Beauty
Because EVERYONE has 5 minutes, even if they think they don't. Close your eyes and marvel at the way this can slow you down inside.
Beauty pierces the heart and makes you grateful.
Luminous Darkness
From a Richard Rohr post:
[There is a gravitas in the second half of life, but it is now held up by a much deeper lightness, or “okayness.” Our mature years are characterized by a kind of bright sadness and a sober happiness, if that makes any sense. There is still darkness in the second half of life—in fact maybe even more. But there is now a changed capacity to hold it creatively and with less anxiety. It is what John of the Cross called “luminous darkness,” and it explains the simultaneous coexistence of deep suffering and intense joy that we see in the saints, which is almost impossible for most of us to imagine.]
Recently, I received some very sad news for me. My heart is broken and my life will be forever changed. The challenge in mature life is to feel the sadness acutely, and yet know deep within that I am okay.
We tend to either feel the grief and plunge into depression or despair –
or, we go into denial mode
or productivity mode
and we MAKE ourselves be okay through sheer busyness.
LIVING
within the tension of
"I am firmly in the grasp of God's passionate love for me"
and "My heart is singing a dirge and conducting a wake"
… this is artful living.
Not there yet, but inviting Jesus into this space.
Post-Its
I had a great idea for today's post – it was to be thought-provoking and overall, fairly brilliant. However, I did not write it down on a sticky note, to return to sometime later in the day, and, alas …
It fell out of my brain.
I hate it when that happens.
But what is one to do, when they have a Swiss-Cheese Brain?
I have a dream of a working space that has multiple whiteboards to sketch ideas and flows of thought and Miriam-sized post-it notes where my brain can safely reside, knowing the super sticky will keep those thoughts captive. Someday.
What do you do when you've got nothin'? When you're blank or done?
You admit it.
You let people laugh with you, even at you, and you move on.
It happens to us all – even you.
🙂
Hope
It week EIGHT of the non-stop constuction in front of our house. They had steamrolled endlessly, creating a pavable surface and then the next day had the backhoes out there digging 5 foot deep holes in front of each house on the block. Not sure if this was an oversight, or is that just how it's done?
Today, they steamrolled in ernest. Ginormous 18-wheelers full of gravel and sand that shake the house to the point that I wondered if things would fall off shelves … back and forth, starting at dawn and now just ending as dusk …
I feel this tiny glimmer of hope.
Like the bit of sunshine that bursts through the dark clouds and illuminates the fall leaves … this little bit of cautious optimism has lightened my day. It is entirely possible that they will pave this sucker by the end of the week, and I will be able to park in my own driveway once more.
One can only hope.
Might we learn from one another?
I wanted to share a link to a company that I have found very useful – it's called "Skillshare."
Here's the deal: you know something I don't know. You create a few short videos to teach me. I pay a nominal fee (like $7) … I learn, you share, we both profit.
This site is brilliant.
It has classes on photography, lettering, knitting, writing, marketing, creating your own business… yadda, yadda, yadda.
Someday, I'm going to create a class on something. Intentionality perhaps? : ) Or boundaries. Or dog training. The sky is the limit.
I am in awe of someone (who is probably bringing home the bank now) who thought of this fantastic idea. I don't have to leave my home … I can sit in my pajamas and eat pretzels and m & m's (my latest vice) and GROW. They have ton's of free classes too. I just watched one on desiging a book jacket and then one on sign lettering. Yesterday, I watched part of the class on marketing by my favorite marketer – yes, Seth Godin. Some of the teachers are no names; some are big names. Some classes are hugely valuable and some are not-so-much. But the thing that impacts me is that those people did the work and got something out there. I'm going to do it too … it's just a matter of when and what.
In the meantime, I'm learning like crazy.