A Cottage by the Sea
  • Home
  • On My Mind
  • Quotes
  • Secrets of an Old Woman
  • A Solitary Traveler
  • Compassionate Reading
  • Comfort food
  • Books
  • Suggested reading
  • Poems
  • About me
  • About me and my blog

Paris, silence, solitude and simplicity~

11/14/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
At one time or another most everyone says that they long for silence, solitude and simplicity, and I believe they mean it, even the most extroverted. It feels good to get away and be silent with nothing to do.
But there is a group of us who have more than an occasionally longing for the 3Ss, who from time to time feel anxious in situations where there seems to be only noise, people and complexity. I’ve been noticing more of those circumstances lately. For example, yesterday getting my haircut. Don’t get me wrong, I love the person who has been cutting my hair for the past forty years, but there was so much chatter going on in the place.
I’m writing about this because it may have been a watershed moment for me; I was extremely conscious not only of wanting quiet but of feeling anxious about it as I sat in the chair. I didn’t want to take this social setting is stride. I couldn’t wait to take some deep breaths when I got in the car.
But then there is Paris! My thoughts and feelings pale when I consider what is going on in that city at this very moment. I am embarrassed to be writing such a self-centered blog.


0 Comments

Give yourself a little time each day~

7/21/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
All our intense family activity has subsided and I’m now living in a period of relative silence, solitude, and simplicity. How grateful am I? Very. For the next month and a half my plan is to write, read, walk, and hang out with Jim and with friends. A rather normal retirement life, I must admit. In September I’m heading back to Italy and then hopefully in November, I’ll be starting my sixth year going back and forth from the cottage to home. But for now it’s home life at its best.

     Of course, not everyone wants the amount or kinds of silence and solitude that do. What resonates with each of us is very particular, and that’s is how it should be. The challenge is to create what we want and need in our lives. My current rhythm of home, solitary travel, home, week days at the cottage, and home didn’t just happen full bloom one day. It been an on-going process, continually morphing from who I was, am, and am becoming. As a child I was happy being by myself and playing with friends. I spent my junior year of college in Italy, learning to travel alone and live away from home (few young people, no internet). When our kids were growing up I carved time for myself in the early morning before anyone was up.  

     Recently I heard of a women who longs for just a few moments by herself--her husband has dementia and follows her around all the time. Clearly she doesn’t have the freedom that I have, but who would question that she doesn’t deserve a chunk of time each day that she can call her own. And there lies the rub. Although no one would question it, can she speak up for it? And how? It is easier on everyone if our desires appear subtly over time, rather than scream out in the midst of stressing situations. Hopefully this woman doesn’t need to scream, but for her well-being she must speak up. Perhaps she can look at her family patterns and find a way that will get her some time alone. From this side of the blog, I’m sending her encouragement.


0 Comments

Restless evening~

6/29/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
By the time I get around to writing, I notice that I’m just sitting and looking out at my world. Why not? I write sitting down, and certainly not while I’m active.

   It’s early evening. A rare day in June, a June about to turn to July. A beautiful, sunny evening, but there’s a restless about it. The wind is kicking up, leaves and branches are swaying, but that’s not it. No, it’s Mother Robin flitting about, perching on a lawn chair and then flying to the nest. We thought all the chicks had fledged yesterday morning, but with my binoculars I can see feathers moving in the nest. No head peeking out, just the faintest sign of life. And now I realize that Mother Robin is bringing food to her babe. I feel apprehensive. Where are the sisters and brothers who got on their way yesterday? There’s nothing I can do but trust the mother. This is her second brood of the season; she knows the territory well. For four weeks she has been relentless in caring for her babies. She won’t stop now.
    It isn’t not noisy around here but it isn’t silent in that peaceful way I long for. I’ll know more tomorrow.

P.S. Now we are hearing a lot of cheeping from the ones who have already fledged. As for the one still in the nest, hopefully he is happy with his own developmental rhythm. It is dusk. Soon all will be quiet.




0 Comments

Striving for a simple life~

5/19/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
Here I am, trying to simplify my life; but to do so takes a great deal of physical and psychic energy. I truly want to lead a life of silence, solitude and simplicity, but it isn’t easy, as we all know. So, I ask myself: what of my own doing holds me back? what can I eliminate?

