[L, diary, ephēmeris] 1) BLOG

"Stubbornly writing the story of our own finitude and impermanence,

is our only true homecoming to wholeness..."

--Maria Popova, paraphrasing Patti Smith--

Last week's Midweek Special, a post celebrating twelve years of brilliant writing from Maria Popova, was particularly inspiring so I wish to introduce her to those who may not yet have had the rewarding experience.

     "Because I believe that our becoming, like the synthesis of meaning itself, is an ongoing and dynamic process, I’ve been reluctant to stultify it and flatten its ongoing expansiveness in static opinions and fixed personal tenets of living. But I do find myself continually discovering, then returning to, certain core values. While they may be refined and enriched in the act of living, their elemental substance remains a center of gravity for what I experience as myself.

     I first set down some of these core beliefs, written largely as notes to myself that may or may not be useful to others, when Brain Pickings turned seven (which kindred spirits later adapted into a beautiful poster inspired by the aesthetic of vintage children’s books and a cinematic short film). I expanded upon them to mark year nine. Today, as I round the first decade of Brain Pickings, I feel half-compelled, half-obliged to add a tenth learning, a sort of crowning credo drawn from a constellation of life-earned beliefs I distilled in a commencement address I delivered in the spring of 2016."

Click Here to read all ten in the order that they were written, prefaced by her personal story and then closing with a list to her favorite posts, inspired by those she most loved reading and writing about in her first decade of Brain Pickings.  The list is so meaty that it is difficult to select a favorite, but here's mine, from year nine:

1. Seek out what magnifies your spirit. Patti Smith, in discussing William Blake and her creative influences, talks about writers and artists who magnified her spirit — it’s a beautiful phrase and a beautiful notion. Who are the people, ideas, and books that magnify your spirit? Find them, hold on to them, and visit them often. Use them not only as a remedy once spiritual malaise has already infected your vitality but as a vaccine administered while you are healthy to protect your radiance.

Popova and her linked selection of authors and artists will magnify your spirit. 

"The transformation of the heart is a wondrous thing,

no matter how you land there."

--Patti Smith--

Too frequently there have been laments posted about struggles to write regularly, too many plaintive cries about being overwhelmed, frozen, distracted...dismay quietly internalized for inadequately sharing the wealth of weekly activities. Grinding feelings, as if my life it's self, was being lost in the silence...unnoticed.  Insignificant.  Who really cared if there was one more website, or a hundred, detailing one tiny corner of someone's life? 

Then one day, a synergistic, serendipitous day, a woman sits down next to you at a luncheon and her face glows as she tells you she's been reading ALL of the posts you've made in the last twelve years. She even thanks you for specific ideas, quotes, and phrases that went deeply into her self-awareness of possibilities.  That is a gift of priceless rejuvenation.

Not that one can immediately see green leaves sprouting on seemingly dead wood...or, to add reality to the metaphor of 'light at the end of the tunnel',  one can still have a long way to travel the tunnel before breaking free into the light. No, the distance must still be traveled to reach that goal, but sometimes an unexpected increase in speed (following wind on a downhill slope?) can bring the journey to a swifter end. 

Last week, a stray wind blew a stranger into this website.  He signed up to receive the Newsletter.  I hope it wasn't a mistake, because I want to write for this person, this amazing optimist who was not deterred by a three year hiatus after only three newsletters the first year. He has re-inspired me,  just as my friend at the luncheon has given me incentive to continue, too. 

I am resuming focus for this site, posting shorter but more often.  The desire to encompass the entirety of meaningful experiences has been a downfall, daunting attempts almost even before they begin.  Posts may be chaotic, not as methodical as longed for, which means that the promised posts for this year's earlier 30-Day Photo Challenge will be interspersed with the unfinished account of the Saturday kids' poetic responses to LOVE THAT DOG, as well as updates for their Mono Prints explorations, new students, and progress on TWO boats' needs. 

Thank you to all who give of their hearts to heal others'.

It was the beginning of an especially synergistic day.  Midway from boat to beach I'd already stopped the dinghy trip ashore to take photos of the incoming fishing fleet, was already late to drive into town when I landed, glanced up to see the harbor activity silhouetted by morning mist.  The beauty took my breath away, so unexpected it was. 

The glare of shooting into the sunrise made it difficult to see what my cell phone's camera was capturing; the light changing so fast I simply kept pressing the shutter and hoped to capture something decent.

This was the last photo taken, and though I rued not having more of the fishing boats in its background, this one has more emotional identification in it than the the others; the simply beautiful. Picturesque.