It saddens me to read of you (and my fellow subscribers) feeling so despondent. For myself, I feel nothing but hope—as I would no matter what was going on in the world around me. Mother Theresa said, “Bloom where you are planted” and Gandhi said, “Be the change you want to see in the world.” I take both of these inspiring people’s messages to heart and try to follow their good advice. If Mother Theresa can bloom in the slums of Calcutta bringing comfort and peace no matter the larger world around her, and if Gandhi can inspire people in the midst of an “occupying” government, then I can surely thrive in the world around me. So, I choose to focus with love and joy on the people I know and who will know me, right on my doorstep, rather than people of any stripe whom I will never meet and who will never know me. In so doing, I am not hiding from the ugliness around me. I’m simply not distracted by it. Instead, inspired by my old yoga teacher, I look for the good around me, rather than the bad (kind of like painting in the negative space). She lived for three years as a five year old child in a POW camp in Java during WWII when her family was captured by the Japanese. In all the squalor and the deprivation and the fear, her mother told her, “See something beautiful, hear something beautiful, and do something beautiful for someone every day.” And so she did, every single day—the drop of rain, the buzz of a bug, a kiss on her mother’s cheek—and she lived without bitterness, never losing joy (and would have done so whether she died in that camp or not). No matter what, I can at least do that in my world. I also draw hope and inspiration these days from a podcast called, “An Army of Normal People,” which highlights so many “nobodies” doing so much good in their little corners of the world. They teach me the world does not need to be perfect to be good. Nor does it need to be done by officials in any institution. And as the basis for my own “activism,” I have learned that the first focus of that energy must be on trying to become a better person myself. Heaven knows there’s plenty to do there! So, every day I try to say, “Let us be up and doing with a heart for any fate!” (It’s my favorite line from one of my favorite Longfellow poems, “The Psalm of Life.”)
Lisa, that was a powerful reply. 💕 I’m going to look for that podcast. I do struggle with finding the good amid all the noise. Not sure you heard that president Biden just dropped out, but we are going to need all our beauty to get through the new noise. 😍❤️
Thank you, Susan, I think you just did a “beautiful thing” today!! It makes me happy to have encouraged you a bit. And, I was mistaken about the podcast title. It’s called An Army of Normal Folks. I especially liked a couple of episodes from early May about a doctor who started a health care resource for uninsured people in Memphis. It’s now positively enormous and serves thousands every year….just one guy, joined by his friends. The host of the series can get a little annoying and it does have ads, so I hope you can disregard those annoyances. Yes, I just heard the news….plenty of beauty here in Middle Tennessee! Sunny skies, Crepe Myrtle blooming and birds singing. I think I’ll go give my husband a kiss!
So beautiful to read, Lisa. I'm afraid I am far too human and faulty at times to live up to souls like Mother Theresa and Gandhi, but I try in my own way. Still, I feel weary right now (Not despondent even a little bit, I promise), even with all of the wonders around me that I absolutely praise each and every day, even though I feel immense gratitude. I feel most people are feeling weary in one way or another, and I think it's important to be open about it and flock together and be a ballast to one another, and share the joys as well as the fears or anxiety. They are real. The podcast sounds super! I will give it a listen on my breaks at work. Thank you so much.
I used to live by a similar saying like the “See something beautiful, hear something beautiful, and do something beautiful for someone every day." It was to look at art or nature( something beautiful each day), read something that uplifts you or grows your mind and views, and then say something nice to someone each day. I myself am always looking at the sky or clouds or for bits of nature on my walks. But sometimes I forget about the other two. I liked the part where you said " I have learned that the first focus of that energy must be on trying to become a better person" and giggled at the "Heaven knows" part because its so relatable . Grace for ourselves and others. brings to mind "we are all just walking each other home." - Ram Das
Thanks so much for the comment, Ari, I really enjoyed reading it and knowing you’re a kindred spirit (there are so many of them here)! And I’ll bet you do more than one nice thing every day without thinking about it. Sometimes, I’ll reflect on the day before I go to bed thinking I haven’t “done anything beautiful” only to realize I actually have….waiting for an elderly man with a walker to reach the door at church and holding it open for him, telling him, “Don’t hurry! We have all the time in the world.” I didn’t think about it at the time or do it deliberately, but it was a good thing. Or giving my husband the nicer piece of cake when I really would rather have had it myself (I did think about that one and did do it deliberately, LOL!) I liked your Ram Das quote very much because it reminds me to take note of the fact that other people do many nice things for me, too, like my neighbor who mowed the strip of grass in front of our house yesterday because he had the lawnmower out for himself and decided he might as well keep going! Such gratitude keeps me out of the trap of over-focusing on the good things I do for people, and thinking that no one does anything for me. Hardly true! Your quote reminds me of something similar by JRR Tolkien….that we are “companions on a shipwreck” doing our best to help each other survive…and no doubt about it, one day we’ll make it Home.
