• Plants,  quotes

    Mundane Lifestyle

    June 30, 2024

    A friend shared with me that her life was quiet and mundane. Yet, I see her life as full, vibrant, and rich, anything but mundane. She was also using mundane in comparison to what her life used to be like. I imagine most of us can relate to her, especially after retirement. However, the word stirred my thinker into spending some time delving into the word “mundane.” It seems to have a strong negative connotation in our culture. The word mundane comes originally from the Latin “mundus”, meaning ordinary and worldly as opposed to spiritual, and has been in use in English since the 15th century. The dictionary defines “mundane”: as lacking interest or excitement; dull; common; ordinary; banal; unimaginative and therefore not interesting. Quite a negative list!

    A mind full of preconceived ideas, subjective intentions, or habits is not open to things as they are.

    Shunryu Suzuki

    At this time in my life I am seeing mundane with a bit wider lens. My mundane life, as some would define it, is more about being comfortable with life as it simply is, living life at a slower pace. It’s being comfortable with who I am at this moment and who I’m becoming. My life does not need stimulated by externals such as work schedules, an ever growing to-do list, comparing with the neighbors, accumulating stuff and alcohol or drugs.

    I have found nature to be a wonderful teacher in living life. Seems the dandelion is content with being a dandelion, the mushroom is content with being a mushroom. I am content with who I am, living in the present moment, even if it seems mundane to others.

    Annie Dillard wrote that “how we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.” I do not consider my life to be boring, dull or mundane. Although it may be to others. So, for me I fill my days with prayer, meditation, journaling, photography, time in nature, reading, blogging, coffee life, relationships, washing dishes, and cleaning the toilet. And, there’s no rush for any of that. I guess you can call it a Mundane Lifestyle.

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  • journaling,  quotes,  Self-portraits,  writing/reading

    Give it now…

    December 20, 2023

    One of the things I know about writing is this: spend it all, shoot it, play it, lose it, all, right away, every time. Do not hoard what seems good for a later place in the book or for another book; give it, give it all, give it now. The impulse to save something good for a better place later is the signal to spend it now. Something more will arise for later, something better. These things fill from behind, from beneath, like well water. Similarly, the impulse to keep to yourself what you have learned is not only shameful, it is destructive. Anything you do not give freely and abundantly becomes lost to you. You open your safe and find ashes.

    Annie Dillard, The Writing Life

    As I was journaling at Mugs yesterday morning i noticed the lighting was perfect for a photo that symbolizes my journaling. So I asked one my barista, to take this image. Jess volunteered and this what she gave me. I like it.

    I’ve journaled for years and feel that the past five years have been the most productive. I don’t mean that in quantity but in the quality of my writing. Every time I put pen to paper I find unexpected words. I’ve uncovered truths and lies I’ve told myself for years. My journals have help me dig deeper into my soul helpsing me to know myself more while hopefully being a better human being. I am learning to put into words how I see the gift of this natural world I live in. I also am learning to put into words the gift of this inner landscape of myself.

    Finishing up laundry then some reading, walking and photography. It is overcast but warm.

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  • coffee life,  coffee shops,  fountain pens,  journal,  writing/reading

    Enough about my Sunday

    November 6, 2022

    I enjoyed the extra hour of sleep last night. Began this day with my quiet meditation and prayer time. I watched a blazing pink and red sky from my window this morning. Breathtaking gift. Then headed to the coffee shop to visit my baristas, Emma and Megan. They made me a favorite, an Old Town mocha, extra hot. When I returned home I made a bowl of Irish Oats with strawberries and blueberries. Overcast skies then dominated the rest of the day. So, it became a day for journaling and I started rereading Annie Dillard’s book Pilgrim at Tinker Creek. I started reading her book a couple years ago but for some reason could not finish it. A cold wind has blown today causing the few remaining leaves to let go of their grip and take flight where the wind chooses. The Canada Geese were sitting on the pond earlier in an attempt to over talk one another. Not sure anyone was listening, except me! Glad they settled down. My hands and feet have been cold all day, which is normal for this time of the year. Had a couple of meetings and just got home from the last one. I’m in for the night. It was a good Sunday. Hoping you had a good day. 

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  • Annie Dillard,  fall season,  leaves,  Plants,  quotes,  seasons

    Concerning trees and leaves..

    October 27, 2022

    Concerning trees and leaves… there’s a real power here. It is amazing that trees can turn gravel and bitter salts into these soft-lipped lobes, as if I were to bite down on a granite slab and start to swell, bud and flower. Every year a given tree creates absolutely from scratch ninety-nine percent of its living parts. Water lifting up tree trunks can climb one hundred and fifty feet an hour; in full summer a tree can, and does, heave a ton of water every day. A big elm in a single season might make as many as six million leaves, wholly intricate, without budging an inch; I couldn’t make one. 

    Annie Dillard

    Annie Dillard’s quote caused me to rethink my perspective on the world of these trees around me. It’s that thing where I look at them, see their beauty, see them as a passive object, while failing to see the innate and active power within them. And, I couldn’t make a leaf either. However, I love to see them swirling in the wind, whether the leaf is clinging to a branch or free-falling to the ground, or lying peacefully on the ground. Always intrigued by their shapes, patterns, colors and how nature seemingly and randomly scatters them to and fro, making beautiful art, just for me. And, I love to photograph them. ❤️

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  • Annie Dillard,  leaves,  natural areas,  Pineridge Natural Area,  Plants,  quotes,  sunrises,  Uncategorized

    … try to be there.

    September 30, 2022

    “The answer must be, I think, that beauty and grace are performed whether or not we will or sense them. The least we can do is try to be there.”

    Annie Dillard, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek

    The winds began to pickup on Thursday afternoon. I stood on my porch watched them blowing with the wind. We may see isolated storms over the next two days, so many trees will probably be barren by Monday. We really had no bright colors on the trees this year, almost every leaf turned brown then began their descent, the final stages of their lives as leaves. I learned to make it a routine to grab my camera and walk around my condo and along the edge of the ponds just to be there. Never know what simple beauty I will discover

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  • Annie Dillard,  clouds,  landscape,  natural areas,  Pineridge Natural Area,  quotes,  sunrises

    Try to be there…

    April 5, 2022

    “The answer must be, I think, that beauty and grace are performed whether or not we will or sense them. The least we can do is try to be there.”

    Annie Dillard, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek

    These are the predawn colors at Pineridge Nature Area this morning. A strong wind was blowing from the north, robins were singing and magpies were squawking. At first one may think the magpies are complaining but I like to believe it’s their way to greet me in the morning. Just maybe they are thanking me for being there. After some journaling at the natural area I made my way for my morning mocha. They also thanked me for being there.

    Back home and clouds now fill the skies. A steady rain is being offered to our parched land and souls. This rain is welcomed, a wonderful sign of spring, so I have a thankful heart. Hope you have a great day and try to be there.

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  • Annie Dillard,  Candid Portraits,  coffee shops,  People/Portraits,  quotes

    Morning coffee…

    November 4, 2019
    A young lady with morning coffee and her shadow

    “How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives. What we do with this hour and with that one, is what we are doing.” 

    Annie Dillard, The Writing Life

    Met this young lady at the coffee shop the other morning. Loved the light on her so I asked if I could take a photo and one is all I took. Many of you know I’m one who spends time at local coffee shops with my books, journal, fountain pens, camera and openness to who I will encounter. It is always an adventure.

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