Gift From The Sea; Eleventh Reading

I think that Anne Morrow Lindbergh's book Gift From the Sea has influenced me more than any other. It's the only book that I've read so many times; eleven to be exact! With each reading I find new tidbits of wisdom or some part of her life which I can relate to mine at this moment. This is what makes it so timeless.

This present reading, I enjoyed her description of a perfect beach day (spent with her sister) which she will take home with her and try to imitate in her everyday life. "One perfect day can give clues for a more perfect life." Her day went like this: A morning swim in the sea followed by breakfast on the back porch. A few morning chores then the rest of the morning is spent in writing. Lunch and chores and errands are followed by an afternoon on the beach letting thoughts run where they will. At dusk, she returns to the cottage and sips sherry before the open fire. Supper and talk while washing up the dishes and a last walk on the beach before retiring finish out the night.

This is the daily rhythm Anne prefers: Morning is for mental work, afternoon is for physical tasks and out-of-door jobs, and evening is for sharing. I like this daily order myself. One thing I need to change to line up more with this ideal is to do less work after breakfast. I get started on cleaning right after breakfast, and before I know it it's 10:30 with the most mentally productive part of the morning eaten up by physical work. Then I'm too tired to do much deep thinking, so this will be a goal of mine this school year.

And as I find it hard to sit down and write or blog with a dirty house, I'll try and do a tidy-up at night before bed so most of that work will be done then and not in the morning.

I've read quite a few books about artists and their habits. Many of them choose Anne's pattern of work. Some go back in the afternoon for another long writing session. These are men who have wives to do the housework, so they don't have to bother with domestic tasks too much, or else they can write in the midst of chaos.

What patterns of work have you readers established for yourselves? I'm especially interested in writers/artists and your schedules. What works best for you? I'd love to hear!

Rules of Work From a Master

Three Rules of Work: Out of clutter find simplicity; From discord find harmony; In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity. Albert Einstein

The American Kitchen

This is a good read if you're interested in anything you could possibly want to know about the American kitchen from Colonial times up to the present day.

Here is some household wisdom from days past. "Never oblige your servants to tell a falsehood for you, and they will not be so likely to tell a falsehood to you." Godey's Lady's Book, August 1867.

HABITS OF SYSTEM AND ORDER-Monday...is devoted to preparing for the labors of the week. Any extra cooking, the purchasing of articles to be used during the week, the assorting of clothes for the wash, and mending...these and similar items belong to this day. Tuesday is devoted to washing, and Wednesday to ironing. On Thursday, the ironing is finished off, the clothes folded and put away, and all articles which need mending are put in the mending basket, and attended to. Friday is devoted to sweeping and house-cleaning. On Saturday, and especially the last Saturday of every month, every department is put in order, the casters and table furniture are regulated, the pantry and cellar inspected, the trunks, drawers, and closets arranged, and everything about the house put in order for Sunday. By this regular recurrence of a particular time for inspecting everything, nothing is forgotten till ruined by neglect. American Woman's Home-Catherine E. Beecher and Harriet Beecher Stowe, 1869

MAKING OF CLOTHING-With the present facilities for sewing, it is practicable for every housekeeper to cut out and make up all the articles worn by the different members of her family, with the exception, perhaps, of dress-coats and overcoats. The saving which she will thus make will more than pay the wages of a domestic, who will perform all the drudgery of a household such as washing, cleaning, ironing, sweeping, etc. The Philosophy of Housekeeping-Joseph & Laura Lyman, 1869

I am by nature an organizer. I like for things to be in place and for each day to be planned to within an inch of its allotted hours. BUT...I am a lover of spontaneity. I love a routine, and I love to throw it all out the window if something better comes along. I have noticed that our house is in its best-running order when I stay home all day and attend to 'things'. And I like doing that for a time. After that, I need something new. Yesterday that happened to be a trip to Wal-Mart. I'm pretty easy to please.

Housekeeping Poll Results

Thanks to all those ladies who answered my poll about how long it takes you per day to keep your house clean. The answers ranged from thirty minutes to more than two hours. Of course, that all depends on your standards of cleanliness, the size of your house, and the number of people living there. My standards are to have a pretty clean house. We have four people living in ours which is a little over 2000 sq. ft. Not so big by American standards.