I can’t breathe from all the noise. My senses feel assaulted from every direction. I am choosing to limit my exposure to it but is that the answer. Should we jump into the mix and shout our despair for the future? I find solace in my quiet life, art, journaling, family and cats. I am grateful for many things; yet I’m sad for how technology has shaped all the generations after mine (boomer talking). 😍💕🤗
There are many ways to positively affect the world. Some of the most powerful ways are very quiet and seemingly insignificant. I am choosing to let the bigger energy take the reigns for things I have NO control over, and simply do my best with what I do have control over. How I react to my disappointments and roadblocks matters. So limiting exposure is very wise, I think. We find solace in so many of the same places. xoxo thank you, Sue.
Kateri, thank you so much for your words. What I miss the most is innocence. A quality that has eroded in all areas of life… I also miss my son 💜a lot !
The innocence. I didn't really think of that, but it's true. When do you get to see your son again? Thank you so much. dear Felicitas. Sending you love and peace. 🩵
Dearest Kateri: I am tired and disheartened and angry and rather lost. But I also know that the things that are under threat these days are worth fighting for. Walking down the street feeling safe. Going to the library to check out any book, unbanned. Meeting with friends at the Dari Dip. Going to the doctor of my choice and knowing that no one with interfere. Heading to the ballot box to cast my vote as our Constitution guarantees. I love falling into my art space and losing myself in colors and texture and creative ideas. I love falling into my notebook and writing about the good things going on in my life. But I also find myself fighting mad. I must be able to look back on this time and say I did what I could for the good of my world. That means supporting local leaders that share my views and want to see our community a better, safer place. I believe that is one way to help spread the love and peace we so desperately need.
I adore you and your gentle, fighting spirit. We are so lucky to have so many tools for beauty, right? I know you are doing your part. We each have to find our own way there. It's good to share the beauty here, and admit the anxiety and sadness. ❤️
I find myself sad and exhausted most days. I have a lot of personal family issues right now, but it’s also just living in this world every day. So in the dawn hours, after feeding the cats and before dragging myself into another day, I try to be grateful that there IS another day. And I use this precious time to soothe myself with art lessons on Patreon and YouTube. There is joy in watching something being created, and in thinking that I can also create something meaningful and beautiful.
Big big heart around you. You are going through some tough times. And yet you still seek beauty every day. And your spirit is a balm to others. I have been watching youtube in the wee hours. It can be such a comfort to listen and to watch things unfold into something lovely. Inspiring. Love to you, Lorraine. And thank you.
Ahhh Kateri, Moods like this tend to creep in during the long dark cold days of winter for me. My recipe for moving past my funk, allowing myself to visit but promising myself I won't stay there too long, are the following:
A quick trip to the ocean, it softens my hard edges.
A babies laughter, it's contagious.
A walk in the forest, it's a place where i find my soul.
A day without technology, it allows me to be free.
A trip to a homeless shelter, children's hospital, or the such, it shows me how blessed I am.
A dance with my paints, it allows me to turn off the noise.
You have been such a blessing to me with all the gifts you have shared through your painting classes. I am beyond blessed to have found you.
I pray you only stay in your "funk" a short while.
Not really a funk, more like a sober awareness. I LOVE your list. I got to see my granddaughters today. My littlest is 8 months old and she has learned how to wave. She had me in stitches. JOY. Thank you so so much for your comment.
So happy you were able to spend time with the Grands. They are perfect little artists that always find ways to paint smiles on our faces, no matter the mood.
