Where to Write?
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Where to Write?

Day 6 of Writing 101: where do I write? and what tools do I use?

I often write in the sunroom of our house. It opens into both the dining room on one side and the family room on the other; the other two walls are mostly windows. It’s a good place to write on my laptop, as I can be among the family activities and available to answer homework questions, for instance, but it is also very peaceful and somewhat apart. It has great natural light and the view is of trees and our garden. At night, I can hear the katydids and crickets outside the window.

I use a Macbook Air laptop to do most of my writing. I love this laptop! It is very lightweight and sleek, and I love how quickly I can find quotes, photographs, other blogs, publications — anything I could want to liven up my own writing. In the days when I wrote at a typewriter, I often had writer’s block because the perfectionist in me couldn’t bear to type words onto real paper until my sentences were close to perfect, or have to scratch out phrases. You can imagine how that slowed me down! Writing onscreen has totally liberated me from that, as any awkward phrase can be made to vanish instantly with no trace that it was ever there.

There are times, though, when I like to revert to the fountain pens I used as a child (required in a school I attended — yes, it was an old-fashioned European school), or some other nice writing instrument. If I write a personal note or card, or a poem, I do like the feel of pen, ink and paper together. I don’t, however, still use the Sheaffer’s “peacock blue” ink I favored for several years. Good thing I don’t yearn after it, because it was discontinued some time ago. Apparently it still has a cult following, though: Passionate About Peacock Blue Ink.  I’d better not dwell on that, or I might start yearning.

Writing 101: Social Media for Inspiration
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Writing 101: Social Media for Inspiration

Day 5:  go to Twitter and find a tweet that inspires you to write. I wasn’t inspired by the five suggestions, so I chose this:

9/11 Survivor Tree

9/11 is a melancholy day for so many. I was blessed not to lose anyone I knew, but I used to live and work in NYC, including for a time very close to the World Trade Center. I remember going to its observation deck the year it first opened. Some of my friends were in lower Manhattan that awful day and are still traumatized. So this story about a tree that was literally buried in rubble, was dug out and found to be severely damaged, but was nursed back to health and replanted near the 9/11 Memorial, inspired me with its message of resilience and hope. I love that its seeds are collected and planted so that seedlings of this tree can be shared with other communities that have suffered. There’s a reason why Eden was envisioned as a garden.

Photo: National September 11 Memorial and Museum.

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What Went Well

I forgot to post this on Wednesday, so here it is: what went well this week.

  1. My high school senior received a national award for scholastic achievement. Because she works very hard, studies conscientiously and deserves recognition.
  2. My college student won a coveted, named part in her college’s fall play. Because she also works very hard to develop the gifts with which she has been blessed, and chose a college program that is the perfect fit for her. And the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright is coming to see the performance!
  3. I am really enjoying a new part of my job which includes advising students one-on-one. Because I like students, they are very eager and motivated, and I enjoy knowing and helping them.

What went well for you this week?

Fragrance Friday: Ginger Lilies
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Fragrance Friday: Ginger Lilies

Late summer and early fall are the season in the South for white ginger lilies, hedychium coronarium. They are tall, tender perennials with long, sword-like green leaves topped by fluttering white flowers whose large petals inspire the plant’s other common name: white butterfly lily. Our next-door neighbor has a magnificent clump, which sends its perfume floating over both of our gardens. I have tried to grow it myself, mere yards from his thriving specimen, without success. The white ginger lily is fickle by nature. But oh, that perfume! Many scents have been called intoxicating; the ginger lily’s fragrance truly is. Designed to lure pollinating insects at night, the white flowers’ scent intensifies in the dark humidity of Southern summer nights.

Imagine my anticipation, then, when I learned that Jo Malone has a cologne named Dark Amber and Ginger Lily. I looked it up on Fragrantica.com and realized that it has notes of ginger, and water lily, but it has nothing to do with ginger lilies. It sounded lovely, though, and I had a sample from a purchase of Tudor Rose, so on my wrists it went. Mmmm. I don’t often like Oriental spicy perfumes, but when I do, I really do. And I really like this one. Warm, soft, a whisper of cardamom with the ginger top note, a floral bouquet for a heart, a touch of glove leather in the base notes. Definitely on my wish list. But nothing to do with actual ginger lilies.

My curiosity piqued, I decided to explore further. And voila! Continue reading →

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Make A List

Second prompt from Writing 101: make a list. Easy! A portion of my blog Serenity Now is dedicated to lists: categories such as Art(s) I Like. Some of my categories are still “under construction” but I have had a lot of fun creating and populating these lists. That particular category is deliberately inclusive, as I count many pursuits as “art” in addition to the more traditional visual arts. What are your favorite arts and/or artists? Feel free to comment!