I have a cleaner who comes in twice a month to do the dusting, mopping, and cleaning bathrooms, so those are things I never do. Even still, I spend around two hours a day on cleaning and straightening. That doesn't count cooking. I'd like to spend less but don't think that's going to happen right now. I know if I had less stuff in the house, it'd be easier to clean and keep clean. While I admire bare houses, I have a really hard time getting mine that way. I equate certain things with coziness; books, rugs, throws, and pillows all say "home" to me. In the summer I do tend to pare down and have less around.

It's a goal I aim for though, to take less time cleaning. In two weeks, we'll only have three here. A son is going to Russia for a 6-month mission trip, but that's another blog post.

Housekeeping-A Poll

I'm conducting a poll this morning, ladies, and the reason is that as I've been working on my daily schedule for this new year, I've allotted what I thought to be a sufficient amount of time to do my housework. Unfortunately, the last two days have been almost nothing but housework. This could be because I'm still putting things away from the holidays, or it may be because we have too much stuff and I spend too much time putting it away.

While I'm willing to give it its due, I don't want to spend all my time every day doing it. There are so many other things and interests I want to pursue. A fine balance is what I wish to establish.

So here's the poll: How much time daily, on average, do you spend doing work related to the maintenance and keeping of your home? I'll not tell you now how many I spend. I don't want to influence you in any way! Your answers will be most appreciated. Thanks!

Eric Satie's Work Habits & Music

Erik Satie
On most mornings after he moved to Arcueil, Satie would return to Paris on foot, a distance of about ten kilometres, stopping frequently at his favourite cafés on route. Accoring to Templier, "he walked slowly, taking small steps, his umbrella held tight under his arm. When talking he would stop, bend one knee a little, adjust his pince-nez and place his fist on his lap. The he would take off once more with small deliberate steps."

When he eventually reached Paris he visited friends, or arranged to meet them in other cafés by sending pneumatiques. Often the walking from place to place continued, focussing on Montmarte before the war, and subsequently on Montparnasse. From here, Satie would catch the last train back to Arcueil at about 1.00am, or, if he was still engaged in serious drinking, he would miss the train and begin the long walk home during the early hours of the morning. Then the daily round would begin again.

Roger Shattuck, in conversations with John Cage in 1982, put forward the interesting theory that "the source of Satie's sense of musical beat--the possibility of variation within repetition, the effect of boredom on the organism--may be this endless walking back and forth across the same landscape day after day . . . the total observation of a very limited and narrow environment." During his walks, Satie was also observed stopping to jot down ideas by the light of the street lamps he passed.

Robert Orledge, Satie Remembered. French translations by Roger Nichols. (Thanks to Tom Cunliffe.)

See also: "A Day in the Life of a Musician" by Erik Satie


I've read other places that the rhythm of walking jogs the brain into creativity. I agree with that whole-heartedly, as I can attest to that happening often as I'm out walking our dirt roads in South Georgia. I used to carry pen and paper with me to jot down ideas as they came. Now I use my Iphone the same way. What a wonderful invention!

The music of the Baroque and Classical periods will do it too; especially the Baroque. It's metered and same-rhythm qualities spur the mind into creative mode. I listen to this kind of music early in the morning to get into a steady work rhythm. Later in the afternoon as I begin to unwind, I'll listen to soft Celtic or what's labeled 'New Age' music to quiet down my mind and body.

The music on my piano above is by Satie. I heard it on Sirius Radio, found out what it was, and went to FreeScores.com where I was able to print it off for FREE. It's a pretty easy piece to learn. The melody is so lovely and haunting. I just had to learn it.

Sewing Camp This Week

I spent most of June getting organized and decluttered. July is going to be for digging in and getting things done. I've arranged the weeks as follows:

July 9-Sewing Camp
July 16-Photography Camp
July 23-Art Camp
July 30-Sewing Camp II

I usually go to the John C. Campbell Folk School to attend a week-long camp, but it just didn't work out this summer. So I thought, "But there's no reason why I can't make my own camps and learn about things I'm interested in." So that's exactly what I'm doing and am pretty excited about it.

I thought about being in 'class' all day, but with my other household duties, that's not possible. So I'm giving over 1 1/2 hours in the morning and the same in the afternoon for a total of 3 hours a day for camp. I should be able to get lots done in that time. I'll report back at the end of the week and let you know.

This morning I was able to get the panties almost finished and should be able to do that this afternoon.

