"Listen to the stone of the wall."

 

Be still
Listen to the stones of the wall.
Be silent, they try
To speak your

Name.
Listen
to the living walls.
Who are you?
Who
Are you? Whose
Silence are you?

Who (be quiet)
Are you (as these stones
Are quiet).  Do not
Think of what you are
Still less of 
What you may one day be.
Rather
Be what you are (but who?) be
The unthinkable one
You do not know.

O be still, while
You are still alive,
And all things live around you
Speaking (I do not hear)
To your own being,
Speaking by the Unknown
That is in you and in themselves.

"I will try, like them
To be my own silence:
And this is difficult.  Tho whole
World is secretly on fire.  The stones
Burn, even the stones
They burn me. How can a man be still or
Listen to all things burning?  How can he dare
To sit with them when
All their silence
Is on fire?

- Thomas Merton, The Collected Poems of Thomas Merton, pp. 280-281

A thanks to Beth at http://fatherlouie.blogspot.com for this today.  This is one my favorites poems by Merton.  I really needed the pause that reading this poem gave me this morning.  I have been in a holiday hustle, lately.  Packages to send, clients to see, and Etsy work.  I have been losing track of what I love about this season most...quiet.  During my morning walk I took the quiet time to enjoy the stone walls around this land...and ...listen...

~~~Gratitude~~~

I believe that thoughts are some sort of thing.  Creation comes from thought.  When I want to create a bit of joy in my life there is nothing like Gratitude Thoughts to make happiness happen!  When I am grateful the moment can change from gloomy to glorious.  Today for instance was  raw, gray, and drizzly.  I am almost over a bronchitis that makes me feel less than energetic.  I made pancakes for breakfast so all "carbed up" I just wanted a morning nap.  But I looked into my dog, Runa's, eyes and I just could not deny her a walk.

So I put on my boots and rain coat and shuffle outdoors to do my duty.  But as soon as I felt the fresh air and looked into the beautiful misty fog I felt a deep gratitude for this dog I share my life with.  If it wasn't for her I would not have walked outdoors today.  So  Thank-you Runa!

It is my intention to share each Sunday something that fills me with Gratitude.  I write ~~~Gratitude~~~ with the wavy lines to represent the gratitude ENERGY~~~~~!  I hope you will join me and share what fills you with gratitude and how it has changed your moment.

Here a few more photos from our walk today......

Advent Fun...with Upcycled Baby Socks!

The Story:

This is a very special holiday season for my family.  Our only child is in his senior year of high school.  Certain realities of endings are sneaking up on us, one in particular is our Advent tradition.  It all started when I just couldn't bear to part with my son's baby socks.  They are just so cute!  Also, I was trying to make some holiday traditions that would truly be ours alone.  We are a small family of 3 with all of our extended family more than a few states away and in some cases across the ocean. Though we are blessed with many good friends and a wonderful community holidays are a time for family.   So  we happily celebrate with just our little trinity.

I had not grown up with the tradition of Advent.  But my husbands relatives across the pond would send us nice paper calenders with little windows to open each day.  I started to look at the idea of making one that could hold  surprises.  My son was 3 at the time and I thought this would be fun!  I am a big advocate of the 3 - R's ~~ Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!  (Now~~this is called upcycling)   The sweet little socks my son had out grown were in my own sock drawer so I could give them a kiss now and then.  One day while communing with the baby socks I thought...Christmas Stockings!  

Now the real fun!! 

Everyday there is a little prize in each sock.  A bit of candy in some, little cars during the car years, little Legos during the Lego years.  When he got older and could read I would put clues in some socks and hide presents around the house.  I usually saved these for the weekends.  (NOTE: make a list of where you hide things...the first year I didn't...found some things in January!)  My favorite year was when my son was into the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings.  (I read all 4 books aloud to him but he would never let me read the Elvish...I didn't speak it correctly so he read those parts)  That year I wrote all the clues in Elvish!  The past few years cash, candy, and other "forbidden" food items have been popular.  The clues are more cryptic, my notes are more necessary!

