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ardysez

~ surrender to yourself

ardysez

Tag Archives: Books

viewer, reader, twitcher, life…

20 Sunday Jan 2019

Posted by Ardys in Books, films, Life

≈ 18 Comments

Tags

australian birds, Books, films, Mary Oliver, thetappingsolution

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morning light on volunteer basil plant

It is true, that our misery occurs, not because of what happens to us, but the way in which we react to it. Wiser persons than me have said this in very many different ways, but this is how I say it to you.

I shared with you months ago that I was seeking treatment for plantar fasciitis**, an inflammation of the fascia on the bottom of the foot. Over the last few months I have learned more than I ever wanted to know about the manifestations of plantar fasciitis, as well as the treatment. I’ve learned a bunch of other things as well, among them…patience.

I have only just twigged that, for me, this time around, is a much longer process of healing than my first encounter of it some 15 years ago…if, in fact, it will heal at all. It is nothing ‘serious’, as when I had cancer, except that it is. It has threatened the quality of my life significantly. Since October my movements have been very, very curtailed. Even though I had faithfully followed the stretches, the shoe and orthotic support recommendations etc, progress has been slow and frustrating.

Until…

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My collection of shedded gecko skins

I renewed an old acquaintance with a man called ‘Dances with Wolves’, felt a kinship in pain from the death of a tree (Avatar), wept at the horrors of Japanese treatment of soldiers in WW II (The Railway Man), delighted in the wisdom of a Maremma guarding penguins (Oddball), learned about historic figures like Queen Victoria (Victoria and Abdul) and Winston Churchill (Darkest Hour), and felt the anguish of a person who suffers greatly from a wrongdoing they cannot change (Japanese Story). I’ve wept with William Thackeray’s (Hugh Grant) friends for at least the 10th time (Notting Hill), and been completely charmed by a bear named Paddington. I have seen that the chasm of differences that sometimes exist between humans can be traversed more easily than the tinier things that separate us.

Through the porthole of reading I have been allowed inside the suffering and resilience of people who have survived the worst day of their lives (Any Ordinary Day – Leigh Sales). I have gone on a journey with the child of alcoholic and abusive parents, and seen him triumph (Boy Swallows Universe – Trent Dalton). For some ‘light’ relief I learned a new way to meditate that had an immediate and profound effect (The Tapping Solution – Nick Ortner). And then I plunged back into the gritty, horrific reality of someone doing something I could never do (The Trauma Cleaner – Sarah Krasnostein).

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daily twitcher, caffeine and landscape fix

I also became a ‘twitcher’ and joined the week-long annual Aussie Backyard Bird Count with Birdlife Australia. I’ve always been a bird lover, but taking more time to sit and watch has made me keener. ‘The Genius of Birds’ by Jennifer Ackerman has given me a deeper appreciation for their habits, humour, intelligence and social structures.

I’ve taken fewer photos in recent months, having not previously realised how dependant on mobility I had been for inspiration. I began to look more carefully at the light, and the detail in my own surroundings. Experimenting taught me a couple of new editing processes as well.

Our daughter sent us a jigsaw puzzle that has occupied a few hours, so far…. it is a hard one! The photo is by Australian Wildlife Photographer Georgina Steytler who is based in Western Australia. (@georgina_steytler on Instagram). Her photos are stunning and she also works toward conservation. A portion of the cost of the puzzle goes to Georgina and other artists whose work you can select to be made into puzzles as well, @jigsaw_gallery on Instagram.

jigsaw puzzle photo taken by award winning photographer, Georgina Steytler
jigsaw puzzle photo taken by award winning photographer, Georgina Steytler
don't judge...it's a 1000 piece puzzle...
don’t judge…it’s a 1000 piece puzzle…
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light coming into the kitchen in a rare moment of cooking

The summer weather has not been kind to us. We have broken record after record from heat duration and intensity. If ever there was a summer to have to ‘sit things out’ this one would have been an easy choice for me! Since cooking has been very unpleasant, both for the time on my feet, and the heat, I’ve created quite a few meals in the way of salads. I’ve been grateful for some resources in my freezer, and also sourced some new recipes online. The new barbecue/grill that my husband bought before Christmas, and his willingness to use it, has been a godsend!