Kateri - I look forward to your posts each week I use them as a touch stone and as another part of my weekly spiritual moments and they affect me deeply each time in different ways but make me more aware of my own life's beauty and struggles in my small beautiful part of this world. So even if I am not always commenting, just know, I am contemplating your offering. I am so eternally grateful for your sharing, you feel like a kindred spirit. Thank you.
The last 4 years has really made me miss the ease and flow of the old life we had and the more promising peaceful future I thought ( maybe naively) we were working towards. I miss the times before technology took over our lives but love having knowledge at my fingertips but still wish we could go back. Now, If I stay too long in news and the horrors currently happening or future potential horrors to happen, I get beyond anxious. So while not completely in the dark I try to limit any of that, it just stirs up my nervous system and it draws my focus away from the present moment. Which is the only moment we have.
In my daily life, I like creating moments: a morning view of the sunrise with my coffee, a moment with a book and a cup of tea, A moment of putting color to paper, a moment with my love snuggled on the couch, a moment of cooking, a moment with my journal in the evening and drinking my sleepy tea, Conversations with my children or grandchild. Moments of presence. I work on how many moments can I remain present each day and try to lengthen them. How many moments can you truly be present through your day? When you are washing your dishes can you only be aware of washing the dishes or are you in the past or the future? When you paint can you be in the space where the paint meets the paper? This is my daily spiritual practice in hope that I can be present just a little more each day for the rest of my life even if only 10 or 30 seconds more.
I also turn to books:
John O' Donahue: "Anam Cara" or "To Bless the Space Between Us",
Mark Nepo: "The Book of Awakening: Having the Life You Want by Being Present to the Life You Have" ,"Seven Thousand Ways to Listen: Staying Close to What Is Sacred", and my favorite "The Way Under the Way"
Michael singer: "Untethered soul"
Stephen Levine: "Unattended Sorrow" ( moving forward after any loss even like our lost faith in the future)
Stephen Harrod Buhner: "Ensouling Language: On the Art of Nonfiction and the Writer's Life"
Oriah Mountain Dreamer "What we ache for"
Kateri Ewing: "Watercolor Is for Everyone: Simple Lessons to Make Your Creative Practice a Daily Habit", "Drawing Is for Everyone: Simple Lessons to Make Your Creative Practice a Daily Habit - Explore Infinite Creative Possibilities in Graphite, Colored Pencil, and Ink"
Amy Maricle: Draw Yourself Calm: Draw Slow, Stress Less
Jean Haines: Paint Yourself Calm: Colourful, Creative Mindfulness Through Watercolour
Pat Allen: Art as a way of knowing
Anna Halprin: DVD "Breathe Made Visible"
Rick Rubin: "The Creative Act"
Shaun McNiff: "Imagination in Action"
May Sarton : "Journal of Solitude", "Plants Dreaming Deep" but all her journals are lovely moments.
Ruth Reichl: My kitchen Year but other books are also good.
Maragret Roach: And I Shall Have Some Peace There: Trading in the Fast Lane for My Own Dirt Road
Laurie Colwin: Home Cooking and More Home Cooking
These are just a few of the books I return to again and again because there is something in each of them that resonates with me. Spirituality, Food, Nature and Creativity all feed my body and soul. The Gayatri Mantra also grounds me when I am feeling out of sorts as does meditation. I also rely on a meditation app called" Balance "( its free for the first year) to help me calm or to fall asleep or to check in and redirect myself. I also walk barefoot on the lawn for ten minutes or longer as needed.
Ari, 🙏🏼❤️. We have so many similar ways of being in the world and thinking. This comment is so beautiful. I read it twice. We share such a similar library, but there are a few I have not been introduced to, and I am so grateful. What a fabulous list. Beyond anxious is how I can feel, too, and yet, how fortunate that we have these tools to bring us back into ourselves and find our way. Sorry for this randomly ordered reply, but oh I love May Sarton's Journal of a Solitude. That was such a transformational book for me. I actually went on a pilgrimage to find her plot of land (long after her passing, obviously). SO many beautiful offerings for our list. Thank you 🙏🏼
Dearest, I feel so much the same as you. I try to find my peace and happiness by living my life as simply as possible. My children and grandchildren bring me so much joy .I hold on to the hope that the lovely young people of this country will make a positive difference in this crazy world. Hugs to you, wonderful lady. You look beautiful on the outside but your deepest beauty is in your heart. Thank you for being a part of my life.
