The enlargement of the soul

My brother took this photo of me in The Paris Market and Brocante in Savannah ..a delightful spot where we stopped for coffee (and you can tell that I loved this seat!)

Last summer, I decided to write a novel. Through the encouragement of a friend, and the feeling of challenge that this idea brought on, I completed a rough draft by early September. But almost as soon as I finished, looking back over the 300+ pages of misspelled words, awkward sentences, bad grammar, and all, overwhelmed me and I put it away. I kept saying things (to myself) like, “I need a month to just not think about it. After the holidays I’ll pick it up again. On my trip to Florida, I’ll work on it everyday….” but I didn’t. The time away from it wasn’t really a big concern, but the idea that what I’d written was not very good, uninspired, and uninteresting, was beginning to take over.

During this period, another friend had recommended the book, If You Want to Write, by Brenda Ueland. On the back of the book it says, “Carl Sandburg called this book, ‘The best book ever written about how to write.’ I bought the book at her recommendation, but didn’t open it until yesterday.

When I did, I felt like I’d found a friend...I love this book!! It is honest and funny and encouraging, not only for writers, but for living. The author talks about having fun, being light, and letting this energy flow into us and through us.  There is also something about the fact that she was born in 1891 and still wrote with such abandon that delights me. On page 7 she says (about criticism),

“You have noticed how teachers, critics, parents and other know-it-alls, when they see you have written something, become at once long-nosed and finicking and go through it gingerly sniffing out the flaws. AHA! a misspelled word! as though Shakespeare could spell! As though spelling, grammar and what you learn in a book about rhetoric has anything to do with  freedom and the imagination!…the only good teachers for you are those friends who love you, who think you are interesting, or very important, or wonderfully funny;  whose attitude is: ‘Tell me more. Tell me all you can….”

As I read her words, I realized that my timing had been perfect. I had been the know-it-all, tiny-minded, tight-lipped critic of my own work and had lost any sense of joy and adventure that had been there originally when I thought about writing a novel. Reading this wonderful book yesterday, I wanted to cry with joy. I was back on track with fun and adventure as my guides; the only things that really mattered for this project in the first place.

“...you are all original and talented and need to let it out of yourselves: that is to say, you have the creative impulse. ..Now this creative power I think is the Holy Ghost. My theology may not be very accurate but that is how I think of it. I know that William Blake called this creative power the Imagination and he said it was God. He, if anyone, ought to know, for he was one of the greatest poets who ever lived.

Now Blake thought that this creative power should be kep alive in all people for all of their lives. And so do I. Why? because it is life Itself. It is the Spirit. In fact it is the only important thing about us. The rest of us is legs and stomach, materialistic cravings and fears…..

It is our nasty twentieth century materialism that makes us feel: what is the use of writing, painting, etc, unless one has an audience or gets cash for it? Socrates and the men of the Renaissance did so much because the rewards were intrinsic, i.e., the enlargement of the soul.”  from,  If You Want to Write by Brenda Ueland (published in 1938).

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Taking life lightly

My bags…I’ve gotten rid of the more serious looking bags in recent months.

After writing Friday’s post, about bringing more fun into our lives, I couldn’t get the image of Mary Poppins out of my head. I hadn’t seen the movie since I was a kid, so I did some research on-line about her character. I loved the way that she was described as a magical person who blew into town on the east wind, changed everything around her for the better, and when she was done, blew away again; carpet-bag in one hand, umbrella in the other.

I also loved the way that she didn’t get ruffled or upset by the unhappiness of those around her. She kept her center, knew what she wanted to achieve…and had fun doing it. We had just watched the movie “Cold Comfort Farm” and the heroine, Flora, had that same energy. Both of these characters refused to worry about life, had a vision for what they wanted to achieve, and everything (and everyone) around them transformed.

Friday evening, I decided to look for one of my travel bags, found it, and hung it on the door by my computer with the thought, “I wonder when I’ll be taking my next trip?”

At about noon on Saturday, my brother called and said, “Are you up for an adventure?”  He went on to say that he and his daughter (my niece Kelly) were going to be biking across Florida and wanted someone to accompany them who would be available in case of a flat tire or some other unexpected need they might have. They’d originally planned to fly down in April but had just decided to drive down (this week) instead. Then he said, “We’ll stay in great B &B’s along the way, you’ll have all the days to yourself, we just want to be able to call you if we need something. I’ll pay all of your expenses, plus we’ll have a lot of fun. I think we’d be a great trio! What do you think?”

So with a little rearranging of my schedule (which will be minimally interrupted since most of the work that I do is by phone…. and I am imaging wonderful sessions from my warm, lovely, southern perch) and the amazing flexibility of Jack, I’ll be leaving on Wednesday for 10 days.

