Tag Archives: Mary Anne Radmacher

#Reverb12: Day 8

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reverb12

Okay, I knew this had to happen eventually: today a few of the prompts have started to repeat, to overlap. From Carolyn Rubenstein’s Reverb11 list, “Limits: We often learn about our limits the hard way. Were there any limits you realized this past year? Alternately, what self-imposed limits were you able to move beyond this year?” I answered this one already on Day Two.

Art

The full prompt: What was the most moving piece of art that you saw/experienced this year? This could mean a painting or a sculpture, or a performance you took in, or even a book that you read – tell us about the kind of art you encountered, and the way that it moved you.

The most moving piece of art I saw this year was original artwork made just for me by Mary Anne Radmacher. It wasn’t only the art (which is gorgeous, so precious) but the cycle of compassion it was part of, proof of the power of kindness and love and creativity. I wrote about it the day it arrived.

peacedream

Reading

There are two prompts for today that are almost exactly alike. The first prompt: What has been your favourite book or blog or magazine you’ve read this year? (Author: Carolyn Rubenstein), and the second prompt: Your favourite book? What was the best book you read in 2012, and why? (And by “Why?” I mean: Why did you read it? And why was it your favourite? Although these answers could be one and the same…!).

P.S. I think it is utterly adorable that the two prompts that overlapped are from places where it’s a “favourite” book, rather than a favorite.

I already wrote about books on Reverb12 Day Five. So, instead I’ll share some of my favorite blogs that I followed this year, (most of these are in addition to the list I shared in this post).

  • Ken and Paper. I especially love his “Meet Ken” page because except for the part about being divorced and a man, we have the same story.
  • I Saw You Dancing. Kat is hosting the main Reverb12 that I’m following, and that was initially how I first found her blog, so I’ve only just started reading, but I am really enjoying it. We seem to have a lot in common.
  • Justine Musk. I may have been reading her blog for more than a year now, but she continues to regularly inspire and encourage me, saying things I would never dare to say but that I so need to hear.
  • Be More With Less by Courtney Carver, who is a complete badass. I told her so when I got to meet her this summer. She consistently writes things that make me want to live a simpler, better life, and she makes that seem absolutely possible.
  • The Daily Breadcrumb by Sunni Chapman. Time and time again she writes the kind of wisdom that snaps me wide awake, breaks me open. She is kind and generous, she is powerful and wicked wise, she is a ray of light and love wrapped in human skin.

P.S. I got distracted by one of the dogs when writing this post, (I can’t tell you how many times this happens, mostly because I’ve lost count), and forgot one of the blogs I wanted to share.

  • 3x3x365, a blog co-authored by Patti Digh, Kathryn Schuth, and Amy McCracken (Amy is one of my new most favorite people), “Three friends in three states share one photo every day.” The stories these women share are so beautiful, sometimes simple and sometimes incredibly complicated, but always touching and precious.

Book Writing Saturday

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This past week I felt whelmed, a curious mixture of overwhelmed by everything there is to accomplish but underwhelmed with excitement about actually doing it. I had very little energy or motivation. I felt tired, confused, scattered and sad. Dexter was the tiniest bit worse. My hair is falling out again, as it does when I let stress creep in. The weather has turned cold and sloppy. It doesn’t help that I am coming down with a case of the crud.

And yet, that’s not the whole story. There were a hundred other moments that were amazing, beautiful, and full of kindness, (one being Mary Anne Radmacher calling me “fiercely gentle Jill”). So many that all the stuff that wasn’t so great didn’t even end up mattering, (well, except for that part about Dexter).

Tulku Thondup describes mindfulness as “the giving of oneself to the moment.” And as so many other wise beings have said, if you are in the moment, there is no problem, everything is workable. Geneen Roth said,

A gentle question to ask yourself: am I alright now, in this very second? And if you are, say that. “In this moment, I am alright. I am fine.” It allows you to cut through the stories and the anxiety and fear. Stop everything and take in the alrightness of just this moment. There will always be problems, so many problems, but if you stay grounded in your own presence, in your own alrightness, you can deal with them from a clear space.

This morning, Dexter and I took a long walk together while Eric and Sam where hiking at Lory State Park. Dexter’s left eye has been runny this past week, and I sometimes wonder which way his tumor is growing. Will his face start to swell, or is it pushing towards his brain? What are those last days, that final moment going to look like? But usually, I don’t waste my time with such speculation. I walk with him, play with him, pet him, love him, and even as we are good-bying, I surrender to the space of us still together.