I know you do. We have very similar world views, for sure. I just feel sad for all of us right now. But like Rick says, we have work to do. Good work. Hug your Joe, and let's get our work done. You have such beautiful grandchildren! SO close by. It's wonderful. Love you.
I have felt a lot of despair lately, for all of the reasons that you have so eloquently outlined here. I feel a lot of anxiety when thinking about what our collective future might look like with certain political outcomes. I have to constantly remind myself that the only things I can control are my own actions and thoughts, and the way that I react to situations. I distract myself from the stress by focusing on my needful day to day tasks and work, spend quality time with my husband and my precious pups, and in my spare time I try to only engage with activities or individuals that are calming or fill my cup. Anything negative or controversial, I avoid as much as humanly possible. I find much solace in thinking about all of the people who, over the years, have cared for me, shown me love and kindness, set a shining example of compassion and unconditional love, and this is really comforting. It reminds me of the goodness that exists in this world, even when circumstances seem very dire. This remembrance inspires me to pour my energy into my family and friends every opportunity that I have, with kind words, gestures, acts of care and service. This doesn’t erase what’s going on in the world but it helps me to see and experience the good all around me in spite of it.
Your response reminds me the archetype of the Wheel of Fortune, the 10th card in the Major Arcana. The only we can control is our own reactions and actions. So true. Shit happens... it's how we show up and carry on that matters. Every bit of what you wrote is so beautiful and true and inspiring. And I know first hand, all of these things about you. Sending you a big hug, friend. Love you.
As always I find inspiration in your words my darling daughter. I agree our world is in disarray a lot, but there is so much good, it outweighs the troubles. I like to think, "And this too shall pass". I try to stay in the now, and to laugh as much as possible. Much easier to laugh than frown. Yes, it's hard to stay positive sometimes, but I tell myself how lucky I am and count my blessings. Nature and animals are the way in my world. Innocence becomes them. Oh, and I miss you and all my scattered family so much. So grateful I have my Michael and family close by here. Today I was thinking how I long to hold a baby, it's been so long. But I have my little Emma to hold and for that I give thanks every single day. So happy you are going to Ireland and will be with family. Just think, soon you will hold Theo.
Thank you Kateri, you know I feel the same way. I don’t have all the words in English to express myself but I can feel the pain, frustration, everywhere around. These wars, in Ukraine and Gaza are horrible, it’s like: is there some more love and gentleness in this world ? Yes, me too, I think from times to times of the world before social medias, cell phones that are now extension of the arms for so many people, I don’t want to think about what AI will do to the humanity…. Anyway, it was full moon on Sunday and I could feel deeply sad.
Yes, writing in my notebook, about how I feel, and about my life, past and present, about the joy given by my grandchildren, taking care of Cassie, my sweet Shetland dog, giving water to the birds and squirrels when it is sooooo hot outside, reading books after books and ….. thinking of moving in the country side with my Richard. I can’t stand anymore all the noise of the city, all the lights, we need: PEACE & LOVE ❤️
Speaking of love, I am so happy for you that you are going back to Ireland very soon 🥰 I will be thinking of you for sure. Right now, my youngest daughter who lives in Miami is here on vacation with Zachary and Juliette, my sweethearts of 4 and 5, now almost completely bilingual … plus a little Spanish of course, in Miami 😊
Sending you my love and a big, big hug and hoping that some day, you would be able to visit here in Quebec.😘😘
Dear Christiane, all of your ways to joy and peace sound so comforting. I am so glad your daughter, Zachary and Juliette are there! If you think of it, send me a photo of you all! What a joy for you. Sending you a warm hug. xoxo And many thanks.