It astounds me how things show up when I am “light” about them….light about life.  I can see such a pattern in the manifestation of my desires: when I hold on tightly, intensely, unhappily wanting something to happen, it seems to elude me. All day Friday, I had been singing happy songs (out loud) and kept thinking about being playful, fun and happy. (I also was also pondering the idea Mary Poppins as an archetype…something that I will be thinking more about!).

“Humanity has advanced, when it has advanced, not because it has been sober, responsible, and cautious, but because it has been playful…” Tom Robbins

 

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Nirvana Day (every day!?)

Our small Buddha statue catching the morning light a few days ago.

My plans for today changed when I woke up to warnings of a big winter storm, and made the decision not to travel. As a kid, I love snow days; loved hearing, “Warrensburg Central School is closed.” I can still recall the thrill of those words coming through the old radio in our kitchen.

A snow day meant freedom from doing something that I didn’t want to do; go to school. I hated school, and left this belief largely unquestioned until much later in life. If anyone had asked me, at the time, why I hated it so much, I’m not sure that I would have been honest (or self-aware) enough to say that the reason I hated it, was because I thought that I was dumb. I didn’t think that I could understand what was being taught, believed that homework was boring, and so I didn’t even try to do it (which reinforced my belief that it was impossible).

If someone said to me today, “For the next 4 years, all of your needs will be met. You’ll have the money you need, clothes, food, a car, friends to go out with (all of this was my high school experience) and all you have to do, is go to this place where you will learn math, science, art, and history. You will play field hockey, have time to study between classes and learn to cook, make pottery, and sew.” I would think that I was in heaven! Nirvana!

But back then, I felt like I was being made to do it, so without questioning this, I fought it, instead of embracing it, hated it, instead of enjoying it. There is a song from Mary Poppins, “In every job there is to be done, there is an element of fun. You find the fun and snap! The job’s a game….”

There’s a profound wisdom in these words. Why not look for the fun, look for the unexpected delight, build your nest, build your life, from a happy, open heart….sing a new song today (or maybe try singing just a little every day…or at least for the weekend!)

“Be aware of wonder. Live a balanced life; learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work some, every day” Robert Fulghum

**** snow day thought*******

Because my calendar is unexpectedly open today, I thought I’d open up the opportunity to share my work with you. I generally offer either 30 or 60 minute sessions but today, I am offering 20  minute sessions (for $20 each). If you are interested, just email me at mmuncil@verizon.net and we’ll set up a time to talk (you can read more about my work here http://whitefeatherfarm.wordpress.com/about )

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Won’t you come out to play?

Bodhi watching something outside the window

It feels like the deep winter today. It’s cold and dark and even the cats don’t want to go out for more than a couple of minutes. As I sat outside this morning, thinking about the day and how to brighten it, I thought it might be fun to play a game with any of you who would like to play today too!

I have several decks of affirmation cards and one set that I like a lot is called, “The Teachings of Abraham, Well Being Cards” by Esther and Jerry Hicks. If you would like me to pick a card for you, I would love to do it. Just comment with one game that you like to play or fun thing that you do (or even would like to do) and I’ll pick a card (without looking of course) for you and post it as a reply.

“The true object of all human life is play. Earth is a task garden; heaven is a playground.” Gilbert Chesterton

 

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Loving animals, and a give-away

A couple of times a year, I go through my books and donate or give some away to make room for the new. Instead of putting this one in the donation bag, I thought I’d offer it here as a give-away. Since I really enjoyed these stories, and we are such a community of animal lovers, I thought that you might like it too.

To enter this give-away just post a comment that has a word, which comes to mind when you think about your animal friends. It could be love, comfort, joy, etc., or even a pet’s name or a story. I’ll choose a random winner on Saturday the 14th.

“I ask people why they have deer heads on their walls. They always say because it’s such a beautiful animal. There you go. I think my mother is attractive, but I have photographs of her“. Ellen DeGeneres

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Going too far?

Several years ago, I heard about a competition called, The 3-Day Novel Contest. It happens every Labor day and involves writing a rough-draft of a novel, and submitting it at the end of the weekend.  The comments from past participants range from, “A great opportunity to do something that I’ve always wanted to do”, to, “Who was the twisted S.O.B. who first came up with this idea?!” This quote is on the competition’s website: A coffee-fueled, plot-weaving literary juggernaut.” Playboy Magazine.

I don’t know if I’ll do this or not, but there is something very appealing about it to me partly because it so “unknown”. I like the idea of pushing myself past what I think I can do, not knowing if I even can do it, and wondering if maybe I will find some hidden strength that I didn’t know I had.

Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go. T. S. Eliot

For any of you that think this sounds like an interesting idea, the details are below!

35 Years and Still Notorious

 It began as a dare, became an act of defiance, and today, 35 years after its birth, the 3-Day Novel Contest still reigns as one of the world’s most maddening, compelling and exhilarating challenges for writers.