     Definitely getting rid of stuff. But here’s the catch; I need to do it more simply, more efficiently. For example, I must stop perseverating about every book, paper, and piece of clothing that I want to toss or keep.

     Then there is letting go of TV and the newspaper. I keep working on that one. Easier to do when the Red Sox keep losing. Glancing at the headlines today was more than depressing. Tough stuff going on around the globe. Negative attitudes by everyone, but maybe that’s what is ‘fit to print’. Feel good stories won’t sustain a readership. 

     I have to keep believing that the silent, solitary, simple life that I long for and work toward might just bring a little balance to our noisy, crowded complex universe. It’s the best I can do.


0 Comments

Belonging in Florence~

4/18/2014

1 Comment

 
Picture
Contemporary Celtic poets love the word belonging. There is David Whyte’s book of poems, “The House of Belonging.” John O’Donohue sprinkles belonging among his poems and writings. The word is provocative, leading me in many directions. To whom do I belong? Where? When? For how long?

     With my upcoming trip to Florence on Sunday, I seem to have latched onto thoughts of longing and belonging. But why? I love the city, so it’s easy to long to be there. But there’s something more. Specifically I long to wander through the streets and along the Arno. But there is something more. After all, there are many places where I long to be, and with ease I can long for many things.

     But what about belonging? Belonging is more limited and specific, more defined and distinct. I sense that I belong in Florence; that that city is where I get closest to my Self, to who I am. It wasn’t always that way, and maybe it will change. But for now, I belong there, at least for two weeks.  


1 Comment

Solitude and the Olympics~

2/8/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
The Olympics have started, need I tell you? Last night the family was tuned to the opening ceremony; newspaper articles are already piling up. More will keep coming, more TV coverage, more reading. Now, please don’t get me wrong, there are piles of rewarding reasons to follow the Olympics; many of my friends and family will be doing so, and in past years I’ve been sitting right beside them. However, this year I’ve chosen not to watch and not to read about them, at least not very much.

    This decision has to do with my longing to live in silence, solitude and simplicity whenever and wherever I can. I go to the cottage to do just that, so why would I ever turn on the TV and get immersed in it all? On the other hand, I am aware that whenever I step out of the cultural mainstream, I take the risk of separating myself from the life and people I know. I don’t want to do that in any hurtful way, so I try to be conscious of what I do and don’t do, say and don’t say. For the most part I keep a low profile. In fact, I  reveal more about my longing for the 3S's on this blog than I do in person.


0 Comments

Back to the cottage: Part 2

11/15/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
Back to the cottage: Part 2.
       My fourth season at the cottage begins in two days. Nothing basic has changed, at least not the physical venue, my routine or my intentions. I still long for silence, solitude and simplicity and sometimes I like to be alone. It’s the deepening that has changed—a deeper longing and a deeper feeling of peace.

      I keep asking the big question: ‘Why do I want this?’     

      I keep hearing the same personal and mysterious answer: “So I can be with God and pray for people.”

      I don’t usually share these details of my personal journey. You have your own path, I have mine. I have no intention of trying to convince you to do as I do, think as I think, or believe as I believe.  I share in the hope that what I write will tweak some longing in you.

     I believe, however, that all human beings long for something beyond the self that they know, beyond words or intellectual understanding, something deeply felt and mysteriously known, call it peace, God, the Holy, Soul.

0 Comments

Early morning walk in the rain in Florence~

9/15/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
I sleep while the city remains awake. That’s the way it’s always been with me, from my earliest memories. This morning at 6:30 I lay in bed deciding that I would walk up to Piazzale Michelangelo, but when I opened the windows and shutters, all I could hear and see was rain. Ah, but I have an umbrella, so off I went on an early field trip  in a combination of rain, drizzle, or no precipitation at all.

   I took these pictures between 7:15 and 8:30. Then I stepped into my neighborhood church, Santa Trinita, for a bit and when I came out, there was sun and blue in the sky and people on the street. But, my longing for silence and solitude had been nourished.