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feather amongst the withering leaves and bark from summer heat

So. What have I learned?

  • To love and respect my body more.
  • To spend more time reading.
  • New Depths of Compassion.
  • New depths of Patience
  • To live in the present more. I was anxious. I’m less so now, focus in the present.
  • I was reminded that Things/People are often not what they seem.
  • To try and keep an open heart about every situation. We never know what a journey will teach us.

I close with this favourite quotation, because it seems so appropriate, and because once in a while there is a celebrated artist/person whose passing deeply stirs me. With sincere appreciation to you dear reader, and for the wisdom and words of the great poet, Mary Oliver who died last week…

Someone I loved once gave me a box full of darkness. It took me years to understand that this too, was a gift.

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new editing technique using double exposures and distressedFX app on iPhone

 

**The plantar fasciitis has had a complexity to it called ‘nerve entrapment’. As well as the standard PF treatment of stretches, foot massage, strapping, sturdy shoes, orthotic inserts, I have had a nerve block and saline injections to the foot and area around the nerve. That had only minimal impact so I am currently having a series of ‘shock treatments’ to the bottom of the foot to try and ‘encourage’ the tissue to heal itself. Cortisone injections are not a panacea for this condition, but may provide temporary relief, tho are very limited in their use. The journey is ongoing. I am grateful for it all.

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long live books…

21 Sunday Oct 2018

Posted by Ardys in Books, Travel

≈ 17 Comments

Tags

Books, raybradbury, Travel

Several days before we were to travel, a notification from Amazon came through that an e-book was available for $2.99. ‘Fahrenheit 451’ by Ray Bradbury was having its 65th anniversary. Since it was first released in 1953, the year I was born, I thought perhaps it might be one of those very interesting full circle experiences. I missed it the first time around, and probably the subsequent four rounds, but heard about it many times over the years. I’ve only read a couple of books from the science fiction genre, one by CS Lewis called ‘Childhood’s End’, over 35 years ago, and one recently by Ursula le Guin, the first in the ‘Earthsea’ series. I enjoyed both, and thought another classic in the genre might be worth a look. So I downloaded the book to my iPad hoping it would be a good one for the journey.

I always like to start a book before our trip begins, partly to make certain I have chosen well, and partly because I find it difficult to get into a new book when in the middle of travel distractions. I was probably 50 pages into Fahrenheit 451 when we settled ourselves into the Qantas seats, ready for the 17 hour flight from Perth to London…well, as ready as you can be. That is a long-ass flight.

As I settled in I checked out the inflight entertainment to see what might be of interest. Straight away, in the ‘premiere’ category, I saw the title ‘Fahrenheit 451’. Wha???? I hate to watch a movie before I read a book…how-some-ever…I was very, very curious. A new release, it is one of the new generation of films produced by Netflix and Amazon Prime and similar production companies. I was wary but thought I’d give it a whirl. I had not read enough of the book to know if the film was adhering strictly to the original story, but I could certainly tell the visuals were created in modern minds and not trying to reflect the imaginings of the 1950’s. The story was compelling, but the book had grabbed me right from the start as well, so at least the film version hadn’t completely ruined the story line and message.

Even this country store had a small book section of used books outside the shop for £2. Don't you love the honesty system?
Even this country store had a small book section of used books outside the shop for £2. Don’t you love the honesty system?
And as you can see from the signs, you can eat, drink and collect antiques, presumably while still looking for books!
And as you can see from the signs, you can eat, drink and collect antiques, presumably while still looking for books!
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One of the visuals Bradbury uses, almost as another character in the book, are the enormous screens used as walls of the house. A person wears ear phones that connect, apparently wirelessly, with the streaming events happening on the ‘walls’ of the house. Wow. Remember, this was written in 1953, before computers, WiFi, and bluetooth ear phones!!!! Tell me more, Mr. Bradbury!

As I later discovered, the film does not follow the book exactly, but it was engaging and worth a viewing, nevertheless. It carried much of the same cautionary message to society. The story, by the way is about the burning of the world’s books in some future, unnamed year. It paints a dark view of the world.

