Stop Imagining

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The world is full
It seems
Of such awful things
People being awful
To the other people
Destruction
Pain and chaos

Hate comes from a place
Of sorrow and anger
Mistrust and mistreatment

All the people who hate

And are filled with violent thoughts

And carry out violent actions
Are reacting to something

Injustices done to them
Or their loved ones

And it doesn't in any way

Justify horrific acts

But they didn't fall out of the sky

Hating and perpetrating awfulness 

What if we turned to every being

And said

You are loved

You are worthy 

You are allowed to be here

Not because religion

Or because long gone gurus said so

But just because

Would it change anything?

Years of abuse of injustice and pain

Would probably retaliate

Untrusting 

Imagine
All the people
Living life in peace
Yoo hoo-ooo

Stop imagining
Do it
Live life in peace
And as once was said
Be the change
Be nice to one another
Say please and thank you

Because we can all imagine
If only's
And the possibility of futures
Far away
We can wish
Forever
But if wishes were fishes...
We'd deplete the sea
Until there was nothing left

Instead of waiting for the future to happen
Instead of waiting for a day of peace
Down the track
Let's live it right now

Today I watched the London marathon
On a (rare) bright blue sky London day
All the people running past
In shorts and leggings and brightly coloured wigs
And smiles through the pain
The cheers from the crowds watching on
In everyone's minds
This was Boston on Monday
The sea of humanity
The celebration of health
And togetherness
Of fun
And festivity
Of challenge
And achievement
Was at once beautiful
And overwhelming
And the world seemed
For a moment, at least,
Less awful

The end.

I'm Still Here

I quit Facebook
And people actually panicked
Lu! Where are you going? 
How will we know what's going on?
WHAT'S WRONG?! 

I'm living life
Further away from my computer
As best I can in this digital age
I'm cooking
Running
Exploring London
Seeing friends
Connecting with people
Reading more books

I've made
Raw zucchini pasta
And pumpkin pie
The FLAVOURS!
I've made cauliflower cous cous
(The cauliflower IS the cous cous
It's amazing!
Have you tried it?
Cinnamon and cauliflower and olive oil
Make the most delicious combination!)
I've made beet and apple and carrot salad
And spent an hour
Cracking nuts
And developing an understanding
Of the true meaning of
"A tough nut to crack"

I've been miserable
And happy
And frustrated
And inspired
And as Eckhart Tolle has guided
I've been here
To witness it all
I just have to remember
I'm still here

The end.

Living in the Country

The Lido

I've moved to
Zone 6
The commute is longer
But oh my
It is worth it!
The 500 year old barn
That houses a library
A skip, hop, and a jump away
Down the road
The Lido
Complete with swans
A beach
And a walking trail
Three sets of ancient woodland
Will soon become my
Running route
And my bedroom
Inside a 400 year old house
Is picture postcard pretty
And quaint
Yoga on the slightly uneven floorboards
Sunlight through the square window
And room to breathe

The end.

Blue Skies

Today I went running
And the mercury was pushing
14 degrees celsius/58 degrees fahrenheit
And it felt so warm!

And there were two people
Practising tai chi in the park
Slowly turning in their forms
Present enough to smile
At runners by

There were arborists
At work
Grown-ups paid to climb trees
Whilst juggling chainsaws

There were babies
Toddling and laughing
In the playground
There was a designer mummy
With her designer mini me
The tiny daughter with perfectly neat hair
And flouncy pink frills
Maria Von Trapp would never have approved
She was not in play clothes
There was a baby in the pram
Exclaiming "Oooh!"

By my second lap
The tai chi practisers
Were sitting on the ground
Meditating

The sky was blue
The sun was warm
People were smiling
And it was lovely

The end.

Are We There Yet?

Out for a run
With the mercury pushing
Ten degrees celsius
(Fifty fahrenheit)
The sun
Winning battles
With the clouds
And in the park
The first jonquills
Are in bloom...
Spring is on its way!!!

Sunday in the Park

It is 8 degrees (46 fahrenheit)
And the sky is blue
And the sun is shining
And you jog to the park
And there are kids playing soccer
And rugby
There are other people running
You smile at each other in runner code
It's (relatively) warm! The sun is shining!
We're running without thermals on!
We can RUN without fear of slipping!

People are walking their dogs
And the dogs are ecstatic
The grass has become muddy
The dogs' legs and bellies are covered in mud
The kids who have been playing sport
Are covered in mud
Across London tonight
There will be washing machines full of muddy clothes and towels

There is a solitary patch of snow left in the grass
A man is stomping in it
Perhaps he is reliving his childhood
Perhaps he is cleaning his black shoes
Perhaps he just likes snow

It is a little blustery
But the sky is blue
The grass is green
The sun is warm
And it is delicious

The end.

Ice, Ice Baby

Today's moment
Of awesome came
When I realized,
After the fact,
That I had run just over 5km
In just-below zero temperatures
And didn't even notice

The end.