This is the list of things I hope to accomplish during the two sewing camps this month.
1. Make girls' crossover dresses and panties
2. Make 3-4 pillows for the couch
3. Finish all repairs in basket
4. Make girls' white linen birthday dresses
5. Make blue ticking flowers and attach to a brown canvas purse

So that's my plan for this week's Sewing Camp.

Holy Work

Like Snow

Suppose we did our work
Like the snow, quietly, quietly,
Leaving nothing out.

Wendell Berry

A Fine Sunday For Sitting Outside

"To sit in the shade on a fine day and look upon verdure is the most perfect refreshment." Fanny Price in Mansfield Park

I've had a few days of reflection while on my beach holiday, and one thing I've decided is that I need to get outside more.

This never used to be a problem. As a child, I practically lived outside. I remember the time when that changed and I started staying inside more. It was after the birth of my first baby. I remember feeling so much resentment because now I had to stay home while my husband continued much as before; playing ball several nights a week and going out into the world every day to work.

Not that I wanted to have a job outside our home. I didn't. But we were used to playing together, and all of a sudden that stopped. It was a very hard adjustment to make.

Thirty years later, home is my favorite place to be. I don't want to get out much at all anymore. But occasionally the walls start closing in and I need to get away from the constant work that a home requires. So I'll take a slow walk around the field, down the road, or through the woods, and all is right again.

I think I get overly introspective if I stay inside too much, and that's not good. I tend to think too much anyway....overanalyzing things to the point of depression and futility.

So I'm going to try and spend more time out-of-doors. My garden sure could use an overhaul.

A Busy Week Ahead

Miss Thing will be gone all week to a church camp in the North Carolina mountains. I'm going to work like a fiend to get her room painted, her school books ordered, and her school year planned.

So....looks like my week off will be all about her anyway. So what else is new?

And do I need to say that she did NOT want to have her picture taken?

Getting Grounded

This photo was taken by my youngest daughter for a 4-H contest. Looks like she has a pretty good eye already!

The final task in the book, Walking in This World, asks you to list the things that make you feel grounded. Julia Cameron says that the regular use of this tool is one of the most confirming rituals possible in a creative life and helps to put a sense of grounded celebration into our creative life. It does this because it emphasizes life itself.

The book goes on to say, "While we may "live for our work," our life is, and must be, larger than our work. By allowing the dailiness of life to step forward again, our work feels not only good, but better, when we place it within the comforting confines of our ongoing routines and relationships.

My list of things that make me feel grounded:

1. Reading a novel that I can really get into

2. Gardening...mostly weeding

3. Vacuuming

4. A long, hot bath

5. De-cluttering

6. Reading the Psalms

7. Driving slowly down a dirt road

8. Ironing my husband's shirts

9. Slowly washing dishes while I daydream out the window

10. A slow, long walk

It's interesting to note that most of the things on my list are done slowly and most require no thought process while doing them. What things do you do to help you feel grounded?

Balance Defined

This is our latest family photo taken last Sunday when our new daughter-in-law's Assyrian family came for a visit. Unfortunately, our son-in-law is missing, because he was taking the photo.

If we do not limit our inflow, we become swamped by the life demands of others. If we practice too much solitude, we risk being flooded by stagnation and a moody narcissism as our life and our art become emptied of all but the big question "How am I doing?" What we are after is a balance, enough containment and autonomy to make our art, enough involvement and immersion in community to have someone and something to make art for. Taken from Walking in this World by Julia Cameron.

I've swung too far wide in both directions in the past. It's easier for me to now recognize when I get out of balance. If I stay home too much, I get slightly depressed and too inward-focused. If I stay away from home too much, I get grouchy because I'm not doing my work at home and also not being creative.

So I try to stay home as much as a twelve-year-old's schedule will allow. I do need contact with the outside world 2-3 times a week for me to feel connected. Of course, I'm talking to my children and parents on the phone throughout the week. I also connect with friends by e-mail and Facebook. I also try to have lunch once a month with a friend, and I have bookgroup and art association once a month. I keep my four grandsons at least once a week. Add church fellowship and homeschool group once a week, and that's plenty of 'peopletime' for me in a week.

My problem is having enough solitude and long stretches of time to think and be creative. That's the lack right now. Until the summer, that's the way it'll have to be; unfortunately.

