Blog Archives - A Cottage by the Sea

Follow your artist's way~

10/30/2017

I’m finishing up an article about my fieldtrip to Concord the other day--hope to post in on “A Solitary Traveler” on this blog tomorrow. Julia Cameron’s ‘morning pages’ and her suggestion that we enhance our artist’s way when we take solo fieldtrips once a week, has given me new energy. Bottom line: it’s all about meaning and purpose in life, and these are two ways to do it.
So, whoever you are, wherever you are, you are an artist. Take time to do what you need to express yourself and feed your creative soul. Write every morning, go off by yourself, even you extroverts.

Those morning pages again~

10/26/2017

     Remember Julia Cameron’s book The Artist’s Way published in 2002? Remember the ‘morning pages’?
Julia recently published It’s Never Too Late to Begin Again: Discovering Creativity and Meaning at Midlife and Beyond. In glancing through (not reading) this latest publication I was inspired once again by her brilliant, and yet simple practice of ‘morning pages.’ I ‘did’ them years ago, I’m doing them again.
      First thing in the morning pick up your journal and start writing. Don’t think, don’t plan, just write. Let that stream of consciousness pour out of your pen. Don’t edit; in fact, don’t reread. When you’ve written three pages, close the journal, and go on with your life.
     I’m amazed at what has come to me since beginning this practice five days ago. Amazed at topics: I may be on my way to figuring out how Florence has shaped my life and why I keep returning. Amazed at insights: I meditate with less distraction when I write all about me first.

An autumn walk around Walden Pond

10/21/2017

A perfect day for a walk with family around Walden Pond. I hope Thoreau experienced at least one such pristine autumn day between 1845 and 1847 when we was involved in his great experiment. He was looking for solitude which was there for him, although it was said that friends often walked out from Concord to visit him.
There was no solitude for us today, but we weren’t looking for it. We loved being part of the community of Americans, English, French, Japanese, Russian, Spanish, and others enjoying themselves.

Solitude in the present moment~

10/19/2017

      When I started going to the cottage-by-the-sea in 2009 I was looking for physical solitude. I wanted to be alone for days at a time, and without a doubt I loved every day of it. But now, in 2017 I’m satisfied with the solitude I feel in every present moment.
     Thomas Merton suggests, “Solitude is not found so much by looking outside the boundaries of your dwelling as by staying with them. Solitude is not something you must hope for in the future. Rather, it is a deepening of the present; and unless you look for it in the present, you will never find it.”
     It’s a darn good thing to be able to find solitude wherever you are in the present moment. It sure makes life a lot easier. A cottage-by-the-sea is hard to come by; think cost, time, life style, and obligations such as family and job.
     But what about my solitary trips to Florence? The boundaries of my indwelling seem to include getting away by myself for a period of time. That hasn’t changed, although I feel more grounded in my internal solitude.
     I feel extremely privileged to have these getting-away opportunities, and truth be told, from time to time I feel a tinge of guilt surrounding my good fortune. But I am who I am, living in this time and place, in these particular circumstance. I don’t believe in making myself miserable; I don’t believe anyone should be miserable.
     My hope is that in doing the only thing I can do—determined to save the only life I can save * I will inspire others to do the same.

*Thank you, Mary Oliver. See “The Journey,” posted on the home page of this blog.

Florence-on-the-Arno; my new cottage-by-the-sea

10/15/2017

     For five years (2009-2013), beginning in the fall and extending into spring, I spent most week days at the cottage-by-the-sea that I rented in southern Maine, an hour and a half from home. It would be about this time in October that Al would let me know when he’d be leaving for Florida, which meant that the house would be mine. I loved imagining myself on the deck (indoor living room) watching the sunrise, hearing the weather, and walking the beach.
         Sometimes I miss my cottage-by-the-sea routine, but I don’t wish I were still going. I love being at home with my husband, friends and church. I will always long for silence, solitude and simplicity, and I still sometimes I like to be alone, but I get all that here at home, and when I take my two-week solo trips to Florence. Florence-on-the-Arno is my new cottage-by-the-sea.
    (I can't find my cottage-by-the-sea photos. They must have gone to 'the cloud.'

Weather is local

10/12/2017

Solitude on a beautiful autumn day in New England. Weather is local, so they say, and I believe that. In the past month many areas in the western hemisphere have suffered weather wise.
Hurricane and fires whip out solitude. I don’t have much more to say about this other than to acknowledge this truth, send prayers, and express gratitude for today’s silence in my world.

Gabby Giffords didn't say it!

10/3/2017

     Who isn’t devastated, discouraged, afraid, angry, you name it, by the events in Las Vegas? We don’t even know the word to use to describe what happened, so we call upon an old standby—event--which glosses over what really happened. A young girl from Massachusetts witnessing her mother’s death, will never consider it an event.
     And then there’s the gun issue. Just another event with guns. Really? Sounds like other events I attend—a birthday party, a fundraiser at the library, a pride parade, a concert. A concert, I say, and then remember that is what this girl and her mom and dad were attending in Las Vegas. Just another event, but this one with guns and ammunition, many guns, lots of ammunition.
      How can anyone say it is “premature to talk about gun control after Las Vegas”? Well, for sure, Gabby Giffords didn’t say it!

September Reading Challenge

10/1/2017

A rather pathetic September list for the Reading Challenge, but for two weeks in the evening I was wandering around Florence instead of reading. My other excuse: I have a few unfinished on my Kindle.
However, so far I’ve read 84 books in 2017. Not bad.

An 8 Day Ignatian Retreat, by Thomas P. Rausch, SJ
Lilac Girls, by Martha Hall Kelly
The Beautiful Necessity: Seven Essays on Theosophy and
Architecture, by Claude Bragdon
A Light in the Window, by Jan Karon
Sisters: A Novel, by Lily Tuck