Registration and Full Details

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Having fun, changing my focus

A good sport; My 84 year old mother, trying on the high heels

I was visiting my mother the other day and she needed to go to the mall to return a lawn chair. She didn’t seem to have the slip but assured me,  ”It is easy to do returns at Target. They are very nice.” My mother returns a lot of stuff. She gets bored, shops, and then decides later that she doesn’t really want the chair, coat, jacket, shoes…or any number of other things that caught her eye as she wandered the mall, so she returns them. I joked with her that the major department stores are going to start putting her picture up at their cash registers with a warning, “If this woman comes through the line, ask her if she really wants the items in her cart. If she hesitates, then encourage her to put them back.” She laughed at this as we made our way, with the lawn chair, to Target’s customer service.

A while back, I would have given my mother a lecture about her “personal return policy”; told her how wrong I thought it was to shop like this, how much extra work she was making for the stores, asked her  to”examine” her life. It wouldn’t have changed her shopping habits, but it would have made our trips, to return her purchases, grim.

After we returned the chair, we stopped by T.J Maxx’s shoe dept. I dared her to try on this pair of very tall, snake skin? shoes. She took me up on it! I tried to get a better photo but she was laughing and saying, “Hurry ….my calves are cramping up!” You wouldn’t believe the number of women who came by and told her how good these shoes looked on her (which made her laugh all the more). She always replied, “My daughter is going to put me up on her, what do you call it?…her blog!”

“We can always choose to perceive things differently. You can focus on what’s wrong in your life, or you can focus on what’s right“. Marianne Williamson

For this weekend, how about taking one thing in your life that feels “wrong” and making it your intention to find the good in it. …see how it changes when your focus is different.

a better look at the shoes!

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What is really going on here?

My mother asked me to paint a wall for her recently. She could have easily hired someone to do this but much prefers to have her children around (and no matter how much we object, she always insists on paying us way more than she would have to pay someone else…for her, it is a social event). I arrived at her home at 9:30 in the morning and was finished by 4:30. She didn’t want to do the painting herself, but talked to me, non-stop, while I painted…and sang too. My mother has always had an “interesting” habit of breaking into song if a word in the conversation reminds her of some tune from the past.

About an hour into my painting, I was feeling a little bit irritated by her constant chatter and was, at that point, on top of her 8 foot ladder, doing a peak when she said, “Do you want me to stand behind you?”, I said no, and she started singing, “…stand beside you and guide you though the night with the light from above. Through the meadows, through the prairies….” I just started laughing and said, “Mom, it is a really bad idea to sing like that when I am on the top of a ladder.” She started cracking up too. She hadn’t even realized that she was doing it.

From that moment on, something changed and I just entered into the spirit of it. It became like a game, fun and creative, and we had a wonderful day. I opened my emails when I arrived back home and there was this funny, sweet video of a mourning dove and a cat (thank you Carol for sending it) that made me laugh, think of my mother and myself and how much fun life can be when I change my perspective.

“It’s the game of life. Do I win or do I lose? One day they’re gonna shut the game down. I gotta have as much fun and go around the board as many times as I can before it’s my turn to leave.”  Tupac Shakur

The link to it is below.

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Thrift stores, a contest!

The prize!

There was a “bag sale” at the Manchester Thrift Store yesterday. Before the fall, they get rid of all of their summer clothing to make room for warmer, winter things. I feel a little giddy on bag sale days. You purchase a white garbage bag for $5 and then go around the store filling it up. All of my usual discretion goes out the window on these days…it is as if I become obsessed with seeing how much I can cram into that bag. I don’t bother to try anything on, if it looks close to my size, I just stuff it in.

I justify this by saying that if it doesn’t fit, or I don’t  like it, I will simply put it in another bag and re-donate it. Which I do. Thrift store shopping is just plain fun for me and bag sale days make me feel a tiny bit like I have won some lottery.

So, it seems the perfect time for another give-away doesn’t it?! To enter this contest, just comment telling us what fun little thing you like to do for yourself, or for someone else (or if you can’t think of anything, but there is something that you wish you could do, then write that …there are no wrong responses!). I will choose a random winner on Monday the 5th and the prize will be a Mary’s Skin Survival Balm (in a sweet little gold bag that I picked up yesterday at the bag sale!)

 

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Taking myself seriously…time to lighten up!

Fun!

On a recent trip, I saw this little house with a clock built into the peak! I have never seen such a thing (outside of Disney World houses, which I also love!). It made me smile. The Spirit of God is alive in this world, manifesting through us all of the time, in countless ways, including laughter, play, fun and happiness. I tend to take myself and “my work” too seriously.

There is a prevalent belief in our society, that to be spiritual you must be “subdued”, quiet, almost in a meditative state 24/7….so you will be taken seriously as a minister, healer, or spiritual person. Where did we get this idea? Look at nature. It is bright, fragrant, bursting with life!

Time for me to lighten up!

“The master of the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his education and his recreation, his love and his religion. He hardly knows which is which; he simply pursues his vision of excellence in whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing. To him he is always doing both“.

Buddha

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