I was recently a privileged guest at one of the most fun, feel-good Christmas parties I have ever experienced - and the only hangover the next day was a sense of gratitude and joy.
The party was organised by my friend Mollie and fellow generous British residents of the Plaka area and was held in a bar in Almyrida. The main guests were youngsters who attend a centre in Chania for people with special needs, together with their carers - a truly shining and delightful bunch of young adults whose dedication and devotion is carried with great lightness and humour.
The centre struggles to cover the overheads of its running costs and the British contingent has raised substantial funds to help during the last few years - and encouraged Cretan people to take notice and get involved.
The Christmas party is an opportunity to show the youngsters a good time, give them presents and let them feel that people care about them. Feeling is the operative word here because when communication through the mind is limited, then human connection is made entirely through the heart - and what an amazing, heart opening experience that was!
I had been practising lately trying to live from the heart, to allow the dismantling of all those protective barriers that we erect in response to life's pain - and here was my opportunity to reach out from the heart. I was so richly rewarded and humbly saw the gift of learning. Just let the mind tick over in the background, release all self-consciousness, make the heart open and vulnerable and there rushes in the overwhelming love that is our true essence.
Rania is a young woman in her
twenties who loves to dance. At first, when we were just talking without
music or movement, she shied away from being touched or getting too
close. But when the music started and we danced together, she grabbed my
hands as we jumped in rhythm, then linked her arm in mine to spin
round. She could clearly feel the music through her very being and it
brought her brilliantly to life.
Little Katerina is about nine years old but tiny as a slender toddler. Just holding her hand gives you a warm glow and when I held her in my arms and she blessed me with a huge smile, I felt bathed in a sense of bliss.
The party was organised by my friend Mollie and fellow generous British residents of the Plaka area and was held in a bar in Almyrida. The main guests were youngsters who attend a centre in Chania for people with special needs, together with their carers - a truly shining and delightful bunch of young adults whose dedication and devotion is carried with great lightness and humour.
The centre struggles to cover the overheads of its running costs and the British contingent has raised substantial funds to help during the last few years - and encouraged Cretan people to take notice and get involved.
The Christmas party is an opportunity to show the youngsters a good time, give them presents and let them feel that people care about them. Feeling is the operative word here because when communication through the mind is limited, then human connection is made entirely through the heart - and what an amazing, heart opening experience that was!
I had been practising lately trying to live from the heart, to allow the dismantling of all those protective barriers that we erect in response to life's pain - and here was my opportunity to reach out from the heart. I was so richly rewarded and humbly saw the gift of learning. Just let the mind tick over in the background, release all self-consciousness, make the heart open and vulnerable and there rushes in the overwhelming love that is our true essence.
Little Katerina is about nine years old but tiny as a slender toddler. Just holding her hand gives you a warm glow and when I held her in my arms and she blessed me with a huge smile, I felt bathed in a sense of bliss.
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