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Why I Write

Writing 101 asks, why do you write? I am quite introverted but verbal almost to a fault, with many thoughts and words jostling for my attention and linking to each other; writing them down takes them out of my head and gives me a creative outlet. My daily work requires that I interact frequently with people, often in one-on-one meetings or conversations. I enjoy other people, and I am not shy, but my introverted nature means that these interactions do drain me of energy; solitude restores me and allows me to capture my thoughts in writing. I have an inquiring, INTJ mind and thousands of books. Many things make me happy. I like sharing them and reading about what brings joy or feeling to others.

Mindfulness is something I am working to cultivate in my life. There are many competing claims on my time and attention: family, work, etc. As my children are now in their teens, I am working to carve out some time for peaceful reflection and creativity in my life, in spite of a demanding, sometimes pressured job. Blogging is one way for me to do that, in a different format than the other kinds of writing I am also exploring. This blog also helps me cultivate positive thoughts through practices like “What Went Well Wednesdays”, when I write down three things that went well that week.

I also blog about gardens, gardening, garden books, art in gardens and garden photography at Old Herbaceous.

Fragrance Friday: The Scent of Water
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Fragrance Friday: The Scent of Water

One of my favorite books is “The Scent of Water”, by Elizabeth Goudge. Sometimes I re-read it when I need respite from the tug and pull of my modern American life and job. It is the story of Mary Lindsay, a single, childless woman who leaves her successful career in London to move into a house in an English country village which she has inherited from a distant elderly cousin. She is on something of a spiritual quest, to rediscover her true self, her beliefs and her memories of the man who loved her more than she loved him, who had died in war before they were married.

Elizabeth Goudge had a rare gift of description: her words beautifully evoke the people and settings of her novels so that one can truly see them in the mind’s eye. Her early training was in art, and it shows in her ability to paint pictures with words. The house Mary Lindsay inherited is very old, and its rooms are bathed in rippling greenish light, as if they were underwater, because of the ivy and wisteria vines that grow near the old windows: it has a “dark stone-flagged hall where a silver tankard of lilies of the valley stood on an oak chest. The flowers and the polished silver gathered all light to themselves …”  Goudge uses the metaphor and imagery of water throughout the book, including an ancient well of springwater, hung with ivy and moss, that figures in several characters’ stories in the novel. She is also well aware of the symbolism in Christianity of flowers like the lily of the valley, which stands for purity and humility and is sometimes called Mary’s Tears, referring to the Virgin Mary and the tears she shed at the Crucifixion.

What is the scent of water? One of the other characters is another older woman, also single and childless, Jean. She is a kind but timid and fearful woman, often depressed and overwhelmed by life but struggling bravely to meet its challenges.

“Jean was visited by one of her rare moments of happiness, one of those moments when the goodness of God was so real to her that it was like taste and scent; the rough strong taste of honey in the comb and the scent of water.”
― Elizabeth Goudge, The Scent of Water

But if one were to seek an actual scent that captured the spirit and atmosphere of this beloved book, what would it be? I nominate Jo Malone’s Lily of the Valley & Ivy, which  wafts from my wrists as I write this. With its notes of ivy (top), lily of the valley and narcissus (heart) and amber and beeswax (base), it is a lovely green floral with a hint of white musk. It is an elegant, quicksilver scent with earthly roots. It reminds me of a small, green and white English garden after a gentle rain. The scent of water.

Photo: http://www.basenotes.net

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What Went Well

What went well this week:

  1. My son’s football team won their first game of the season! This is a big deal because they are in middle school and did not win a single game last year. They won because they have been working hard, including in some new positions, and did not allow themselves to become discouraged.
  2. I am making progress in physical therapy. Because I have a terrific physical therapist and I am pushing myself to do the exercises as often and as far as possible.
  3. I got great advice from one of my oldest friends. Because she is wise, and kind, and she cares deeply about me.

Have a serene week, everyone!

Needle Painting Tutorials

Trish Burr, embroiderer extraordinaire, teacher and author of several beautiful books on needle painting, has posted some short video tutorials on her website that combine with some free projects on her website. Most of them are for flower designs but one includes a pretty bird. If you like embroidery, take a look!

trishburr's avatarTrish Burr Embroidery Blog

Hello everyone

Hope your week is going well.  For several months I have been working with the idea of providing tutorials on my website – am still tinkering with the idea of uploading some videos as I know these are really helpful but have not found the best method of filming myself yet – work in progress!

If you remember my amusing little incident some years ago with the trials and errors of self video you can read about it here.  It seems that although I seem to be making progress in some areas of my work others are harder to perfect!

These tutorials are aimed at providing basic information on the stitches, materials and preparation if you would like detailed information then it is recommended that you refer to either my DVD or any of my books.  Of course each book is a reflection of my work…

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