Thursday, March 29, 2012

Simple Beauty, Mar 29 12

Many years ago, after suffering thru a crippling bout of depression, I determined to make certain changes in my life:

Negative influence friends? Gone

Processed, chemical-laden foods? Gone

Daily walks in the sunshine and in the rain and in the snow? Yes

Vitamins? Yes

But perhaps the most important change was to find at least one moment or thing of beauty in my own life every day. 

Over time, this seeking of beauty has brought me peace in times of great grief - has brought home the realization of how very blessed I am - has taught me to see again as a child does, with wonder.

Today, in this surprising Spring, I am filled with a quiet joy as I see new life abounding. Each new patch of green, each delicate flower unfurling its colorful petals to the sun, each humming buzzing bee looking for nectar a small part of the promise of this season of rebirth and renewal.

What is beautiful in your life today?

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Cross-stitch Motif

I have mentioned in other posts (and on Facebook) that I am creating an ebook of cross-stitch patterns - all based on artwork from The Pepper Bible, a beautiful hand-scribed and illuminated Bible that my friend James Pepper created. The first ebook will contain some beautiful patterns that can be used as repeating borders, as well as overall pieces that would be wonderful as pillows or samplers. It has been a labor of love...

This motif is a small detail from one of the larger pieces, from a page in the Gospel of Luke:


The original is 14-count aida in DMC wools, but I like to think of this as a giant pop-art graphic - stitched big and bright just by itself... or as a repeated border...or...what would you do with it? 

Please respect our copyright - this is shared for personal use only, no commercial use. Thank you!

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Very Early Spring, by Katherine Mansfield


 The fields are snowbound no longer;
There are little blue lakes and flags of tenderest green.
The snow has been caught up into the sky--
So many white clouds--and the blue of the sky is cold.
Now the sun walks in the forest,
He touches the bows and stems with his golden fingers;
They shiver, and wake from slumber.


Over the barren branches he shakes his yellow curls.
Yet is the forest full of the sound of tears....
A wind dances over the fields.
Shrill and clear the sound of her waking laughter,
Yet the little blue lakes tremble
And the flags of tenderest green bend and quiver.

Friday, March 9, 2012

Book Review: J.R.R. Tolkien - Christian Encounters Series



When I was 10, I discovered a wondrous book in my aunt's room - J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Fellowship of the Ring". I was instantly drawn to the characters, Sam in particular, as well as the amazing "sub-creation" of Middle Earth. To say that these books impacted my life might sound dramatic, but I made decisions to travel to England as a teen and to research Medieval History based upon this encounter...

I was recently sent a digital copy of J.R.R. Tolkien - Christian Encounters Series to review, and I enjoyed it thoroughly. While perhaps not a deep and searching biography, it is a well-written and well-researched overview of Tolkien's life and career - which would perhaps make one seek out both his fictional works and a more in-depth biography.Horne neatly captures the world Tolkien came of age in: the changes in the English landscape as factories took over the countryside, Tolkien's grief and changes of circumstances after his mother's death, the difficulties of school, two world wars...  He also captures the importance of Tolkien's faith to Tolkien, and some of the reasons why (as shared by Tolkien himself in his letters).. 

And as a Tolkien fan, I appreciated this work. As a mom who home-schooled a rabid LoTR film fan (my son), I would have loved this book as a curriculum resource!


Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson through BookSneeze in exchange for an honest review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trace Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255 : "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Flowery Mead


Flowery Mead is a medieval term, referring to a meadowy area (think exact opposite of a modern, sterile, monoculture lawn) lushly carpeted with a mosaic of tiny flowers. Like these wee naturalised crocus!

Think of medieval tapestries, with their often very lush portrayals of turf grass intermingled with cowslip, violets, periwinkles, trefoil, columbine...the poet Giovanni Boccaccio described, "in the midst of the garden a lawn of very fine grass, so green it seemed nearly black, coloured with perhaps a thousand kind of flowers..." in his Decameron of 1348.

