I asked Dick what this meant to him. His rapid fire response was, "Well, this conversation is heavy," then, pointing overhead, he said, "Look at the yellow butterfly!" Oh, yes. He gets it. He lives it. In her insightful article, Rev. Felicia Searcy, of Unity Worldwide Ministries, gets to the core of its meaning and how this concept can shape our everyday in a positive or negative manner.
I did not know. Until now. There is an international grassroots movement to fight hunger called The Empty Bowl Project. Adult potters from the community and students from local schools craft bowls hand-thrown on a potters wheel or more free-form by manipulating the clay in their hands. Restaurant owners prepare pots of soup. Community members are invited for a simple meal of soup and bread. Money raised supports hunger relief organizations. Event attendees keep the bowls as a reminder of the empty bowls in the world. What a beneficial, impactful, symbolic event!
At the gymnasium door of the former Franklin Junior High School in Brainerd (Minnesota), which is now the Franklin Arts Center, each person purchased a ticket for $20.00 which allowed you to choose a bowl then have it filled with soup. So many tables laden with bowls... a reflection of the community's support of this project. So many colors and shapes to select from. I settled on one that had a wintery feel. Soup and winter... a perfect pairing.
There were four pots with a different kind of soup in each one. Standing in line, there was chatter about soup choices. "Lobster bisque," I kept hearing. But, when I saw the split pea soup, I knew that would be my choice. I remember that in my family of twelve children, we ate it a lot. It wasn't until I had a family of my own to care for, that I realized how little a pot of split pea soup cost to make and how far it stretched. Considering this was an event to bring to light the plight of hunger in our world, I shouldn't be eating lobster bisque. Thank you to the potters, chefs, and peripheral volunteers that made this event happen. The money raised will benefit Brainerd's Sharing Bread Soup Kitchen. Thank you to Lea Anderson, an art teacher at Forestview Middle School, who created my bowl and Valerie from the Merrifield Diner who prepared the flavorful split pea soup that filled my empty bowl. "As our bowls are filled, let us remember those that remain empty." (Empty Bowls Project)
Dick and I began watching the full lunar eclipse at 3:00 a.m. Eastern/2:00 a.m. Central, which was when it reportedly peaked. I snapped this photo at 3:21 a.m. Eastern/2:21 a.m. Central. We did not see the intense blood-red hue that some witnessed, but this coloration was commonly reported, too.
My meager point and shoot... its limits pushed beyond. But a story it does tell of two people waking from a perfectly good sleep to watch an event. Together. In the quiet of the night.
It all began with conversations recently. Various guests on different days each sharing their insights regarding what is truly important, how to achieve it, and living in the here and now with unbridled joy. We can come up with so many excuses that prevent us from making something happen and allowing joy to fill our life. A Canadian guest's wisdom has been zinging around in my head since his stay last week. "Why not me? Why not now?" After his stay, he emailed me an equally inspirational quote. "We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust our sails." If there's something we really want, rather than thinking our circumstances prevent us from achieving it, we need to rethink how we can make it a reality. Two women guests, over the past weekend, left this partially enjoyed bottle of wine in their cabin's fridge with a note to me that set the wheels in motion. Stop and just be.
So, I did just that. I called my longtime friend, Deb, and suggested that we each pack a picnic lunch. Mine included the bottle of wine... to share. We met at a shaded picnic table in a local park. We took time to just be... to experience joy in an ordinary day. What a sweet time we spent together! Because we have adjusted what we consider important, we made time for each other. I will continue to make adjustments to include other friends and family members and you shall hear of it... to inspire you to walk alongside. We shall start a movement to stop and just be.
This evening, Dick and I paused where roses grow wild along the paths that meander throughout our property.
We breathed in the perfume of our first peony bloom that had burst forth just today. Their season is ever so fleeting.
I shall continue to stop and just be. "Why not me (you)? Why not now?"
My daughter, Jessie, clicked this photo of an adjacent condominium complex as she stood on her balcony while Dick and I stayed with her this past weekend. The early morning fog rolled in and virtually obliterated the waterfront and bridges outside her window creating this image of a castle in the air.