It saddens me to read of you (and my fellow subscribers) feeling so despondent. For myself, I feel nothing but hope—as I would no matter what was going on in the world around me. Mother Theresa said, “Bloom where you are planted” and Gandhi said, “Be the change you want to see in the world.” I take both of these inspiring people’s messages to heart and try to follow their good advice. If Mother Theresa can bloom in the slums of Calcutta bringing comfort and peace no matter the larger world around her, and if Gandhi can inspire people in the midst of an “occupying” government, then I can surely thrive in the world around me. So, I choose to focus with love and joy on the people I know and who will know me, right on my doorstep, rather than people of any stripe whom I will never meet and who will never know me. In so doing, I am not hiding from the ugliness around me. I’m simply not distracted by it. Instead, inspired by my old yoga teacher, I look for the good around me, rather than the bad (kind of like painting in the negative space). She lived for three years as a five year old child in a POW camp in Java during WWII when her family was captured by the Japanese. In all the squalor and the deprivation and the fear, her mother told her, “See something beautiful, hear something beautiful, and do something beautiful for someone every day.” And so she did, every single day—the drop of rain, the buzz of a bug, a kiss on her mother’s cheek—and she lived without bitterness, never losing joy (and would have done so whether she died in that camp or not). No matter what, I can at least do that in my world. I also draw hope and inspiration these days from a podcast called, “An Army of Normal People,” which highlights so many “nobodies” doing so much good in their little corners of the world. They teach me the world does not need to be perfect to be good. Nor does it need to be done by officials in any institution. And as the basis for my own “activism,” I have learned that the first focus of that energy must be on trying to become a better person myself. Heaven knows there’s plenty to do there! So, every day I try to say, “Let us be up and doing with a heart for any fate!” (It’s my favorite line from one of my favorite Longfellow poems, “The Psalm of Life.”)
Lisa, that was a powerful reply. 💕 I’m going to look for that podcast. I do struggle with finding the good amid all the noise. Not sure you heard that president Biden just dropped out, but we are going to need all our beauty to get through the new noise. 😍❤️
Thank you, Susan, I think you just did a “beautiful thing” today!! It makes me happy to have encouraged you a bit. And, I was mistaken about the podcast title. It’s called An Army of Normal Folks. I especially liked a couple of episodes from early May about a doctor who started a health care resource for uninsured people in Memphis. It’s now positively enormous and serves thousands every year….just one guy, joined by his friends. The host of the series can get a little annoying and it does have ads, so I hope you can disregard those annoyances. Yes, I just heard the news….plenty of beauty here in Middle Tennessee! Sunny skies, Crepe Myrtle blooming and birds singing. I think I’ll go give my husband a kiss!
So beautiful to read, Lisa. I'm afraid I am far too human and faulty at times to live up to souls like Mother Theresa and Gandhi, but I try in my own way. Still, I feel weary right now (Not despondent even a little bit, I promise), even with all of the wonders around me that I absolutely praise each and every day, even though I feel immense gratitude. I feel most people are feeling weary in one way or another, and I think it's important to be open about it and flock together and be a ballast to one another, and share the joys as well as the fears or anxiety. They are real. The podcast sounds super! I will give it a listen on my breaks at work. Thank you so much.
I used to live by a similar saying like the “See something beautiful, hear something beautiful, and do something beautiful for someone every day." It was to look at art or nature( something beautiful each day), read something that uplifts you or grows your mind and views, and then say something nice to someone each day. I myself am always looking at the sky or clouds or for bits of nature on my walks. But sometimes I forget about the other two. I liked the part where you said " I have learned that the first focus of that energy must be on trying to become a better person" and giggled at the "Heaven knows" part because its so relatable . Grace for ourselves and others. brings to mind "we are all just walking each other home." - Ram Das
Thanks so much for the comment, Ari, I really enjoyed reading it and knowing you’re a kindred spirit (there are so many of them here)! And I’ll bet you do more than one nice thing every day without thinking about it. Sometimes, I’ll reflect on the day before I go to bed thinking I haven’t “done anything beautiful” only to realize I actually have….waiting for an elderly man with a walker to reach the door at church and holding it open for him, telling him, “Don’t hurry! We have all the time in the world.” I didn’t think about it at the time or do it deliberately, but it was a good thing. Or giving my husband the nicer piece of cake when I really would rather have had it myself (I did think about that one and did do it deliberately, LOL!) I liked your Ram Das quote very much because it reminds me to take note of the fact that other people do many nice things for me, too, like my neighbor who mowed the strip of grass in front of our house yesterday because he had the lawnmower out for himself and decided he might as well keep going! Such gratitude keeps me out of the trap of over-focusing on the good things I do for people, and thinking that no one does anything for me. Hardly true! Your quote reminds me of something similar by JRR Tolkien….that we are “companions on a shipwreck” doing our best to help each other survive…and no doubt about it, one day we’ll make it Home.
