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My cottage-by-the-sea at home~

11/11/2018

Today's sunrise

I continue to reminisce about my cottage-by-the-sea (CBTS) days. In fact the cottage has become my muse.
     As I mentioned recently, I’ve been looking for a new acronym for what I’m trying to create here at home. House-by-the-road (HBTR), house-in-the-woods (HITW). Nothing resonates; but that doesn’t matter, because life matters, and here in this house the CBTS mood continues to make itself visible and active--silence, solitude, simplicity, and times alone.
    I notice that I am becoming more intentional about the choices I make to assure this. The rhythm at the original cottage included daily walks, times to sit and be, pray, to meditate, read and write, and to do a jigsaw puzzle. Absent was an evening glass of wine, the telephone, and the TV (I’m not there yet on this last one). Those continue to be some of the physical and mental markers that support the spiritual (emotional and psychological) way of being for which all human being strive.
    Although I had a daily routine at the cottage, I didn’t have a to-do list, nor did I have others depending on me. That made sense for the four days a week I was there, but it doesn’t work for my life here at home. However, getting rid of being compulsively and unwittingly busy, busy, busy does make senses. In fact, it is one of the essential criteria for silence, solitude and simplicity, which leads to that place of inner peace deep in our souls.

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Very grateful, very hopeful~

11/7/2018

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I feel mysteriously calm about yesterday’s election results. No, not all of my candidates won, but enough did to make me think that democracy is still at work. It’s not the thinking that brought on the calm, but the realization that not everyone agrees with me, and that’s okay because good is prevailing. I feel hopeful.
My words may sound trite and obvious, but my feelings aren’t. These feelings of relief, acceptance, compassion, and love for all human beings are hard to come by. They are deep and yet light. This morning they got me out for an early walk to appreciate the beauty and freedom of the moment. Very grateful, very hopeful.

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Silence, solitude, and simplicity in busy times~

11/5/2018

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With all the action going on these days—Boston’s World Series win and the midterm elections coming up tomorrow—I’ve decided to take the day for silence, solitude, and simplicity. Reading, writing, meditating, knitting, and visiting some friends who are now spending their days in assisted living facilities.
I tell you this not because I think YOU need to settle into life’s big picture, but because I know that’s what I need.
Memories of wisdom from friends and family help. My mom would be telling me to go out and do something for someone else. A friend recently told me that when she gets up she tells herself, “Let me not make this day about me.” My husband and I, when we remember, start the day offering a couple of gratitudes, one for the world, one for ourselves. Reading, writing, knitting, and meditating always settles me down.
All of these actions touch on silence, solitude, and simplicity; not always out there in my everyday life, but in my heart.

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Hopeful speaking and writing~

11/3/2018

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During these contentious political times the words Richard Rohr posted last week prompted me to reflect on the tone of this blog and the underlying message I want to convey.

My hope, whenever I speak or write, is to help clear away the impediments to receiving, allowing, trusting, and participating in a foundational Love.

     Yes, Richard Rohr, my hope and your hope are similar, but sometimes I think my posts are rather boring and self-involved. The two go together; boring because I don’t tell stories about other people, and self-involved because I only tell stories about myself.
        Thus I don’t let you know about the many friends I see in person, talk with on the phone, and keep up with over the internet. On this blog they are pretty much invisible, although their lives, with both joys and concerns, are blessings in helping me lead my life and write about silence, solitude, simplicity.
     It would be much easier to share my friends’ stories, and it would be much more interesting for you readers to hear a good story. But as you know, I work hard/struggle not to judge, gossip or speak at another’s expense-- impediments to Love.
       Consequently, I’m left with one main character—me. My word choice is self-involvement, but hopefully not self-promotion. I want to share my thoughts as I strive to receive, allow, trust, and participate in love.

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Gratitude walk~

10/30/2018

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I took this picture on my walk this morning. While photographing I was greeted by a friendly and chatty dog, followed from around the corner of the house by the owner.
Me being friendly and chatty: Gorgeous tree…. we must be grateful.... in fact, I’m taking a gratitude walk.
My neighbor being friendly and chatty: That’s why I’m doing in my back yard…. Sitting and being grateful.