The image caused me to remember a quote that propelled Dick and I as we labored to build our bed and breakfast business. "If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours. If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; Now put the foundations under them." ~Henry David Thoreau
Sometimes we are cautioned, "Don't build castles in the sky." This well-intentioned advice is meant to temper our dreams to fit a more realistic view of what our circumstances may allow. However, to accomplish big things, we must dream big, plan wisely, set goals to accomplish one at a time, then be prepared to work very hard to make it happen. Although Dick and I continue to build our business that began as a dream seventeen years ago, the foundation is in place. Now, our three daughters are prime examples of what this photo's image portrays. As they toil in their separate business ventures, often only the tip of the castle has been visible. But as the fog begins to clear, the entire castle will be in view.
Mary, did you know? Kenny Rogers and Wynonna Judd http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mN70R-3ao0U
Mary, did you know
that your Baby Boy will one day walk on water?
Mary, did you know
that your Baby Boy will save our sons and daughters?
Did you know
that your Baby Boy has come to make you new?
This Child that you delivered will soon deliver you.
Mary, did you know
that your Baby Boy will give sight to a blind man?
Mary, did you know
that your Baby Boy will calm a storm with His hand?
Did you know
that your Baby Boy has walked where angels trod?
And when you kiss your little Baby you've kissed the face of God?
Oh, Mary, did you know
Mary, did you know
The blind will see.
The deaf will hear.
The dead will live again.
The lame will leap.
The dumb will speak
The praises of The Lamb.
Oh, Mary, did you know
that your Baby Boy is Lord of all creation?
Mary, did you know
that your Baby Boy will one day rule the nations?
Did you know
that your Baby Boy is heaven's perfect Lamb?
This sleeping Child you're holding is the Great, I Am.
Wabi-sabi, an ancient philosopy rooted in Zen Buddhism, is the Japanese art of finding beauty in imperfection. An easily understood example, from the October 2010 issue of Whole Living Magazine Wabi Sabi Your Life: 6 Strategies for Embracing Imperfection by Gretchen Roberts, is "asymmetrical heirloom vegetables, handmade pottery, crow's feet, and the frayed sleeves of a favorite wool sweater." Loosely translated, wabi is simplicity and sabi means the beauty that comes with age and wear. Roberts focuses on six areas in which the wabi-sabi philosophy can be implemented: relationships, food, home, beauty, closet, and work. Relationships Accept the imperfections of others and yourself. Food Gathering, preparing, creating the dining environment, and consuming meals should be a purposeful engagement of the senses. Home Appreciate the natural aging of things you own as you grow old with them. Thrift shop finds and handmade items have more meaning than shiny, new purchases. Beauty Embrace the aging process and be open to seeing new kinds of beauty in ourselves. Closet Appreciate what you already have rather than acquiring new things. Work Align your actions and words to your values. Be authentic. Keep small frustrations in perspective.
When I buy clothing, I appreciate when the stitch lines aren't perfectly straight because it has a homemade look and I can more easily envision and appreciate the person who sewed the garment. When I sew, however, I strive for a perfectly constructed finished product. To wabi-sabi this part of my life, I am implementing some shortcut sewing methods from Amy Karol's Bend-the-Rules Sewing Book and learning "when not to sweat the small stuff." I am beginning to plan my projects for the approaching winter and my goal is three-fold: to accept... and, more importantly, celebrate a less than perfect end-product to 1)more fully enjoy the process, 2)finish projects more rapidly, and 3)achieve the handmade look I desire. Where might wabi-sabi make a difference in your life?
My summary is a simplistic view of wabi-sabi. It is me trying to bring some of its meaning into my own life. To delve more deeply into the philosophy, there are many books available. A few that I found when searching on Amazon are Wabi Sabi Simple: Create beauty. Value imperfection. Live deeply. by Richard Powell, Living Wabi Sabi: The True Beauty of Your Life by Taro Gold, Practical Wabi Sabi by Simon G. Brown, and Wabi Sabi: The Art of Everyday Life by Diane Durston.
Each Memorial Day, Dick and I attend an outdoor ceremony honoring men and women presently serving in a branch of the armed forces and those who have been injured or killed protecting our country and freedom. A speaker at this year's event reminded us that "freedom is not free". It comes at a cost. He shared Eleanor Roosevelt's Wartime Prayer. "Lest I keep my complacent way, I must remember somewhere out there a person died for me today. As long as there must be war, I ask and I must answer was I worth dying for?" This quote has resonated so clearly in my mind since the words echoed from the podium to where we stood under a mature stand of oaks and pines at the edge of a crowd of people gathered at the cemetery. It has caused me to consider how I choose to spend each day... to make my life matter.