I can’t breathe from all the noise. My senses feel assaulted from every direction. I am choosing to limit my exposure to it but is that the answer. Should we jump into the mix and shout our despair for the future? I find solace in my quiet life, art, journaling, family and cats. I am grateful for many things; yet I’m sad for how technology has shaped all the generations after mine (boomer talking). 😍💕🤗
There are many ways to positively affect the world. Some of the most powerful ways are very quiet and seemingly insignificant. I am choosing to let the bigger energy take the reigns for things I have NO control over, and simply do my best with what I do have control over. How I react to my disappointments and roadblocks matters. So limiting exposure is very wise, I think. We find solace in so many of the same places. xoxo thank you, Sue.
Kateri, thank you so much for your words. What I miss the most is innocence. A quality that has eroded in all areas of life… I also miss my son 💜a lot !
The innocence. I didn't really think of that, but it's true. When do you get to see your son again? Thank you so much. dear Felicitas. Sending you love and peace. 🩵
I hope to see him this fall! Sending much love to you too!
Dearest Kateri: I am tired and disheartened and angry and rather lost. But I also know that the things that are under threat these days are worth fighting for. Walking down the street feeling safe. Going to the library to check out any book, unbanned. Meeting with friends at the Dari Dip. Going to the doctor of my choice and knowing that no one with interfere. Heading to the ballot box to cast my vote as our Constitution guarantees. I love falling into my art space and losing myself in colors and texture and creative ideas. I love falling into my notebook and writing about the good things going on in my life. But I also find myself fighting mad. I must be able to look back on this time and say I did what I could for the good of my world. That means supporting local leaders that share my views and want to see our community a better, safer place. I believe that is one way to help spread the love and peace we so desperately need.
I adore you and your gentle, fighting spirit. We are so lucky to have so many tools for beauty, right? I know you are doing your part. We each have to find our own way there. It's good to share the beauty here, and admit the anxiety and sadness. ❤️
I find myself sad and exhausted most days. I have a lot of personal family issues right now, but it’s also just living in this world every day. So in the dawn hours, after feeding the cats and before dragging myself into another day, I try to be grateful that there IS another day. And I use this precious time to soothe myself with art lessons on Patreon and YouTube. There is joy in watching something being created, and in thinking that I can also create something meaningful and beautiful.
Big big heart around you. You are going through some tough times. And yet you still seek beauty every day. And your spirit is a balm to others. I have been watching youtube in the wee hours. It can be such a comfort to listen and to watch things unfold into something lovely. Inspiring. Love to you, Lorraine. And thank you.
Ahhh Kateri, Moods like this tend to creep in during the long dark cold days of winter for me. My recipe for moving past my funk, allowing myself to visit but promising myself I won't stay there too long, are the following:
A quick trip to the ocean, it softens my hard edges.
A babies laughter, it's contagious.
A walk in the forest, it's a place where i find my soul.
A day without technology, it allows me to be free.
A trip to a homeless shelter, children's hospital, or the such, it shows me how blessed I am.
A dance with my paints, it allows me to turn off the noise.
You have been such a blessing to me with all the gifts you have shared through your painting classes. I am beyond blessed to have found you.
I pray you only stay in your "funk" a short while.
Not really a funk, more like a sober awareness. I LOVE your list. I got to see my granddaughters today. My littlest is 8 months old and she has learned how to wave. She had me in stitches. JOY. Thank you so so much for your comment.
So happy you were able to spend time with the Grands. They are perfect little artists that always find ways to paint smiles on our faces, no matter the mood.
Kateri - I look forward to your posts each week I use them as a touch stone and as another part of my weekly spiritual moments and they affect me deeply each time in different ways but make me more aware of my own life's beauty and struggles in my small beautiful part of this world. So even if I am not always commenting, just know, I am contemplating your offering. I am so eternally grateful for your sharing, you feel like a kindred spirit. Thank you.