                                  The Arno in the drizzle

0 Comments

March days at the cottage~

3/2/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
March, not lamb-like, not lion-like, but a sign that spring is on her way and my cottage days will be ending. I have mixed feelings about this. I love these weekends at home followed by weekdays at the cottage. I love the rhythm that allows me to be in the present moment, winter day after winter day. Most people plan something to help them get through or get away. “Are you getting away this winter?” “What do you do to get through the winter,” we are asked.

   For me, going to the cottage isn’t about getting away or getting through. Rather, it’s about a place and existence I love. When I’m there, I’m more present to the NOW than when I’m home. I have my routine but I’m not stuck with it. I know I’ll read, write, pray, meditate, work on a jigsaw puzzle, watch the ocean, walk the beach, but I’m not certain when each activity will happen. One minute I’m reading, the next I’m putting on my walking shoes.

    Oh dear, here I am realizing that I have only six weeks left before my cottage by the sea routine ends. Once I can count the weeks remaining, planning sneaks in.


0 Comments

Patience for the patient~

2/4/2013

1 Comment

 
Picture
I’m waiting for a 2:30 dentist appointment to reattach the cap on my left top wisdom tooth—the one that came out on the very day that it’s companion, the right top one, was pulled. What a bother this all is because I want to beat the traffic to the cottage. More to the point, I want to be at the cottage. But here I sit, with another opportunity to practice patience. Of course I’m mighty aware that impatience has no place in an atmosphere of silence, solitude and simplicity. The life-long challenge is to experience the 3Ss no matter what the circumstance--all the while knowing that ‘fight or flight’ will take over if need be. Surely, waiting for a dentist appointment is not in that category, so patiently I wait.

1 Comment
<<Previous
    Contact me: bobbifisher.mac@mac.com

    Categories

    All
    3rs
    3S's
    Aging
    Andre Dubus Iii
    Ann Patchett
    Anticipation
    Art
    Assisi
    Barbara Kingsolver
    Being Alone
    Beyond Words
    Boo
    Books
    Cantice Of The Sun
    Celebrations
    Choices
    Churches
    Community
    Cor
    Cottage By The Sea
    Cottage Day
    Courage
    Curiosity
    Dad
    Dalai Lama
    Death And Dying
    Depression
    Desiderata
    Dietrich Bonhoeffer
    Donald Hall
    Dr Alex Tang
    Edinburgh
    Eleanor Lerman
    Emily Dickinson
    Environment
    Esther De Waal
    Faith
    Field Trip
    Florence
    Fo
    Follow Your Bliss
    Food
    Friendship
    Frugal
    Gifts
    Giving And Receiving
    Gratitude
    Health
    Heart
    Hermits
    Hope
    Impermanence
    Independent And Close
    Inspire & Affirm & Encourage
    Introvert
    Iona
    Ireland
    Italy
    James Hollis
    Jane Austen
    Jan Sutch Pickard
    Joan Chittister
    John Dear
    John Masefield
    Joseph Campbell
    Katherine Paterson
    Knitting
    Li
    Lonely
    Longing
    Love
    Marsha Sinetar
    Mary Oliver
    Max Ehrmann
    Meaning
    Memories
    Mom
    Moving
    Museums
    My Day
    Nature
    Nina Sankovitch
    Now
    Oliver Herford
    Pamela Dalton
    Paris
    Passion
    Paulo Coelho
    Peace
    Philip Koch
    Place
    Play
    Prayer
    Present Moment
    Quiet
    Rachel Carlson
    Radical Compassion
    Read
    Reading
    Resolutions
    Restlessness
    Retirement
    Richard Rohr
    Rita Golden Gelman
    Robert Kull
    Rome
    Routines
    Rumi
    Sankovitch
    Scotland
    Seen In A Draper's Shop
    Service
    Silence
    Sim
    Simplicity
    Skye
    Sol
    Soli
    Solitude
    Soul Work
    Space
    St Catherine Of Siena
    St. Francis
    Stress
    Susan Gain
    Tenzin Palmo
    Thanksgiving
    The Uncommon Reader
    Thomas Keating
    Thomas Merton
    Three Sieves
    Time
    Travel
    Tru
    Viktor E. Frankl
    Walking
    Wonder
    Writi
    Writing

    Archives

    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.