The price of the new Ray Bradbury releases was almost half the price of the vintage copies...if one could even find them. They were scarce.
The price of the new Ray Bradbury releases was almost half the price of the vintage copies…if one could even find them. They were scarce.
Vintage copies.
Vintage copies.

Having finished the Fahrenheit 451 movie, and eaten a meal, I was not quite ready for sleep…like I said, a long-ass flight. Diving into the selection of movies again, I  came up with one I had never heard of—‘The Bookshop’. It is a recent, British production with actors I enjoy—Bill Nighy and Emily Mortimer. Fortunately I hadn’t read the reviews of it before I saw it or I might have missed an enjoyable film! What do reviewers know anyway! The juxtaposition of seeing a film about a world without books, against a story about a love for books, which by the way, is placed in about the same year as Fahrenheit 451 was written, was utter perfection. One must keep the energies in balance!

The young woman, who is struggling to open a book shop in the 1950’s small English town is pitted against the will of another woman who doesn’t want her to open the shop. Our heroine meets an older man who is a recluse, but loves to read. He writes to her a hand delivered message (this was long before emails…) requesting she send him books she thinks he might find interesting. What do you think she sends him? A certain title, just released, by Ray Bradbury. (Fahrenheit 451)

The man loves Bradbury. Of course. The story progresses into a lovely, gentle but sad story, with a tiny dash of hope. Perfect to sleep after on an airplane.

Somehow all of this ‘book stuff’ settled into my travel-addled brain and when we popped out the other end of the second leg of the journey in London, I was hatching a plan to try and find and photograph every book store I could on our travels. A pity the plan was ill conceived. Book stores are few and the ones that exist were not at all the picturesque type I envisaged. More’s the pity.

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Just look at these titles…Austen, both Bronte’s…but it was the copy of Uncle Tom’s Cabin that really got me. I held it and it spoke to me, this hard copy book from another age, from the country of my birth.

That is until the very last stop while we were in Wales…a place called Hay on Wye. It is located at the mouth of the Wye River, near the border between Wales and England. And it is known as ‘Town of Books’. Holy moly, did they have books, and book stores. And what do you think I found? A vintage paperback of Ray Bradbury’s book, ‘Dandelion Wine’ and many other enticing volumes.

Undercover on the grounds of the Hay Cathedral under renovation, were two of these walls of books, donated and then newly acquired for the small some of £2 deposited into the church collection box.
Undercover on the grounds of the Hay Cathedral under renovation, were two of these walls of books, donated and then newly acquired for the small some of £2 deposited into the church collection box.
Perusing the shelves sometimes presents physical challenges!
Perusing the shelves sometimes presents physical challenges!
Even the canines of Hay enjoy a good book store!
Even the canines of Hay enjoy a good book store!
Hay presented a wealth of book stores and all things literary.
Hay presented a wealth of book stores and all things literary.

You might have thought the Town of Books was an appropriate finish for this journey’s theme. So did I. But wait…there’s more. At the end of our travels in the USA, we flew into Los Angeles to await our Qantas flight back to OZ. As I turned a corner toward the international club lounge, I stopped in my tracks. There it was in front of me, a FIVE story screen that was also a wall…a Ray Bradbury wall. Beautiful images floated from edge to edge, between ads for designer watches and perfume. I got cold chills and for a moment felt nauseous. Bradbury’s 65 year old futuristic vision was here. The future is now.

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Bradbury’s imagined, moving wall at Tom Bradley International in Los Angeles.

Think what an adventure that book gave me. Long live books.

 

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a summary of summer things…

19 Friday Jan 2018

Posted by Ardys in Alice Springs, Recommendations

≈ 14 Comments

Tags

bbcfoodprogram, Books, chat10looks3, humour, melrobbins, richardfidlerpodcast, timferrisshow

The year is spinning by so fast I can hardly believe it. Despite recent years of minimising and editing my environment as well as downsizing interaction with social media, days are full and my energy wanes. Sometimes I think the summer here is like winter in the northern hemisphere, a time for stasis, or at least slowing down. But the one thing I make time to do nearly every single day is walk. I love to walk in the early morning.

Light. Quiet. Relative cool. Promise. Beauty. So many reasons to walk early. And this…IMG_0738

I have no profound topics to share with you this time, but decided that you might find a little gem in amongst some of the things that have interested me in recent weeks.