While my raggedy patch certainly doesn't compare with the wonders of gardens past, it does bring a smile to my heart!

How does your garden grow?

Monday, March 5, 2012

GOALS: Exploring Fear of Failure

Several of my resolutions for 2012 focused on writing more this year - writing more frequently, writing more intentionally, creating a better balance in my life to allow for more writing... and so one would think I have been scrawling away with my pen or tapping away on my laptop. But no. I have to admit as of March 1 an epic fail. I allowed myself to be over-committed at the office. I frittered away writing time with excuses and laziness. One would almost think I didn't want to write!

Hmmm....  "one would almost think I didn't want to write"... perhaps a more honest take on that would be "perhaps I am afraid to write?"  I am finding myself locked down - overflowing with ideas and words on the subway that I scrawl onto scraps with an eye pencil...and then completely empty when I sit at my desk to write. I find myself making excuses for why I don;t have the time...or why a subject would be off-limits (or stupid, or boring, or....) to write on. After all, who wants to read my ramblings?

Sounds like fear, no?

So I am facing fear head-on.

The first step was spending several hours over this weekend with some writing exercises that helped me to rediscover why I am writing, and who I am writing for (a sneaky way to the writer to figure out who *she* is). I imagine my magical ideal reader as an intelligent and curious woman who is interested in creating a new sort of life balance - one in which nature and domestic comforts and spirituality are more important that the rampant commercialism our culture worships. She loves to cook, to garden, to make where she is more beautiful (to her, not to a glossy). She is curious about nature, about art, about books, about living simply with what God has provided.

What is she afraid of? That is the next series of exercises...hmmm... fear of failure is top of the list. Fear of being vulnerable and honest. Fear of rejection and ridicule.... sound more like I am writing about myself yet?

One way of addressing these fears is to just not write. Not be vulnerable, not to share the good and the bad, to just hide it all away and pack up the writing gear. I've been down that road before - and it isn't a pleasant one, just safe and boring and rather sad.
 
And so I sit here at laptop and continue to type away, word after word, in a war with myself to push through the fear and add my voice to the conversation.

How do *you* work your way through fear of failure?

Friday, March 2, 2012

Month of March

In Ancient Rome, March was the first month of the year - Martius named after Mars - God of War. March is the first month of Spring in the Northern Hemisphere - a time of planting and I guess a time of starting a long march to war in Ancient Rome! March hold mysteries of the Church - the Annunciation, the Crucifixion, Saint Patrick's miracles in Ireland.

Some have said that March "borrowed" 3 days from April:

March said to Aperill,
I see 3 hoggs upon a hill;
And if you'll lend me dayes 3
I'll find a way to make them dee.
The first o' them wus wind and weet,
The second o' them wus snaw and sleet,
The third o' them wus sic a free
It froze the birds' nebs to the trees.
When the 3 days were past and gane
The 3 silly hoggs came hirpling hame.


March has long been a favorite of mine - the birth of my favorite composer, JS Bach, falls on March 21 - the first day of Spring! I think of March as a series of beginnings:


first flowers, first green grass, first buds on the trees, first garden planting...  


first spin of the wheel of the seasons... Spring to Summer to Autumn to Winter... Birth to Death... Light to Dark...

the beginning and end of our Salvation Story. In Catholic tradition, March 25 is the date of the Annunciation - the conception of the Christ. Medieval Catholic tradition held that March 25 is the date of the Crucifixion. A beginning and an end - Light and Dark and Light again - in one complete, perfect cycle.

Trivia:

Great Britain and its colonies continued to use March 25 at the beginning of the New Year until 1752, when the Gregorian calendar was adopted.
March's birthstones are aquamarine and bloodstone - both stand for courage - a needed asset for a warrior!
The Daffodil is the Birth Flower for the babes of March - and it is also the national flower of Wales (and Saint David's Day is March 1)!

The vernal (Spring) equinox (in the northern hemisphere) occurs on dates varying from March 19 to March 21. This is also the date that the Sun moves into Aries, for astrology fans!