But the beginning of things,
of a world especially,
is necessarily vague, tangled, chaotic,
and exceedingly disturbing.
~ Kate Chopin
Author: jeanne (Page 98 of 120)
I'm just your basic complicated simple red dirt girl who feels most beautiful when wearing skirts that caper and earrings that dangle. Entering into my Second Life (my tenured phase, I call it), I tell, write, stitch, and perform stories about this time of life when the mythological (and downsized) empty nest is now filled with aging pets, aging parents, a retired husband, and the knowledge that you're living on the finite side of infinity.
i wish
i had something profound
to share with you,
something that would
change your life
or better still,
enhance your life.
something that would
validate and confirm
what you already know to be true.
i wish
i had something profound
to share with you,
something that would
make you see the world
or yourself
or even your cat
differently.
i wish
i had something profound
to share with you,
something that would
encourage you,
give you the nudge
you need
to start that project
you’ve carried around
for so long.
i wish
i had something profound
to share with you,
something that would
make you smile
or better still
laugh right out loud.
i wish
i had something profound
to share with you,
something that would
erase all the bruises
that have made you
tuck yourself in
and be smaller
than you really are.
i wish
i had something profound
to share with you,
something that would
convince you
that your life
is precious to me
and to so many others.
something that would
convince you
that the world
needs your project,
your talent,
your words,
your ideas,
your creativity,
your love,
your laughter.
mostly, though,
i wish
it was as easy
as serving you
a page full
of words
for you to know,
to know at the cellular level,
how precious
you are.
It’s been such a lovely day – filled with such productivity and possibility. At one point, I felt totally in control of my life – like I am right where I’m supposed to be.
But now . . .
See these lovelies? They are from the talented hands of my friend Glennis who really knows her way around shibori. I have held these bits of cloth in their cellophane wrapper for so long, keeping them segregated from the general fabric population. Today I pulled them out not just to look at and drool over, but to weave together into cloth for a Very Special Project. Then shoot, before I could start, doubt crept in and hissed me into paralysis. So I return them to protective custody and prepare to stitch on an existing cloth – one I created last night – one that’s ready for layers of embellishment – while the blue lovelies resume their patient, optimistic wait.
This month, because I live for non-conformity (and to keep from having to think of something to write about) I am participating in a challenge designed to celebrate Ralph Waldo Emerson’s 208th birthday. (Honestly, he doesn’t look a day over 112 to me.)
Today’s prompt:
It is easy in the world to live after the world’s opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude. – Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self-Reliance
The world is powered by passionate people, powerful ideas, and fearless action. What’s one strong belief you possess that isn’t shared by your closest friends or family? What inspires this belief, and what have you done to actively live it?
I don’t believe that differences in religious persuasions or political philosophies diminish one or magnify another.
I do believe it’s arrogant to try to impose belief systems on one another.
I don’t believe prayer is a stage or a confessional.
I do believe being a prayer is better than any spoken prayer I’ve ever had to sit through.
I don’t believe patriarchy has served anybody well.
I do believe it’s time for the feminine to rise up,
and be recognized,
and honored,
and celebrated.
to be embraced
and embodied.
I don’t believe women must become sacrificial lambs before their children to be a good mother.
I do believe it’s time to rip that page from the rulebook.
I don’t believe power is synonymous with power over.
I do believe I’m snatching my power out from under you right about now.
I don’t believe that traditional education has nearly enough respect and encouragement for independent, original thoughts.
I do believe that at its worst, traditional education creates drones (and I also believe we have a gracious plenty of those already.)
I don’t believe we possess a finite amount of creativity.
I do believe trying to use your creativity all up is the best way to grow more.
Because I don’t believe that every member of my family nods their head in agreement everything I put forth (here and otherwise),
I do believe that they sometimes entertain fantasies of having me rendered mute in a witness protection program.
This month, because I live for non-conformity (and to keep from having to think of something to write about) I am participating in a challenge designed to celebrate Ralph Waldo Emerson’s 208th birthday. (Honestly, he doesn’t look a day over 112 to me.)
Today’s prompt:
Your genuine action will explain itself, and will explain your other genuine actions. Your conformity explains nothing. The force of character is cumulative. – Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self-Reliance
If ‘the voyage of the best ship is a zigzag line of a hundred tracks,’ then it is more genuine to be present today than to recount yesterdays. How would you describe today using only one sentence? Tell today’s sentence to one other person. Repeat each day.
~~~~~~~
Today I laughed
and stitched
and wrote like there was a
clearance sale on words
in a store that welcomes checks.
This month, because I live for non-conformity (and to keep from having to think of something to write about) I am participating in a challenge designed to celebrate Ralph Waldo Emerson’s 208th birthday. (Honestly, he doesn’t look a day over 112 to me.)
Today’s prompt:
(Okay, it was yesterday’s prompt, but I never got around to it yesterday, so in the spirit of nonconformity, I’m doubling up today.)
We are afraid of truth, afraid of fortune, afraid of death, and afraid of each other. Our age yields no great and perfect persons. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
You just discovered you have fifteen minutes to live.
1. Set a timer for fifteen minutes.
2. Write the story that has to be written.
~~~
it isn’t about clocks.
(but isn’t this the cutest little clock?
sure do hope to inherit it one day.)
or words.
it’s about living.
pure, unadulterated
living.
so what say
we rev up and
live a chapter
in that 15 minutes?
don’t like what i see,
but rather than toss it all aside,
and render it useless
and unworthy,
rather than walk away,
i rip out the stitches,
saving the bits of cloth
and threads,
(it is, after all, my cloth)
the mere act of
ripping
enkindling ideas of
other uses for them
in this project
that i’m now calling
my legasee cloth.
If I tell you I have a headache,
you’ll badger me to go to the doctor.
If I tell you I’m not interested in anything
and would love to sleep for three days,
you’ll encourage me to go to a therapist.
If I tell you that I’m tired
of saying only nice things,
edifying things,
fresh, perky, upbeat things,
you’ll tell me to go ahead
and write what I will
then
you’ll share your testimony of faith,
and try to save my soul by convincing
me that your god
is The One For Me.
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integrity
This work by Jeanne Hewell-Chambers is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at http://www.TheBarefootHeart.com.
here ‘n there