Podcasts:

Your Creative Push – interviews with various artists and people who share helpful insights for creative practices. This episode is an artist whose work I recently purchased and if you listen until the very end she shares a good tip from Martha Beck for tackling big projects. (Aimée Hoover, artist, website here)

IMG_0724Chat10 Looks3 – This podcast is by two of Australia’s leading journalists, Annabelle Crabb and Leigh Sales. They are brilliant women whose banter is hilarious but they also impart a lot of information regarding Australian culture, books and other media. It makes me laugh so much, if I listen to it when I’m walking I’m sure I’m in danger of being taken away to the psych ward. If you are not Australian it may not make as much sense.

Tim Ferris Show – interviews with people who inspire and illuminate. This episode with Brené Brown.

BBC Food Programme  – A factual, in-depth examination of all things food. Fascinating. This episode is for my Northern Hemisphere friends as it is all about the humble dish of porridge (oatmeal).

Conversations with Richard Fidler – MY FAVOURITE! Yes you can read that in shouty tones because that is how much I loved this episode. And now I want a horse. Or at least to be near one. A radio interview can actually have that effect on a person.

(*note – Not all of these interviewers are the best, but these are still my favourite interviews of recent weeks, usually because of the person being interviewed or some bit of wisdom they present)

Books:

IMG_0770Outline by Rachel Cusk – did not hit my sweet spot but it might hit yours (fiction) I noticed that reviews were varied, though mostly positive.

Everywhere I Look by Helen Garner – a revelation (to me) in writing style. This is a series of essays, some I liked very much, others not as much but overall a very worthwhile book. (non-fiction)

The Summary of Small Things by Carol Adams – a surprising and gentle little book filled with details from six months of a life lived in Central Australia, with awareness and engagement. I was delighted by this book. (non-fiction) This is the second in a series of locally published books (Ptilotus Press) about Central Australia. Carol is a long time resident, artist and author from Alice Springs. Book is only $15 (plus postage) and is available from Red Kangaroo books, 79 Todd Mall, Alice Springs Ph: 08 89532137 and email: redkanga@bigpond.com

Small House Living Australia by Catherine Foster. Over the years I’ve become very interested in the ‘small but perfectly formed’ abode. This book has photos and floor plans of smartly designed homes of 90 square metres (~315 sq. feet) or less. (non-fiction) (there is also a New Zealand version here)

Food:

New favourite salad – http://www.theglowingfridge.com/crunchy-thai-noodle-salad/ 

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This is not my photo, but from the website with the recipe. I ate mine so fast I forgot to photograph it!

(I can’t eat the rice noodles so left them out and still found it delicious. This is a vegan salad as it is, but you could easily add prawns/shrimp, salmon or boiled egg if you want more protein.)

YouTube:

Mel Robbins – is probably classified as a motivational speaker. What fascinated me is this particular ‘5 second rule’ idea. This link is for the short version, lasts only 5 minutes.

This link is for a 25 minute interview with Mel — her story of how she discovered this ‘5 second rule’ which she admits she wishes had a different name 🙂

 

As I look back at what I’ve been consuming…no wonder the days are flying by.  xx

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when you know better, do better…

17 Tuesday Jan 2017

Posted by Ardys in Books, Life, People

≈ 12 Comments

Tags

african americans, Books, humanity, Isabel Wilkerson, krista tippett, migrants, migration, podcast, the great migration, the warmth of other suns

Our country is like an old house, and old houses need fixing, and more fixing –Isabel Wilkerson (from podcast ‘On Being’ with Krista Tippett*)

As you will recall, I usually post a list of my favourite books at the end of each year. This one just couldn’t wait. Because we can’t wait. Our world needs every day possible to do better. The Warmth of Other Suns by Pulitzer Prize winning writer, Isabel Wilkerson is the best work of non-fiction I have ever read. The story she tells is one of a country within a country and how its people struggled, and still struggle, to be recognised as equal. But in this day of mass migrations it is also a universal story. Isabel researched this book for 10 years and then spent 5 years writing it. The quality and care of her efforts are evident. The historic fabric of one of America’s most underreported stories is woven from carefully transcribed anecdotal telling, research and statistics so deftly threaded throughout, it reads like a novel. All 622 pages of it.

