Happy birthday yesterday to Alruna: The Flowers by Robert Louis Stevenson All the names I know from nurse:Gardener’s garters, Shepherd’s purse,Bachelor’s buttons, Lady’s smock,And the Lady Hollyhock. Fairy places, fairy things,Fairy woods where the wild bee wings,Tiny trees for tiny dames–These must all be fairy names! Tiny woods below whose boughsShady fairies weave a house;Tiny … Read more
Beauty and grace are performed whether or not we will sense them. The least we can do is try to be there. — Annie Dillard Have you noticed a continuing thread that runs through all of the exercises I’ve been suggesting since we got back from our reading deprivation week? Yes, they are sensory timeouts, … Read more
As the waves of perfume, heliotrope, rose,Float in the garden when no wind blows,Come to us, go from us, whence no one knows; So the old tunes float in my mind,And go from me leaving no trace behind,Like fragrance borne on the hush of the wind.— Sara Teasdale, Old Tunes As we gently (I hope … Read more
If I ever feel I am getting to the point where I’m playing it safe, I’ll stop. That’s all I can tell you about how I plan for the future. — Miles Davis Having just spent a week in reading deprivation, I hope that some of the tiny changes you are noticing will solidify into … Read more
Song of Life © Cynthia MadridI believe in Michelangelo, Velazquez, and Rembrandt; in the might of design, the mystery of colour, the redemption of all things by Beauty everlasting, and the message of Art that has made these hands blessed:Amen. Amen. — George Bernard Shaw Welcome back! How are you? How was your week? What … Read more
At this juncture of our work together on Julia Cameron’s book, The Artist’s Way, we are given the challenge of going on a complete fast from the written words of others. So during this time, I will be offline. Right. That means I am not checking email, Tweeting, Facebooking, etc. Even if you are not … Read more
Dark of the MoonNew beginningsDark of the MoonPlant a seed tonightDark of the MoonWhat we envisionWill come to beBy the Full Moon’s light. I love that we are heading into our reading deprivation week just after today’s New Moon. Like the dark of the Moon, we enter a pause, full of secret potential, hidden and … Read more
We are always doing something, talking, reading, listening to the radio, planning what next. The mind is kept naggingly busy on some easy, unimportant external thing all day. — Brenda Ueland During our upcoming reading deprivation week, we are urged to continue with our morning pages, and it really is the ideal time to treat … Read more
Awakening © 2009 Lisa RoughIn a dark time, the eye begins to see. — Theodore Roethke Well, I woke up this morning still a bit shaky about how I’m going to manage the logistics of my reading deprivation week, but suddenly, I’m a lot more eager about getting into it. Since I’ve done it before, … Read more
The Star – © Ellen Lorenzi-Prince, Tarot of the Crone And we pray, not for new earth or heaven, but to be quiet in heart, and in eye, clear. What we need is here. — Wendell Berry And now, we must take a big, deep breath. It’s time to prepare for Reading Deprivation Week. Did … Read more