So this year is the last hurrah.  Next December 1st our son will be away at college. So I am going all out this year.  I saw my son a few days ago checking out the socks  to see if I had filled them yet!  ;)

How To:

This is so easy it is nuts!  I had some left over wreath ribbon that I punched 24 holes in with a paper hole puncher. (I had every intention of making a beautiful handwoven ribbon with inlaid numbers...great thing about being creative...too many ideas!)  I numbered the holes with a Sharpie marker.  Then I used matching gold safety pins to attach the socks.  I used the safety pins just in case I am ever lucky enough to be a grandma and the socks need to be used as socks again!  Glad to be passing on this tradition.  I would love to hear if anyone else tries this...or...had the same idea!  What do you think...should I put a baby sock back in my drawer when he has gone his merry way....???

The hand knitted socks were made by his Oma.

Fully Loaded!

My Notes

Clues!

Treats!

This little birdie has been showing up in the Advent for years now!

Fancy college interview shoes...my how his feet have grown!

Joining the SouleMama Tradition with {this moment}   no more words.......

Sharing a Thought

My Search Continues

humility
Posted: 27 Nov 2012 10:45 AM PST

"To have humility is to experience reality, not in relation to ourselves, but in it sacred independence. It is to see, judge, and act from the point of rest in ourselves. Then, how much disappears, and all that remains falls into place.

"In the point of rest at the center of our being, we encounter a world where all things are at rest in the same way. Then a tree becomes a mystery, a cloud a revelation, each man a cosmos of whose riches we can only catch glimpses. The life of simplicity is simple, but it opens to us a book in which we never get beyond the first syllable."

- Dag Hammarskjold, "Markings", p. 174

From the Louie, Louie Blog

http://fatherlouie.blogspot.com



Photo is from my Etsy shop of "Humble" Scarf.  

https://www.etsy.com/listing/90111778/brown-humble-scarf-fiberart-handspun

Loves Paris Studio, Photography and Jewelry: Bella, My Maine Woods

I am featured here as well as other great Maine Makers!  Thanks!


Loves Paris Studio, Photography and Jewelry: Bella, My Maine Woods

The Zen of Sea Glass or How I spent Black Friday

Catch of the Day!

I love to collect, which makes me think I might be part squirrel or magpie. Although, I   have the very best intentions of using all my trinkets in projects, this is not possible.   Recently, I have taken stock of my many treasures.  I have more than I can possibly use in a normal lifetime.  Yet I still collect.  I have tried to stop.  So, I ask myself why?  

On Black Friday, I had an opportunity to look at one obsession more closely, the collecting of sea glass.  I took my son and his girlfriend to Belfast, Maine so they could shop and take in a movie.   Belfast is a perfect place to leave a couple of teens.  They can walk everywhere and it is a safe, peaceful place.  I am a collector,  but not much of a shopper.  So, I headed to the local beach because it was a glorious day in Maine, especially for November.  The sun was shining and it was pretty comfortable, despite the stiff breeze.  I   was ready with a turkey sandwich, a bottle of water, and a canvas bag for collecting. 

Collecting sea glass requires a certain sort of walk and focus.  Your eyes are down, you can't wear sun glasses, and you must walk slowly.  It is like a Zen walk.  The objective is to cover as much beach as possible.  So, you need to walk in a zigzag pattern along the shore.  You are watching with awareness for that variation in the sand and pebbles that means TREASURE!  

It is this process that I love so much.  It is peaceful.  I am surrounded by the sound of the waves which lull my mind to quiet.  Every now and then I  stand and stretch to take in the sights around me...beauty!  The sea glass search slows me down, which is something I need in life.  Also, there is something in me that makes being productive necessary.  Collecting fulfills this need, and gives me an excuse to go to the beach. 

I have recently realized that I love the hunt more than the "having".  I have started a second Etsy Shop: www.injoytreasures.etsy.com to release my collections and create more space in my life.  Thank goodness for Etsy...or the contents of my attic may have caved in the house!  Etsy helps with my obsessive need to be productive...but that sounds like another blog!

Process Enraptures my Soul!

Here are a few of those enrapturing moments....

Sea Glass in its Natural Habitat

Ahhhh...Stretch....See...Sea

My favorite photo....this is how I found a little green piece of sea glass...it was nearly washed out to sea before I  nabbed it....the word "no" is on it...I took it anyways!

Me Having Fun in the November Sun!