The last 4 years has really made me miss the ease and flow of the old life we had and the more promising peaceful future I thought ( maybe naively) we were working towards. I miss the times before technology took over our lives but love having knowledge at my fingertips but still wish we could go back. Now, If I stay too long in news and the horrors currently happening or future potential horrors to happen, I get beyond anxious. So while not completely in the dark I try to limit any of that, it just stirs up my nervous system and it draws my focus away from the present moment. Which is the only moment we have.
In my daily life, I like creating moments: a morning view of the sunrise with my coffee, a moment with a book and a cup of tea, A moment of putting color to paper, a moment with my love snuggled on the couch, a moment of cooking, a moment with my journal in the evening and drinking my sleepy tea, Conversations with my children or grandchild. Moments of presence. I work on how many moments can I remain present each day and try to lengthen them. How many moments can you truly be present through your day? When you are washing your dishes can you only be aware of washing the dishes or are you in the past or the future? When you paint can you be in the space where the paint meets the paper? This is my daily spiritual practice in hope that I can be present just a little more each day for the rest of my life even if only 10 or 30 seconds more.
I also turn to books:
John O' Donahue: "Anam Cara" or "To Bless the Space Between Us",
Mark Nepo: "The Book of Awakening: Having the Life You Want by Being Present to the Life You Have" ,"Seven Thousand Ways to Listen: Staying Close to What Is Sacred", and my favorite "The Way Under the Way"
Michael singer: "Untethered soul"
Stephen Levine: "Unattended Sorrow" ( moving forward after any loss even like our lost faith in the future)
Stephen Harrod Buhner: "Ensouling Language: On the Art of Nonfiction and the Writer's Life"
Oriah Mountain Dreamer "What we ache for"
Kateri Ewing: "Watercolor Is for Everyone: Simple Lessons to Make Your Creative Practice a Daily Habit", "Drawing Is for Everyone: Simple Lessons to Make Your Creative Practice a Daily Habit - Explore Infinite Creative Possibilities in Graphite, Colored Pencil, and Ink"
Amy Maricle: Draw Yourself Calm: Draw Slow, Stress Less
Jean Haines: Paint Yourself Calm: Colourful, Creative Mindfulness Through Watercolour
Pat Allen: Art as a way of knowing
Anna Halprin: DVD "Breathe Made Visible"
Rick Rubin: "The Creative Act"
Shaun McNiff: "Imagination in Action"
May Sarton : "Journal of Solitude", "Plants Dreaming Deep" but all her journals are lovely moments.
Ruth Reichl: My kitchen Year but other books are also good.
Maragret Roach: And I Shall Have Some Peace There: Trading in the Fast Lane for My Own Dirt Road
Laurie Colwin: Home Cooking and More Home Cooking
These are just a few of the books I return to again and again because there is something in each of them that resonates with me. Spirituality, Food, Nature and Creativity all feed my body and soul. The Gayatri Mantra also grounds me when I am feeling out of sorts as does meditation. I also rely on a meditation app called" Balance "( its free for the first year) to help me calm or to fall asleep or to check in and redirect myself. I also walk barefoot on the lawn for ten minutes or longer as needed.
Ari, 🙏🏼❤️. We have so many similar ways of being in the world and thinking. This comment is so beautiful. I read it twice. We share such a similar library, but there are a few I have not been introduced to, and I am so grateful. What a fabulous list. Beyond anxious is how I can feel, too, and yet, how fortunate that we have these tools to bring us back into ourselves and find our way. Sorry for this randomly ordered reply, but oh I love May Sarton's Journal of a Solitude. That was such a transformational book for me. I actually went on a pilgrimage to find her plot of land (long after her passing, obviously). SO many beautiful offerings for our list. Thank you 🙏🏼
Dearest, I feel so much the same as you. I try to find my peace and happiness by living my life as simply as possible. My children and grandchildren bring me so much joy .I hold on to the hope that the lovely young people of this country will make a positive difference in this crazy world. Hugs to you, wonderful lady. You look beautiful on the outside but your deepest beauty is in your heart. Thank you for being a part of my life.
I know you do. We have very similar world views, for sure. I just feel sad for all of us right now. But like Rick says, we have work to do. Good work. Hug your Joe, and let's get our work done. You have such beautiful grandchildren! SO close by. It's wonderful. Love you.