Developing Genius

Taken from Ann Voskamp's blog A Holy Experience:
Geniuses make it look effortless only because they’ve faithfully practiced. Anders Ericsson, a professor of psychology at Florida State University, posits that “extended deliberate practice” is the ultimate key to successful use of a gift. “Nothing shows that innate factors are a necessary prerequisite for expert-level mastery in most fields,” he says. Ericsson’s interviews with 78 German pianists and violinists discovered that by age 20, the best musicians had spent an estimated 10,000 hours practicing, twice the average 5,000 hours the less accomplished group practiced.

Genius is a long faithfulness.

So fingers stretch across ivories here, shoulders hunch over Latin, brows knit in mathematical quandary. Just two hours a day of concentrated practice over a decade stacks up to 7,000 hours of faithful stewarding.

What would happen if every Christian used the 4 hours daily spent in front of the television a day (more than 126 hours a month!) or the near hour a day the average American surfs the internet and spent two of those hours developing their skill in a particular domain ( woodworking, quantum physics, photography) and one hour more on the spiritual disciplines that lead into a deeper relationship with God, (prayer, memorization, Bible meditation, fasting) – only repurposing three hours a day from the five we spend on passive entertainment — and in one decade, our entire culture – and the world at large – would be entirely revolutionized. How are we being faithful stewards of our 10,000 hours?

Why not tenderly unfurl a gift?

We waste so much time on fruitless pursuits. I've taken Ann's admonishment to heart and hope to practice more to hone my gifts. Here's my quandary; I'm interested in many things. Do I narrow it down to one thing I want to pursue or do I practice each thing a little bit each day? If I do the latter, I'll only get a little bit better. BUT I'll be able to do all the things I like. Any thoughts out there on what the best thing to do would be?

Back to Basics: Goal Setting 101

From the book Walking in this World by Julia Cameron: "There seems to be an unwritten spiritual law that if we want our good (she means producing art) to increase, we must focus on appreciating and husbanding the good that we already experience.

When we want to grease the creative wheels, we do very well to muster a little elbow grease elsewhere. Mend the trousers. Hang the curtains. I do not know why hemming the droopy pant leg gives you the juice to get to the easel, but it does. I cannot tell you what it is about detoxing the mud closet that makes you see more clearly how to end a short story-or start one-but it does.

Finishing almost anything-sorting your CD collection, pumping up a bike tire, matching and mating your socks-creates both order and an inner order: "Now, start something," finishing something says."

I've found this to be so true in my life. I can't get to making art until the dishes are done or my studio is straightened. Or course, you have to know when to stop or you could spent all your time piddling away on housework and never make time for art.

I've been spinning my wheels for a long while now. I've had so much to do and places to be that I was just in survival mode. That's not how I want to live.

So for the months of January and February I've been tweaking my schedule and setting goals down on paper and out of my head. I should be finished with it all today, and what a relief! Now there's room in my head for a thought to form.

I found a great article on setting goals here: ttp://www.readingforyoursuccess.com/warren-buffetts-5-step-process-for-prioritizing-true-success-and-why-most-people-never-do-it

On that same site, I found a goal setting article which is referred to in the Warren Buffet one. I highly recommend his site, as it is very motivational and focused.

Yesterday I put my plan into action, and I got an amazing amount of things done toward my goals. And boy, does that feel good after so long a time of inaction.

*I painted the watercolor above from an instructional video. I'm pretty happy with the results. I took photos of the watercolors I've painted and are satisfied with. There are six of them. I'll post them all sooner or later and hopefully have more to go along with them.

A word about Cameron's new book, Walking in this World. This one is more from a christian perspective than her others. I'm not spending so much mental energy decoding or deciding what's legitimate for me and what to throw out as being non-christian. It's very motivational and encouraging; just what I need right now to start creating again.

"DIVINE TASKS PERFORMED HERE DAILY"

The above quote is a sign hanging over a housewife's sink proclaiming to all who enter her domain that her daily work is done unto and for the Lord.

My home is a sanctuary; the sink an altar. The food I serve up to my family an offering before the Lord.

If we remembered this throughout the day, how radically would all we come in contact with be changed.

Finding Your Sweet Spot

I'm reading Max Lucado's book Cure for the Common Life-Living in your Sweet Spot. In chapter 3 he invites us to READ OUR LIFE BACKWARD. He says to think back and remember what you loved doing as a child; what entranced you.

