Happy First Monday in January! There might be a wee bit of excitement in my house this morning as Steve returns to his “usual schedule” this week…whew! LOL
My day is full of so many things from laundry to Undecorating to OLW contemplation… a truly varied list. I am hoping that laundry becomes less “mundane” when paired with OLW contemplation.
This short poem that I listened to yesterday was so full! It is going to be my guide for a January of quiet contemplation. I hope you find something in these words to help your January get off to a very good start! See you all back here on Wednesday for some “first finishes” of the New Year!
Winter Is the Best Time
by David Budbill
Winter is the best time
to find out who you are.
Quiet, contemplation time,
away from the rushing world,
cold time, dark time, holed-up
pulled-in time and space
to see that inner landscape,
that place hidden and within.
Hope smiles from the threshold of the year to come, whispering, ‘It will be happier.’ — Alfred Lord Tennyson
Happy New Year! I have written this quote in my journal to greet me next week, although… doesn’t it feel like today is the start of a new week rather than Friday? Is it just me or are any of you all turned around on what day it is. That upside down factor has been amplified because Steve has been working from home more recently so I don’t have his normal routine to help me with days! But… happier. Doesn’t that sound lovely? It certainly does for me. There were glimmers of hope this week again… seek and ye shall find… yes, indeed!
The birds again were Harbingers of Hope when one morning about 20 robins were flocking in the bushes next to my porch, enjoying a breakfast of the frozen berries that are hanging in bunches all over. I saw some birds standing guard, alert for danger while the others gleefully gobbled up the berries… and then I saw them trade places so the “guard birds” could participate in the feast! If the birds can care for one another, surely that gives us all hope that we can too!
Our Christmas snow melted away this week, but twice I woke to a fresh dusting of snow making everything look so bright and clean… a visible reminder that each day we have a clean slate – a chance to begin again. And that is the best kind of hope of all… that no matter how miserably I failed the day before I have a chance to try again.
A new year means setting a new reading goal (or at least for me it does, lol) and setting that goal is the epitome of hope! The wishful thinking of how much I might read in a year… it is like that open door, smiling with a promise of happiness. In previous years, I have set a challenging goals, and I knew that in order to achieve the goal I would have to stay focused and work at it. Sometimes I met the goal, other times I did not… so last year I set a what I call a “fake goal” one that was low and I knew I could easily meet it (and I did and then some). But you know what? There was absolutely zero satisfaction in my achievement this year… I cheated myself. Oh, I read and I certainly enjoyed the books I read, but I learned that “faking myself out” has no rewards. So while I am still contemplating my reading goal… it won’t be a cheater goal. I found some interesting books on this list that will help me with the start of the New Year (and they are all about Fresh Starts – and a fresh start is always full of hope!)
And there you have it, the hope I found this week. Welcome 2021, may you be brimming with happiness!
When I got the first email about the Winter Solstice Project I thought that I did not need one more thing. But then the second email came, and I began to think more about the idea of a weekly project. The idea grew and felt like this is something I need to do in my week. So once a week – until March 20th – I am going to share some thoughts on hope.
Hope is like the sun, which, as we journey toward it, casts the shadow of our burden behind us. — Samuel Smiles
This week the journey toward the sun began again, each day bring a tiny bit more light. For me this year, has felt like that… each day a bit darker than the day before and I have forgotten what hope looks like. I have forgotten that if I look carefully, there are tiny bits of hope every day… bits I miss because I am focused on the darkness. So Monday I started paying attention and here are some things that gave me hope this week:
A Mourning Dove who reminds me that hope can be a thing with feathers.
A 50 degree day in December.
A rosy sunrise after a long week of grey days.
The notification that a long waited for book is ready for pick up!
The promise of snow on Christmas.
Discovering On Being’s Experience Poetry Dr. Fauci and this wisdom…it really struck a chord with me.
I wish you all a Blessed Christmas. See you back here next week!
I think there must be something wrong with me, Linus. Christmas is coming, but I’m not happy. I don’t feel the way I’m supposed to feel. — Charlie Brown
I don’t know about you, but this is truly the Charlie Browniest Christmas ever because this is definitely the feel in my house this year. Steve has talked about it, my kids are talking about it. And I am sure as heck feeling it.
