leap

blackeyedpeas.jpg

today i leapt.

and i leapt with deliberation and thoughtfulness.

in the fiber arts community there’s a movement called slow cloth – just the name calms me. to live a life of calmness and space and rapt attention, that has been my dream, and today i am closer to that desired lifestyle . . .

gwen bell has developed a year’s worth of brief daily prompts intended to help cultivate a mindfulness lifestyle, and i am onboard. i am so onboard. today’s prompt: “Take time today to update your passwords. Make them bells of mindfulness, action-oriented words,” and so today finds me updating my passwords with verbs (and making sure everything is saved in 1password, the handiest software for mac users. it’s like having my own vault on the computer and on the iphone).

i also leapt into shuttersisters today. signed myself right up, committing to take and post a photo every day this year. i’m setting up a tumblr blog for the shuttersisters photos – i’ll let you know when it’s up and running, though i hasten to add that i am just a woman who enjoys photos, not a woman who would ever be confused with a photographer who knows what she’s doing.

january’s photo theme is create, and i’ve selected a photo of black-eyed peas, a southern staple – especially on new year’s day. thewordwire got me thinking about it yesterday, with her tweets about the southern delectables she was cooking up in her vegas kitchen. new years day is one of the rare days when i cook a full, resplendent meal, something my mother does frequently, and her mother did three times a day. i didn’t inherit the cooking gene – i don’t even collect cookbooks, though i’ve written a few from recipe collections of grandmothers.

my mother has an entire closet filled with plates and glasses and bowls. she sincerely enjoys entertaining, judging your love of her by how many times you go back for refills. she knows how to make people comfortable at her table. it is her native language.

her mother entered cake contests – and won a few, too. in the summer, she’d plant a huge garden, and every day would find her gathering items from the garden and cooking a big lunch (with biscuits made from scratch 3 times a day, i want you to know). the afternoons were spent shelling and shucking in the glider on the front porch then going inside for canning, freezing, and pickling.

these women that form the fabric of my matriarchal lineage created food that nourished and a table that welcomed.

Technorati Tags:
#mindfullist

32 Comments

  1. Alana

    Not only am I inspired, I actually learn from your posts. I’m on a hunt for 1password. And I’m so pleased we’ll be #mindfulist-ing together.

    • whollyjeanne

      i’m glad we’ll go mindfully through the year together, too.

  2. Alana

    Not only am I inspired, I actually learn from your posts. I’m on a hunt for 1password. And I’m so pleased we’ll be #mindfulist-ing together.

    • whollyjeanne

      i’m glad we’ll go mindfully through the year together, too.

  3. glennis

    s l o w cloth. yes! all the rest too. well, except for the photo taking and posting every day. just beyond me at the moment but i shall look forward to yours!

    • whollyjeanne

      i’m just looking to these 2 opportunities as tools, if you will, to help me slow down and live more attentively. seriously doubt i’ll be 100% on the photos and blog posts, but i’m sure gonna’ try.

  4. Acey

    must confess I love feeding people and judge culinary success by how quietly a meal is consumed. The longer the silence (beyond cutlery hitting china and glass) the more it feels like a rave review…

    • whollyjeanne

      nice, acey. nice way to measure success of a creative venture.

  5. Acey

    must confess I love feeding people and judge culinary success by how quietly a meal is consumed. The longer the silence (beyond cutlery hitting china and glass) the more it feels like a rave review…

    • whollyjeanne

      nice, acey. nice way to measure success of a creative venture.

  6. Julie Jordan Scott

    Love this, My Love. I am doing a 365 photo project this year, too – a self portrait one and then a generic one, too. I love learning through my photos… and am grateful we will be mindful together.

    • whollyjeanne

      julie, sugar, you are truly the inspiration for the energizer bunny. i declare i never saw a woman who is as wildly and consistently creative as you are PLUS you find the time – you take the time – to encourage so many other people. i’m now giving you another standing ovation (just so you know).

  7. Julie Jordan Scott

    Love this, My Love. I am doing a 365 photo project this year, too – a self portrait one and then a generic one, too. I love learning through my photos… and am grateful we will be mindful together.

    • whollyjeanne

      julie, sugar, you are truly the inspiration for the energizer bunny. i declare i never saw a woman who is as wildly and consistently creative as you are PLUS you find the time – you take the time – to encourage so many other people. i’m now giving you another standing ovation (just so you know).

  8. Kate T.W.

    just wanted to let you know that I made black eyed peas tonight because of your delicious-looking photo… and they were delicious! Thanks for this beautiful post.

    • whollyjeanne

      well, kate, aren’t you sweet. that makes you an honorary southerner, you know. i’ll be starting my next class in southern real soon.