The Warmth of Other Suns is one of those books I did not want to end, but not because it paints a pretty picture of life in the US between 1915 and 1975. I didn’t want it to end because it was a fascinating revelation—a third of which happened during the first 20 years of my life. If you think you know this story, you probably don’t. I am very sorry to say, I was completely oblivious to what is now called The Great Migration. Since it was so underreported, my ignorance is partially understandable. The Great Migration is the epic story of how over six million black people living in the south of the United States, moved north and west during a period of about 60 years, trying to escape the extreme segregation of the south. ‘Jim Crow‘, as the segregationist regime was called, disallowed colored people to walk on the sidewalk alongside white people, to sit in the same seats on public transport, to buy the same real estate, indeed any real estate at all…and worse.

Lincoln Memorial, Washington DC,--cloudy skies but light on the horizon

Lincoln Memorial, Washington DC,–cloudy skies but light on the horizon

Growing up in rural southern Ohio is also partly why the movement was not in my consciousness. Ohio was geographically part of the North. It boasted a very effective ‘underground railroad’ which spirited runaway slaves to safety, but later on would deny migrating southern blacks the same opportunities migrants from Europe enjoyed. I may have missed the movement, but I was not oblivious to the undercurrent of prejudice that still existed when I was growing up. You may pose the question in your mind, as I did, but weren’t the blacks treated equally after their emancipation at the end of the Civil War in 1865? Not only was this not the case, but the situation worsened for most so-called emancipated ‘colored people’ as they were called in those days. Even after the Civil Rights Act of 1964, many states took another ten years to invoke a version of equality.  The truth of this will vary, depending upon who you speak to, much as the extermination of Jews has at times been a point of contention for holocaust deniers. This book has such depth, there can be no doubt of the terrible injustice  done to people who had purposely, and gainfully, been introduced to the US, in some cases by tearing them away from their families in Africa, and bringing them to enslavement.

But it is even more than that.

 Migrating is never just about migration—it is about freedom    —Isabel Wilkerson

Isabel Wilkerson tells the story of speaking at a book signing and looking up to see a little old Greek lady with an armload of copies of her book for her to sign. The Greek lady said “You have told MY story too.” She wanted to share the book with her family. This was the associative experience Wilkerson wanted to convey with her book. As a migrant to Australia, and the grandchild of a migrant, I read the book with great interest. The Great Migration was also about moving from the ‘Old Country’ in the south, to the ‘New World’ in the north for the migrants. It overlapped the huge influx of migrants from Europe, some of which were my family, and so it was the plight many people faced. But the colored people were at the bottom of the pile, even though they had been in the country for twelve generations previously.

If all history books were written as well as this one I would have been a better history student. This work has been a real awakening with respect to government policy regarding migrants, as well as the recalcitrant behaviour of the general population whose unconscious collusion continues today. When we know better we can do better, but it is still a choice.

A month ago when I began reading, I had no idea I would finish it on Martin Luther King Day (USA), in the same week as the first African American President of the USA would finish his second term in office. With Australia Day coming in a week, I can’t help but think of all the challenges both of my countries have before them. We have so much experience from which to draw it is a wonder we still falter when encountering someone who is different from us. And yet we do. I hope many will read this book and find knowledge and compassion, and perhaps even part of their own story within its pages.

Do the best you can, then when you know better, do better. –Maya Angelou

 *If  you have 51 minutes, listen to the podcast linked in the opening quotation, via your computer.

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a list of lists…

26 Monday Dec 2016

Posted by Ardys in Books, photography, Recommendations

≈ 14 Comments

Tags

Books, photos, recommended reading

img_3709A couple of posts back I gave my book report for 2016 and invited those who were so inclined to give us their recommendations as well. It was probably a busy time of year to try to encourage participation, so I’ve compiled the short list of recommended reading and also found a couple of other lists you might want to click through once the demands of the holidays settle down.

First, the selections recommended by my lovely readers:

The Good People by Hannah Kent, a novel set in Ireland in the 1820s, it is disturbing and unsettling at times. Nance is the healer, witch doctor herbalist and the one with the ‘gift’ or knowledge, who lives very much on the edge of society. Her life and her healing intertwines with the villagers and with the bigoted local priest.