I have felt a lot of despair lately, for all of the reasons that you have so eloquently outlined here. I feel a lot of anxiety when thinking about what our collective future might look like with certain political outcomes. I have to constantly remind myself that the only things I can control are my own actions and thoughts, and the way that I react to situations. I distract myself from the stress by focusing on my needful day to day tasks and work, spend quality time with my husband and my precious pups, and in my spare time I try to only engage with activities or individuals that are calming or fill my cup. Anything negative or controversial, I avoid as much as humanly possible. I find much solace in thinking about all of the people who, over the years, have cared for me, shown me love and kindness, set a shining example of compassion and unconditional love, and this is really comforting. It reminds me of the goodness that exists in this world, even when circumstances seem very dire. This remembrance inspires me to pour my energy into my family and friends every opportunity that I have, with kind words, gestures, acts of care and service. This doesn’t erase what’s going on in the world but it helps me to see and experience the good all around me in spite of it.
Your response reminds me the archetype of the Wheel of Fortune, the 10th card in the Major Arcana. The only we can control is our own reactions and actions. So true. Shit happens... it's how we show up and carry on that matters. Every bit of what you wrote is so beautiful and true and inspiring. And I know first hand, all of these things about you. Sending you a big hug, friend. Love you.
Thank you, my dear friend, love you too ❤️❤️❤️
To join your EB White quote:
Be joyful
though you have considered all the facts.
Wendell Berry, "Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front"
I love this quote. I am writing it on my notebook. Thanks, dear Katharine.
Mr. Berry! He’s so wise🌱😘
As always I find inspiration in your words my darling daughter. I agree our world is in disarray a lot, but there is so much good, it outweighs the troubles. I like to think, "And this too shall pass". I try to stay in the now, and to laugh as much as possible. Much easier to laugh than frown. Yes, it's hard to stay positive sometimes, but I tell myself how lucky I am and count my blessings. Nature and animals are the way in my world. Innocence becomes them. Oh, and I miss you and all my scattered family so much. So grateful I have my Michael and family close by here. Today I was thinking how I long to hold a baby, it's been so long. But I have my little Emma to hold and for that I give thanks every single day. So happy you are going to Ireland and will be with family. Just think, soon you will hold Theo.
I cannot wait to hold him, if he lets me! Wish we could all be there.
Oh he'll let you! He's such a happy baby. I wish we could all be together too. It's been so long since I have seen all of you.
Thank you Kateri, you know I feel the same way. I don’t have all the words in English to express myself but I can feel the pain, frustration, everywhere around. These wars, in Ukraine and Gaza are horrible, it’s like: is there some more love and gentleness in this world ? Yes, me too, I think from times to times of the world before social medias, cell phones that are now extension of the arms for so many people, I don’t want to think about what AI will do to the humanity…. Anyway, it was full moon on Sunday and I could feel deeply sad.
Yes, writing in my notebook, about how I feel, and about my life, past and present, about the joy given by my grandchildren, taking care of Cassie, my sweet Shetland dog, giving water to the birds and squirrels when it is sooooo hot outside, reading books after books and ….. thinking of moving in the country side with my Richard. I can’t stand anymore all the noise of the city, all the lights, we need: PEACE & LOVE ❤️
Speaking of love, I am so happy for you that you are going back to Ireland very soon 🥰 I will be thinking of you for sure. Right now, my youngest daughter who lives in Miami is here on vacation with Zachary and Juliette, my sweethearts of 4 and 5, now almost completely bilingual … plus a little Spanish of course, in Miami 😊
Sending you my love and a big, big hug and hoping that some day, you would be able to visit here in Quebec.😘😘
Dear Christiane, all of your ways to joy and peace sound so comforting. I am so glad your daughter, Zachary and Juliette are there! If you think of it, send me a photo of you all! What a joy for you. Sending you a warm hug. xoxo And many thanks.
Memorizing or reciting poems to myself while I walk outside…that’s what I return to.
Poetry is a balm, always. And poetry while walking outside, to boot. Thank you, Brian.
Thanks! you, too. I think we've turned a corner since I wrote.
There are still horrible wars, and huge divisions. But we will carry on, and do our good work with gentleness and kindness xoox
I concur. The state of the world is so incredibly sad.
I hope you found some beauty today and found a way to share your smile. xoxo