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Working towards silence~

10/29/2018

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House by the road is the best we could come up with. It works well enough and now that the Red Sox are World Champions we can settle into a quieter life. I am a little concerned, however, that the mid-terms will conflict with the silence. On the other hand, I am pretty certain that the world needs silence more than noise right now.

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The House on Concord Road~

10/26/2018

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As soon as the Red Sox clinch the World Series. I’ll be able to return to silence, solitude and simplicity. Hmm, always an excuse, isn’t there?
As I’ve mentioned, I’ve been remembering, admittedly with some nostalgia, my cottage-by-the-sea (CBTS) days. The cottage has been sold, so there’s no going back there, nor do I want to look for another place. That time was then and now is now, but there is something about those five winters by the ocean that I still long for. Not the venue but the calming atmosphere. My conscious desire for silence, solitude, and simplicity began when I starting looking for a cottage to rent, and it was then that I started this blog.
But now is now, and I find myself imaging silence, solitude, and simplicity at this house-at-16 Concord Road (HA16CR). That acronym doesn’t resonate, but I have until the 2018 World Series Pennant is raised at Fenway Park to come up with one that speaks to our lifestyle.

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Remembering the cottage-by-the sea again~

10/22/2018

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I’ve been thinking about my cottage-by-the-sea, missing those four days in a row with in solitude and silence living in simplicity. When walking this morning, I thought about the early morning sunrises and my walks on the beach, every morning.

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Autumn joy

10/18/2018

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Moving on, keeping positive, paying sensible attention to the news and getting pretty excited about the Red Sox outfield. However, because I believe that steady sleep routine helps my silence, solitude, and simplicity, I missed the exciting end to last night’s win over the Houston Astros. Not to worry; all exciting plays are waiting for me on my computer.
     I’ve been following baseball since my Brooklyn Dodgers with my grandmother, so I know disappointment as well as the joy. I’ve come a long way, from believing that God was a Yankee fan to knowing that life goes on for me whether my team wins or not.
       Surrounding myself with peace is more important than other victory in the win column. Maybe the Sox will clinch the ALDS tonight, maybe Saturday, or maybe they’ll lose the whole thing and I’ll have to ‘wait ‘til next year’.
    I can’t count on my team shining bright every autumn; sometimes it falls to the ground. But I can rely on autumn leaves each year.
      Enjoy the silence, solitude, and simplicity of this mornings walk.

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Another pilgrimage to Florence~

10/12/2018

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I stand on the edge of myself and wonder where is home?
Oh, where is the place where beauty will last?
When will I be safe?And where?

     Thus starts “Pilgrim or Tourist,” a poem by Macrina Wiederkehr (posted on Poems on this blog poems). It speak to me because I continue to go back and forth considering whether my pilgrimage to Florence is over or whether I still need to go back and forth from home to Florence. This is what I know!
     I know that my physical and emotional home is where I have lived for over forty years, where I am sitting right now in. It is safe, beautiful, and loving, and for that I am very grateful.
     I know I am not a tourist, at least in the traditional sense, although those tourist elements are always present as I walk the streets, visit churches and museums, and drink cappuccino. I am pilgrim, slowly on the move, luggage light, learning to love the pilgrim in me.
     I know that I long to go to a deep place in my soul and that Florence leads me there like no other place. However, the cottage-by-the-sea offered something similar, which leads me to ask what the two places have in common: Solitude for an extended period of time—four days at the cottage, fourteen in Florence. I go deep when I don’t have to negotiate, chatter or share experiences with anyone.
     There’s much more to discover about Florence, some of which is being revealed to me. This surprises me because when I came home three weeks ago I thought my pilgrimages to Florence had come to an end. But no, I am being compelled to a deeper level, to be again in the silence, solitude and simplicity in that city, walking those streets, visiting those churches and museums, drinking another cappuccino.
     I have an inexpensive ticket to Rome November 30th, returning December 14th. I’ve rented an apartment with a view of the Duomo. One of the secrets of an old woman is that she presses forward even when the odds tell her that the only safe place is home.

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