Sunday, January 25, 2015

The Practice

Let me start by saying, I know this is going to sound like Pollyanna. For those of you too young to understand the reference, Pollyanna was a fictional little girl who saw the good in everything. I don’t care if it sounds that way because it works.

There are a lot of things that I consider a “practice.” Practice to me means, there are things I strive to do, I “practice” doing, because I am not a master and realistically never will be. A few for me are Meditation, Yoga, Writing, Gardening, Learning… I could go on. The one I want to talk about is Gratitude. Okay, stop rolling your eyes.

Growing up, long before I knew about Oprah, Thich Nhat Hanh, or any other proponent of the practice, my mother told me she always tried to “be so grateful.” I can still hear her voice. This was not said in a religious context although I kind of took it that way. My mother was more “spiritual” that religious. If she had a church, it was being outside where she could see trees, the sky, the ocean, nature. When she would say it, I would nod as if I understood while probably internally rolling my eyes.  I have to say now, (as I have learned so, so many times about her) she was definitely on to something.

Only in the last year have I tried this “grateful thing.” Here is the way it works for me: I wake up, sometimes achy, sometimes sad, sometimes worried, sometimes full of anxiety, sometimes not wanting to get up at all, sometimes just blah. This sounds a bit dire, and I don’t mean it that way… it’s not always a negative… I’m using these examples as well, just that, examples. You may wake up feeling splendid. But I’m saying do the practice anyway. When I become aware of what I am feeling, I concentrate and find something I am grateful for. Three things. Always, at least three. It might be, “I’m grateful for the blue sky. I’m grateful that my covers are so warm. I’m grateful I can wiggle my toes.” It could be anything. It could be, “I’m grateful my husband is so kind, I’m grateful for taking a deep breath, I’m grateful for sunshine.”

I have to tell you, this practice is transformative. It just is. It changes everything. I’m not sure if it rewires your brain or what. (That was scientificJ) I just know it works.



 I am grateful for Sadie.

Thursday, January 22, 2015

PILGRIMS-JANUARY 2015 BOOK SELECTION

Okay, first things first. I promised a final opinion on A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness. My honest opinion is mixed. First of all it took me a lonnnggg time to finish which is not a good sign. That being said, I did actually enjoy most of it. I truly love fantasy and it was a very original story about fairly well market-glutted character types. This is an accomplishment for the author in itself. She is an excellent, literate writer, which I mentioned in a previous post. However, though I consider myself pretty solidly inured to shock, I found some scenes rather gruesome and hard to take. I was very invested in the welfare of minor characters, while not so much in the main characters. There are two more books in this series, Shadow of Night and The Book of Life. I may read them in the future because of the author’s skill but am not in a hurry to do so. If this is your cup of tea, you may well be entranced.

My book selection for January is a collection of short stories by Elizabeth Gilbert called Pilgrims.

Gilbert is most well-known for Eat, Pray, Love. Looking for more to read by her, I found Stern Men and fell in love with it because of the unusual story and quirky characters. It was a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award among other awards.

Pilgrims is wonderful for the same reason plus gives the added gift of enjoying a master writer at work. Each story in the collection features at least one strong female character. These are tough and not-so-tough women dealing with everyday life in interesting, memorable ways. Each story left me wanting more.


Yes. Yes. Yes.


Thursday, January 1, 2015

Soul Time


So it’s hard to believe another year has come to an end. Don’t we always say that though? Still. It’s a time for reflection. It’s the time of year my family comes to the beach. It’s a time of quiet. A time of laughter and joy. A time of tending the soul. Whether you believe in the soul or not, most everyone believes in the beauty of just being. Even if it’s only for a limited amount of time.

This is also the time of year for selecting my word or phrase for the year. Last year I had two: One: Let go of my image of what I thought my life would be at this point. It was not serving me. It held me back with regret. I wanted to let in fresh images. Two: Write. I think I did pretty well with both of these. I’m always a work in progress but I persevere.

I’ve been thinking about this for a while and I have chosen my word/phrases for this year.

One: Write (sensing a theme here?)
Two: Adventure

Wishing All the Happiest of New Years.


                                         My Beautiful Beach…