Neala is a doll in a series called "The Old Woman in the Shoe".

Neala means 'female champion'.

What is it to be a female champion?
Does it imply an equality with men, and what does that mean?
Is it an advocacy for the rights of women?
Does it champion the causes closes to a woman's heart -
ecology, safety, empowerment,
the right to choose, to speak, to nurture,
the right to work, to freedom, to education?

Fidelma is one of a series of dolls called "The Old Woman in the Shoe".

What is it to be 'constant' -
in my own life, in the life of my family, in my wider community?
Does it imply consistency, availability, reliability, honesty?
Is it being faithful to a set of doctrines or dogmas or traditions or rules?
Does constancy imply conformity and compliance?
How does being constant enable me to encounter God?

Daireann in a doll in a series called "The Old Woman in the Shoe".

What does it mean to be fruitful or bountiful?
How is it expressed in my life?
Does this fruitfulness reflect LOVE?

Caoimhe is one of a series of dolls called "The Old Woman in the Shoe".

I wonder if we need to revisit the burdens in our lives and reconsider them as blessings.
Perhaps they are angels in disguise!

A Blessing of Angels
by John O'Donohue.

May the Angels in their beauty bless you.
May they turn toward you streams of blessing.

May the Angel of Awakening stir your heart
To come alive to the eternal within you,
To all the invitations that quietly surround you.

May the Angel of Healing turn your wounds
Into sources of refreshment.

May the Angel of the Imagination enable you
To stand on the true thresholds,
At ease with your ambivalence
And drawn in new direction
Through the glow of your contradictions.

May the Angel of Compassion open your eyes
To the unseen suffering around you.

May the Angel of Wildness disturb the places
Where your life is domesticated and safe,
Take you to the territories of true otherness
Where all that is awkward in you
Can fall into its own rhythm.

May the Angel of Eros introduce you
To the beauty of your senses
To celebrate your inheritance
As a temple of the holy spirit.

May the Angel of Justice disturb you
To take the side of the poor and the wronged.

May the Angel of Encouragement confirm you
In worth and self-respect,
That you may live with the dignity
That presides in your soul.

May the Angel of Death arrive only
When your life is complete
And you have brought every given gift
To the threshold where its infinity can shine.

May all the Angels be your sheltering
And joyful guardians.

Aoife is one of a series of dolls called "The Old Woman in the Shoe".

How do I find solitude and silence and solace
amongst the crowds of people and activities and objects overwhelming me?
How do I find respite from the constant conversation in my head?
What resources do I need to find an interior calm;
a sense of being loved for myself;
an attitude of gratitude?

Vala is one of an intriguing series of dolls called "The Old Woman in the Shoe".

How do I see all the things and activities and people who inhabit my day -
as burdens or blessings?

Maitane is one of a contemplative series of dolls called "The Old Woman in a Shoe".

Perhaps the habit of drawing things and activities and people to myself
reflects a search for belonging.

John O'Donohue wrote in 'For Belonging'

"May you listen to your longing to be free.

May the frames of your belonging be generous enough for your dreams.

May you arise ach day with a voice of blessing in your heart.

May you find a harmony between your soul and your life.

May the sanctuary of your soul never become haunted.

May you know the eternal longing that lives at the heart of time.

May there be kindness in your gaze when you look within.

May you never place walls between the light and yourself.

May you allow the wild beauty of the invisible world
to gather you, mind you and embrace you in belonging."

Trudy is one of a fun series of dolls called 'The Old Woman in a Shoe'.

Am I addicted to the activities and people and objects and routines that crowd my life?
Do I fill my life to overflowing to avoid being with my true self?

Bob Dylan wrote, "Let me forget about today until tomorrow" -

Is this why I cannot step aside from all my busy-ness
and spend time in quiet, compassionate  attentiveness with myself?

Tatum is one of a quirky series of dolls "The Old Woman in a Shoe".
Perhaps this nursery rhyme is about perspective.

The things with which we are surrounded
and the life-events in which we are immersed: are they
burdens or blessings?
disasters or opportunities?
impositions or springboards?
received with resentment or gratitude?
greeted with a groan or a smile?

"It is often hard to distinguish between
the hard knocks in life
and those of opportunity."
Frederick Phillips

Gleda is a doll in a series called "The Old Woman in a Shoe".

Thinking about the nursery rhyme,
I considered if the 'too many children' could represent my worries and fears.

Thich Nhat Hahn wrote,
“If we have too many worries, fears, and doubts,
we have no room for living and loving.
We need to practice letting go.”  

Perhaps Gleda's scissors represent my desire to cut loose my worries and fears :-)