I made a list of things I could remember. Here they are: 1. Reading 2. Writing 3. Playing the piano 4. Painting 5. Solitude 6. Photography 7. Gardening 8. Being outdoors 9. Decorating 10. Sewing

The thing that amazed me is that these are EXACTLY the same things I love to do today.

He also says, "The oak indwells the acorn. Read your life backward and check your supplies. Rerelish your moments of success and satisfaction. For in the merger of the two, you find your uniqueness."

I've spent too much time trying to be what I'm not. I'll never be a public speaker or know much about how things work, but I could take a photo of both and love it. Not that trying these things hasn't been beneficial for me. I have learned things along the way; mostly I've learned what I never want to try again!

I just don't want to spend any more time trying to do things I hate or things that other people want me to try or to be. I want to focus on culivating what I'm already good at and what makes me happy. That's my sweet spot and where God will use me to His glory and my bliss. The two merge and make me the most effective I can be for His kingdom on this earth.

Art and Life

"Not all are called to be artists in the specific sense of the term. Yet, as Genesis has it, all men and women are entrusted with the task of crafting their own life: in a certain sense, they are to make of it a work of art, a masterpiece." Letter of Pope John Paul II to Artists

I don't believe that God has called me to be an artist in the specific sense of the term. I do believe that he's called me to surround myself with beauty and share it with others.

This is the photo which won The Heritage Award in Photography at our local county fair last week. I've tried for years to win first place. Finally, it happened. This has been a good month for me, photographically speaking. One more thing to mark off the ole' bucket list.

Inventing Your World

Invent your world. Surround yourself with people, color, sounds, and work that nourish you. Sark

Upcoming Photography Exhibit

I took this self-portrait with my camera mounted on a tripod and a timed shutter release. I would depress the button to take the photo, run and get into place, and wait to hear it click. I had it set for sixteen seconds; long enough for me to get into place.

It took about twenty tries before I finally got a good one. I had to make sure the railing wasn't reflecting in the glass. The grass was reflected, but I tilted the photo to where the grass's reflection was where the field was in the photo. In the real photo the foreground isn't green. Clever of me to work out the problem in this way, wasn't it?

The reason for the self-portrait is that I've been asked to be in the main gallery of our local art center for six weeks beginning October 8. The other photographer that was scheduled to do it backed out at the last minute. So they called me. I said, "Yes, of course!"

I'm very excited about being in the main gallery. I have to put together thirty works in two weeks. Fortunately, I have quite a stockpile, so I have half ready to go. The other half has to be enlarged, framed, or handtinted.

"What is handtinting?" you may ask. It's when I take a black and white photograph and paint over it with translucent oil paints. It's ethereal, old-fashioned looking, and very subtle. I'll have about three or four of them in the show. I'll show you one when I finish it.

I'm meeting with my personal photo enlarger dude in the morning to tell him what I want done to the images. And then it's off to Hobby Lobby to buy frames at 50% off. Good timing on their part!

Praying, Scheduling, and Thinking

"To do the work that I am given to do, I am going to need to do some homework. I am going to need to do some thinking and wondering and studying about my gifts and my talents. I am going to need to be sure that what I do with my hands actually comes from and nurtures my heart. I am going to have to examine its effects upon others and how it fits into the kingdom that has already come. And I am going to have to be clear about why I am doing it and my hopes and my dreams.

To have the rest--for my spirit and my mind and my body--that is needed to live a life that does not eat me alive, I am going to have to plan the ways in which I spend my days. I am going to have to make choices about time and attention, and about habits and diets and schedules and such. I am going to have to set aside days on my calendar to go away and be silent, and days to go and listen to those who can show me the Way. I am going to have to learn what Sabbath actually means and how to live it in my life.

To participate in the community of those to whom I have been given and who have been given to me, I am going to have to identify them, identify the ones that truly are the holy communities of which I am a part. I am going to need to be sure that my time and my resources are aimed in their direction. I am going to have to be clear about my role within them.

And if I think that all of this is going to happen without my making a list or two, I am kidding myself." Taken from Living Prayer by Robert Benson

This is why I've been planning and scheduling for about a month now. I love making lists and seeing how to get the optimum results from my day.

I also have a bad habit of not sticking completely to any schedule I've made; not because I've learned to be flexible, but because I'm a rebel at heart. I don't want anyone telling me what to do; even myself. How twisted is that?

I think I've done enough scheduling and thinking. I now need to implement the schedule and cover it with prayer every day. All day.