Empire State of Mind

Today I cried watching this video
Then downloaded the song
And with Alicia on repeat
Ran 5km
Despite the snow still on the ground
And recalled that the next adventure
Is just around the corner

The end.

Cool Runnings

contemplating a run...

On Sunday
Kerry Ellis
Musical theatre star and beltress
Tweeted about running in the cold
And how it hurt
But she did it anyway

To be honest
The cold puts me off
From running
My Aussie self is afraid of it
I'd had an unwritten rule
Though loudly spoken
I would not run when it was colder than
8 degrees celsius (46 fahrenheit)
Because let's face it
No one likes running
And feeling like your nose will fall off
Or spending most of the run trying to be warm

But, if
Kerry Ellis
Musical theatre star and beltress
Maintains a running schedule
Even in the bitter cold
Then
Luisa Lyons
Aspiring musical theatre star and beltress
Must maintain a running schedule
Even in the cold

And today
With the mercury barely meeting 2 degrees celsius
I rugged up
I donned thermals and a beanie
I plugged in my headphones
And I went running

It was cold
There was still snow in the park
But I ran
And it felt good!
The breathing stopped hurting
The air stopped feeling so brisk
I ran 4km

And running past the unmelted snow
Was delightful

The end.

To See

Whilst I was running in the park

A photographer had stopped on the grass

And was looking up at a tree

A kite had been left in the empty branches

Looking like an overgrown leaf

Like the tree had mustered the last of its autumnal energy

Combined all its palette into one gigantuan effort 

And pushed out a fabulous frond in bright technicolor glory

And with my eyes opened 

I later spotted a blossom tree in full bloom 

In the middle of winter! 

It was so pretty

So unexpected! 

And I gave silent thanks

To the photographer

Whose eyes I hadn't even met

For helping me to see 

Close up

The end. 

Run, Lulu Run! (Again)

It is hot. The sky is blue. I am standing with several hundred people. We are converged on the green in the center of New Milford. We are all decked out in various forms of exercise gear, mostly shorts and t-shirts and sneakers. We are at the starting line. A man’s voice announces “Ready... Set... Go!”. The New Milford Library clock begins to chime 9AM. We shuffle off, and by the end of Main St, we are running. The pace is quick. We leave the main town behind. The sound of feet on the pavement. The crowd thins out. All I can think of is how different it is to the City to Surf. I miss the crowds. There are stretches where I’m almost running on my own. It could just be another Saturday morning run. A few families sit on their lawns to watch the runners passing by. They wave, or just watch quietly, observing the motley crew of humanity running by their front doors. Children, and grown-ups. Serious runners and running clubs and people who just like to run, and, of course, the parents with prams. An older runner calls out to a group of spectators, “Am I winning?”. A woman calls back, “Top 500!”. Everybody laughs. I try to focus on my breathing.  At the first mile we reach our first water station. It is a hot morning. It is difficult to pace myself in miles. I have only ever known kilometers. The scenery is stunning. We run through the leafy green back streets of New Milford. I think about how at home I feel here. But I am a foreigner. I have a different accent to all the people around me. When we run though, we sound the same. I have a revelation about what I want from life. I'm doing exactly that. And that feels good. I round a corner and see a group of people I know cheering the runners on. I feel both elated and strangely confronted. What do I look like when I run?! They give me a boost. Later when their cheering has worn off and the pain returns, a kind stranger and fellow runner jogs up next to me and says "You can do it! Finish strong!". It gives me the final boost. The last mile is mercifully all down hill. I can see the finish line ahead of me and I get that delicious rush of adrenalin that comes from long distance running. I’ve nearly done it! A man on a microphone calls out the names of the runners as they come through the finish line. He incorrectly pronounces my name, twice. It takes a little of the shine off the achievement of having just run 8 miles. But it’s not the finish that counts. It’s the inspiration from having done it. From the possibility of being fit, of being in control of my body, of my mind. Of living a life where I can run races in different parts of the planet. I grab an orange quarter and another drink and head over to the green to meet my friends and cool down. It wasn’t my best event. It was harder than I expected. But I got a new sense of resolve out of it. And that is exhilarating. See you at the next one. 

Anything Can Happen

Imagine that as a child you watched Mary Poppins on repeat and there are countless million times you have watched Mary float down from the sky and dish out coloured spoonfuls of goodness and hold the beak of her umbrella and say that will be quite enough of that thank you! And as that little child you wished and prayed that Mary would one day actually fly into your world. And then imagine one day you are living in a place you have never lived before and one morning you go out for a jog. And you are in the park and next to the playground you spy a statue of Mary Poppins. And there she is with her feet in perfect first position and her umbrella held above her head and the familiarity of her makes you gasp. And even more surprising is the discovery that P.L. Travers (who wrote the original books upon which the movie was based) once lived just a short jog from your house. And the person who unveiled the statue six years ago is your aunty. And it is surprising. And it is lovely. And your inner six year old says that is too cool. Mary Poppins lives at my park.