write the February newsletter already.
In the helter-skelter of daily routines and mundane tasks, time seems to slip by
seemingly leaving little of itself just for ME. Or is it me? Perhaps I am just
disorganised, distracted, forgetful? A poor time manager? Am I one of those people
who are always too busy to take time to look after themselves? Do I think I am
indispensable? Do I think I don’t deserve ‘down time’? Am I a ‘doormat’ always
responding to others’ demands? Am I not able or willing to let go or delegate jobs to
others? Am I simply doing too much?
Since resigning from my day job in June 2012 life has taken on a different trajectory.
More leisurely, certainly. I am self-managed now in time and tasks, having no external
locus of control ( ie. employer). The days fill easily and quickly leaving me wondering
how I ever fitted in paid employment along with all the other responsibilities of home
and family. It is still easy to slip into an illusory routine of ‘busy-ness’ that does not
leave room for me-time. The priority time that recharges and nurtures the Mind, Body
and Soul enabling a heart-centred presence in daily life.
These are just some of the issues and questions I sit and ponder as I take stock of this
year of 2015 in its newness. Just how DO I find that balance? I cherish this me-time.
Do you? It keeps me balanced and peaceful. It calms and centres me. It enables me to
remain and be present in The Now Moment without so much of that ‘monkey-mind’
This year of 2015…

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chatter that distracts and fractures. My intent for 2015 is to Love my Self. In doing
so, all else will fall into place too.
ME –TIME SUMMER MEDITATION
Before you begin this meditation take some time to write a list of all the things in your life that
take up your time. Include all aspects of your life. Next, look closely at the list. Identify those
that block or get in the way of the life you want to lead. Item by item choose the ones you are
ready to release. You are creating space and time for you… and the life you want to create.
Find a quiet place where you will be undisturbed for half an hour or so. A space
where you feel calm and peaceful. You may wish to light a candle.
Sit or lie in a comfortable position. Keep your spine straight, arms and legs
uncrossed. Take three deep, slow breaths in through the nose, fill your lungs, hold,
slowly exhale through the mouth. Release any tension as you breathe out. Feel yourself
sinking into a deep state of relaxation.
Close your eyes and ‘look down’ into your heart. From there imagine a golden cord
that connects you to the Divine, whatever that may be for you. And another, more solid
cord, that connects you deep into the core of the Earth. Imagine that you are fully
encased in a protective luminescent bubble that is filled with colour/s of your choosing.
Imagine you find yourself in a clearing deep within a forest. The clearing is
surrounded by tall, stately trees reaching high into the sky. The air is crisp and clear
with a scintillating scent of wood smoke. You can also smell the fresh earthiness of the
growth that surrounds you. Under your feet the grass feels soft and soothing. A
symphony of bird calls fills the air inviting you to find a comfortable spot to sit and
listen to the sounds of nature. You are drawn to the centre of the clearing where you
have noticed a small fire burning, encased by a ring of round stones. Next to it is the
perfect spot for you to sit.
You know you have come to this place for a special purpose. The list you prepared
before your arrival here is embedded into your heart. Breathing smoothly and deeply,
one by one you slowly remove the items for release from your list and throw them into
the transmuting flames of the fire. You watch as the flames dance and swirl, creating
shadows and shapes, changing colours from deep oranges and reds to golden yellows and
whites. The cleansing flames leap high each time you add another item. With each
release you feel lighter, less burdened. When you have finished your task, take a
moment to review the list again. Perhaps there is more ready to be released.
Take a moment to just sit and feel the peace that permeates your Being now.
There is a sense of wellbeing and freedom in your Soul and Heart. Now is the time to
set the intent for the life you want to create for yourself. You have made space in your
life for newness to enter. Create it in your imagination in all its glorious detail. Feel it

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as if it already is. Surrender your creation to the flames to be released to fly free and
come to you when the time is right. In joyous expectation you rise up. It is time to
leave now. Give thanks for the Grace and blessing that has come to you with this
experience in the forest. Gently and slowly return back to the present moment.
After this meditation you may wish to actually physically re-enact the scroll as an intention
ritual just as you did during the meditation. This act further reinforces the intent.
A theme has begun to emerge in my conversations with people over the last couple of
months. It is one of reconnections and serendipitous new connections. Without
exception they told me their stories with delight, glowing eyes and a smile. I shared
their heartfelt joy in the listening. And whilst sharing my own stories.
Some have told me about rediscovering old friends from their long distant past,
perhaps as far back as primary school. They used to be BFF’s (Best Friends Forever).
Always loyal, they trusted each other and whispered their deepest darkest secrets to
each other. There was never any judgement - just acceptance. They cried, laughed and
played together. Or just hung out. Then life got in the way. Contact was lost.
Occasional nostalgic remembrances and thoughts of reconnecting surfaced briefly
over the years only to be put aside for ‘sometime later’. But later never came. And then
somehow not of their own making they reconnected. BFF’s again. Took up where they
left off as if nothing had happened in between. What an awesome friendship.
Then there is the other kind of story. One where two people unknown to each other
are brought together somehow. Perhaps a friend introduced them or they met at a
function. And they just clicked. Like they had known each other forever already. The
friendship seamlessly slips into a comfortable and close BFF relationship. How awesome
is it to have people like that come into your life ?!
Yet a third scenario has emerged. Social media has removed barriers and made it
possible and easy for people to find each other regardless of where they live. And
reconnect after many years of absence, getting to know each other all over again.
I have personally had several such connections come into my life recently. All without
exception have been unexpected. All without exception have left me feeling deeply. I
hope and pray all without exception will continue to flourish and grow.
RE –
CONNECTING