  9. Kate T.W.

    just wanted to let you know that I made black eyed peas tonight because of your delicious-looking photo… and they were delicious! Thanks for this beautiful post.

    • whollyjeanne

      well, kate, aren’t you sweet. that makes you an honorary southerner, you know. i’ll be starting my next class in southern real soon.

  10. Bonnie

    I can relate to so much here! Never heard of “slow cloth” but love it! I want to wrap myself in slow cloth!!

    Right on, with the photos (and hence, my issue, too: not a photographer – just wanting to have fun with it.)

    (…and YEP! I just did a quick-click to wordwire where I was assured, it WAS collard greens with those black-eyed peas I had New Year’s day in Georgia 1993!)

    Thanks for the great post & links…I’m off to check them out ~~~

    • whollyjeanne

      and look at you, bonnie. collard greens – that makes you more southern than me. and i’m a native. bless your heart.

  11. Bonnie

    I can relate to so much here! Never heard of “slow cloth” but love it! I want to wrap myself in slow cloth!!

    Right on, with the photos (and hence, my issue, too: not a photographer – just wanting to have fun with it.)

    (…and YEP! I just did a quick-click to wordwire where I was assured, it WAS collard greens with those black-eyed peas I had New Year’s day in Georgia 1993!)

    Thanks for the great post & links…I’m off to check them out ~~~

    • whollyjeanne

      and look at you, bonnie. collard greens – that makes you more southern than me. and i’m a native. bless your heart.

  12. emma

    I can’t wait to see the photos you reveal while doing 365 – so excited for you!! And inspired. I’m inspired to leap by watching you jump first. Thank you for that.

    • whollyjeanne

      i’m trying to decide how to – and whether to – weave all these seemingly-disparate-but-they’re-really-not pieces together. kinda’ loathe starting new blogs for each; kinda dread multiple posts/day. kinda’ wondering how difficult it’d be to weave them altogether into one post/day. but for now, i’m playing miss scarlett and saying fiddle-de-de. i’ll think about that tomorrah.

  13. emma

    I can’t wait to see the photos you reveal while doing 365 – so excited for you!! And inspired. I’m inspired to leap by watching you jump first. Thank you for that.

    • whollyjeanne

      i’m trying to decide how to – and whether to – weave all these seemingly-disparate-but-they’re-really-not pieces together. kinda’ loathe starting new blogs for each; kinda dread multiple posts/day. kinda’ wondering how difficult it’d be to weave them altogether into one post/day. but for now, i’m playing miss scarlett and saying fiddle-de-de. i’ll think about that tomorrah.

  14. TheWordWire

    First of all, I had not seen Gwen’s new project, so thank you for calling it to my attention. Secondly, your description of your mother’s native language made me smile beyond measure. My own mother is a magician in the kitchen, and I have only happy memories of cooking with her. Her mom, whom I never really knew, cooked like your grandmother… full meal (for 11 children!) three times a day.

    • whollyjeanne

      well i sure hope you’re gonna’ play along with us, sugar. 11 children????? perish the thought.

  15. TheWordWire

    First of all, I had not seen Gwen’s new project, so thank you for calling it to my attention. Secondly, your description of your mother’s native language made me smile beyond measure. My own mother is a magician in the kitchen, and I have only happy memories of cooking with her. Her mom, whom I never really knew, cooked like your grandmother… full meal (for 11 children!) three times a day.

    • whollyjeanne

      well i sure hope you’re gonna’ play along with us, sugar. 11 children????? perish the thought.

  16. glennis

    s l o w cloth. yes! all the rest too. well, except for the photo taking and posting every day. just beyond me at the moment but i shall look forward to yours!

    • whollyjeanne

      i’m just looking to these 2 opportunities as tools, if you will, to help me slow down and live more attentively. seriously doubt i’ll be 100% on the photos and blog posts, but i’m sure gonna’ try.

Leave a Reply to emmaCancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Where in the world is The 70273 Project? Please add a pin to show us where you are in the world. (1) Click the + sign in upper righthand corner of map. (2) Enter your first name only. (3) Enter your city/state. (4) Using the pins at the bottom of the map, select a marker based on how you are involved. (5) Select preview to see before posting. (6) Select submit to post. Please add a marker for each role you serve in The 70273 Project.

Support The 70273 Project

Allow me to introduce myself . . .

Hey, Sugar! I'm Jeanne Hewell-Chambers: writer ~ stitcher ~ storyteller ~ one-woman performer ~ creator & founder of The 70273 Project, and I'm mighty glad you're here. Make yourself at home, and if you have any questions, just holler.

special delivery: get blog posts hot off the press

categories

© 2024 Jeanne Hewell-Chambers’ Barefoot Heart

Theme by Anders NorenUp ↑