So what’s a body to do when you don’t feel the way you are supposed to? My “Modus Operandi” is to ignore, avoid, and squelch down all those “not happy feelings” and it works, for awhile anyways. Until that last straw arrives and then… whoosh. The dam is broken and ignoring and avoiding are no longer possible. The dam broke for me last week… and it was okay. I was not swept away. Yes, there were tears – lots of them. Yes, there was some fist shaking anger at all this. But it was okay. And while I would not call my current attitude “happy,” it is close. And better than that, today I am absolutely at peace.
And!!! That light at the end of the tunnel has not diminished at all! I listened to this cheerful little podcast on Sunday and my hope is growing! (and I laughed, which really helps that happy attitude…lots!) I am so thankful for all the brilliant scientists… they have made my hope grow and grow and grow!
Finally, Clara Parkes shared this video earlier this month and I just loved it. It was the perfect thing to put on the television to watch while I knit. And!! Sherman also loves it! But did you know there are a couple dozen videos on the Movie Squirrel YouTube site?? This truly is magic and brings me such joy watching, especially this one, which is perfect for Christmas Week! Sherman and I wish you much joy as you watch!
I will be back on Wednesday, to share a bit of knitting and reading!
I am wondering this morning just where the weekend went… it was here, but boy, it was over way too fast!
So here we are on Monday, but it is the most auspicious of Monday’s! You see, it’s the first Monday after the second Wednesday… which means the Electoral Collage is meeting today! It seems like it’s been 10 years since Election Day, doesn’t it? Today, Joe Biden will have 306 electoral votes, the other guy will get 232 (you need 270 to win). I have been keeping track of the numbers and thought you all might get a chuckle at these numbers. Since Election Day, the other guy and his band of merry fools have tried and tried and tried again to make something out of nothing. They must like losing because their record?? 1-59. Yep, that is one win (the one win was in PA and a judge said they could move from 10′ to 6′ away from watching canvassing… no I am not kidding. That is the only thing they have in the win column) But how ’bout those losses? (The magic is that they were WINS for the American people!!) Today is one day closer to all these shenanigans being over, but it is a big step.
Now, how about some things to distract you this week!
This week’s night skies should be amazing! First, Jupiter and Saturn are “side by side” – an event that has not happened since 1623. I don’t have a telescope, but I will be out this week with hopes that I will be able to see something. Even if it is only the Geminid meteor shower tonight! (It was too cloudy last night in Pittsburgh, boo!)
Finally, poetry will always be magical to me…I have spent much of this year reading (and listening to) more poetry. I heard this poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay last week and I have not been able to get it out of my head. So I am closing today with it. The name was the first thing I heard and I had no idea at all what Recuerdo meant. I looked it up and it is Spanish for memory or remembrance. This poem is exactly that… may your day have lots of memorable moments. I will see you back here on Wednesday!
There are a few times in life when you leap up and the past that you’d been standing on falls away behind you, and the future you mean to land on is not yet in place, and for a moment you’re suspended knowing nothing and no one, not even yourself. — Ann Pachett, The Dutch House
Oh boy, another Monday.
It seems like last week the world began to be more topsy-turvy, and overflowing with uncertainty. I cannot get Danny’s voice out of my head because how he describes it is exactly so! The footing has fallen away, and the firmer future is still 58 days away. So here I am, suspended in knowing nothing and no one… not even myself.
I don’t like feeling so helpless with this uncertainty. One thing that is definitely certain – this virus is here and active. Sadly, not everyone gets that, or is it really that not everyone cares? But out in that “not everyone cares” world, are those I hold most dear. There they are braving places where the virus is like a speeding train… work. And I am truly at a loss this morning. Honestly, I am just so damned mad at people, ALL THE PEOPLE!!
I was certain that there would be no magic to fix all of this, but then this morning I heard this poem by Joy Harjo and as I let the words wash over me, I felt the tiniest crack in the dread… the uncertainty.
To pray you open your whole self
To sky, to earth, to sun, to moon
To one whole voice that is you.
And know there is more
That you can’t see, can’t hear;
Can’t know except in moments
Steadily growing, and in languages
That aren’t always sound but other
Circles of motion.
See you all back here on Wednesday… I am excited to share some FINISHED THINGS with you!