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These heartwarming stories seem to be springing up remarkably often. Even the
media, which seems to prefer reporting the salacious darker side of life, have started
picking up on it. Perhaps that web of connection some call the Divine Matrix is
performing its magic and bringing us together in deeper and more meaningful ways. I
like to think so.
“Tuesdays with Morrie: an old man, a young man, and life’s great lesson” by
Mitch Albom (1999)
This book shares the true heartwarming story of a remarkable rekindled relationship
between an ex-student and his dying college professor. I hope you enjoy these
excerpts.
Pg 2 - The last class of my old professor’s life took place once a week in his house, by a
window in the study where he could watch a small hibiscus plant shed its pink leaves.
The class met on Tuesdays. It began after breakfast. The subject was The Meaning of
Life. It was taught from experience.
No grades were given, but there were oral exams each week. You were expected to
respond to questions, and you were expected to pose questions of your own. You were
also required to perform physical tasks, such as lifting the professor’s head to a
comfortable spot on the pillow or placing his glasses on the bridge of his nose. Kissing
him goodbye earned you extra credit.
No books were required, yet many topics were covered, including love, work, community,
family, aging, forgiveness, and, finally, death. The last lecture was brief, only a few
words.
A funeral was held in lieu of a graduation.
Although no final exam was given, you were expected to produce one long paper on what
was learned. That paper is presented here.
The last class of my old professor’s life had only one student.
I was the student….
Pg 9 - “My old friend,” he whispered, “you’ve come back at last.”
He rocked against me, not letting go, his hands reaching up for my elbows as I bent
over him. I was surprised at such affection an after all these years, but then, in the
stone walls I had built between my present and my past, I had forgotten how close we
once were. I remembered graduation day, the briefcase, his tears at my departure, and
I swallowed because I knew, deep down, that I was no longer the good, gift-bearing
student he remembered….
Pg 16 - Morrie honked loudly into the tissue. “This is okay with you, isn’t it? Men
crying?”
Sure, I said, too quickly.
He grinned. “Ah, Mitch, I’m gonna loosen you up. One day, I’m gonna show you it’s

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okay to cry.”
“Yeah, yeah, I said. “Yeah, yeah,” he said.
We laughed because he used to say the same thing nearly twenty years earlier. Mostly
on Tuesdays…
Pg 39 - I came to love the way Morrie lit up when I entered the room. He did this for
many people, I know, but it was his special talent to make each visitor feel that the
smile was unique.
“Ahhhh, it’s my buddy,” he would say when he saw me, in that foggy, high-pitched voice.
And it didn’t stop with the greeting. When Morrie was with you, he was really with you.
He looked you straight in the eye, and he listened as if you were the only person in the
world. How much better would people get along if their first encounter each day were
this – instead of a grumble from a waitress or a bus driver or a boss?
“I believe in being fully present,” Morrie said. “That means you should be with the
person you’re with. When I’m talking to you now, Mitch, I try to keep focused only on
what is going on between us. I am not thinking about something we said last week. I am
not thinking of what’s coming up this Friday…. I am not thinking about doing another
Koppel show, or about what medications I am taking. I am talking to you. I am thinking
about you.” …
Pg 54 - I leaned in and kissed him closely, my face against his, whiskers on whiskers,
skin on skin, holding it there, longer than normal, in case it gave him even a split second
of pleasure.
Okay, then? I said, pulling away.
I blinked back the tears, and he smacked his lips together and raised his eyebrow at
the sight of my face. I like to think it was a fleeting moment of satisfaction from my
dear old professor: he had finally made me cry.
Okay then, he whispered…
.
The funeral was held on a damp, windy morning. The grass was wet as we stood by the
hole in the earth, close enough to hear the pond water lapping against the edge and to
see ducks shaking off their feathers.
Although hundreds of people had wanted to attend, Charlotte kept this gathering small,
just a few close friends and relatives.
Rabbi Axelrod read a few poems. Morrie’s brother, David – who still walked with a limp
from his childhood polio lifted the shovel and tossed dirt in the grave, as per tradition.
At one point, when Morrie’s ashes were placed into the ground, I glanced around the
cemetery. Morrie was right. It was indeed a lovely spot, trees and grass and a sloping
hill.
“You talk, I’ll listen, “ he had said.
I tried doing that in my head and, to my happiness, found that the imagined
conversation felt almost natural. I looked down at my hands, saw my watch and realized
why.
It was Tuesday…

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Pg 55 - This book was largely Morrie’s idea. He called it our “final thesis”. Like the best
of work projects, it brought us closer together…. The title, by the way, we came up
with one day in Morrie’s office. He liked naming things. He had several ideas. But when
I said, “How about Tuesdays with Morrie?” he smiled in an almost blushing way, and I
knew that was it….