Hannah Kent is an award winning Australian author. Her research, finding the historical ‘voice’ and detail into County Kerry is remarkable, as is the prose.

(As an aside, I noticed that Amazon’s Audible program has added ‘The Good People’ to its list of books you can listen to, if you are so inclined. I wasn’t sure I would like listening to books but I’m very much enjoying it. Audible had a free, for the first month, selection which I tried, after which I subscribed for $14.95 (AUD) per month, for which I receive one selection or one credit. It is cheaper than buying the audible version outright. Also, if you buy the Kindle book as well as the audio version of the same book, you can switch back and forth between reading and listening and it cleverly picks up wherever you have left off of the other one.)

fullsizeoutput_38e6The Second selection recommended by one of our community:

The Invention of Nature: Alexander Humboldt’s New World by Andrea Wulf. It is a biography of Alexander Humboldt, an amazing scientist who lived in the late 1700s. He was fascinated by everything, which enabled him to understand connections in the environment. He was the first to articulate the concept of ecology, and realised that changes in one part of the environment would have profound effects elsewhere. He influenced many scientists and thinkers, including Darwin. Humboldt’s name is not very familiar now, but he has influenced our modern understanding of our world, including the impacts of climate change.

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Here is a post by James Clear, with a lot of lists for all kinds of reading, featuring over 100 books. I think this will hold us for a while, don’t you?

However, if we are still not hitting your reading ‘sweet spot’, my friend Celi from thekitchensgarden  has compiled her yearly book list based on recommendations from her readers as well.

And finally, I’m very partial to a good photo, as well as some good reading, so here is a link to view Time’s selection of the most influential photos . No doubt you will have one or two you would like to add to this list, but these will get you started…

…my very best wishes to you for the coming new year.xximg_3710

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book report for 2016

10 Saturday Dec 2016

Posted by Ardys in Books, photography

≈ 22 Comments

Tags

Big Magic, Books, Love Warrior, reading, Surrender Experiment

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Naked Lady native lily

Hands up, all of you who ever had to write a book report in school. Yes, that would be most of us. I didn’t hate them, but I certainly could never foresee that I would be writing them voluntarily one day. As I mentioned in the previous post, I have a couple more books to share with you. I won’t say ‘recommend’, because I seldom do that with movies or books or music, given that we all have such varied tastes. I just like to make you aware of things and leave it to you to decide for yourself.

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Crepe Myrtle after the rain

Early this year I learned that Elizabeth Gilbert had written a new book called Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear . I really wasn’t sure what to expect. Her books have been quite varied, rather than all in one genre, the way many writers work. I recently heard her discuss this on a podcast, and it made great sense. She figures ‘I’ve done that‘ and so she doesn’t need to keep writing the same type of book repeatedly. In Big Magic, Elizabeth writes about the nature of creativity and in particular her own, which takes the form of writing. She expresses her experience in a way I had never previously considered. In particular she writes about a concept that I thought might be unique to her, but since reading it have also heard a very similar view expressed by conductor and composer, Alice Parker*. Elizabeth Gilbert feels the energy of an idea or project presents itself to a person who can express it on a level we humans can experience. But if you are not ready, or do not take up the expression of the idea, it will move on to someone else who will do it. It’s not nearly as magical as it sounds, and yet it is. The way she explains it seems perfectly plausible to me, but I am a believer that energy is everything. I’m not a writer per se, but I have followed a creative life since I can remember, and certainly ideas appear in my mind and if I don’t pursue them, I have seen them expressed by others. I’m sure there are other explanations for this phenomena but Elizabeth’s is expressed as clearly as something like creativity can be.

I found Big Magic very much to my liking, and I was sad when it finished. It is a book I will read again in the not too distant future, which I don’t often do.

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trapped droplet on grevillea leaf

I’m trepidatious about presenting this next book, because initially, it didn’t blow me away. It was much more of a slow burn.  It is very highly rated on Amazon, but a lot of things I don’t like are highly rated in many places. I found the book from a blog post that published a list of ‘books that you may not have heard of, but you should read’. I wish I had saved the post or knew where I’d read it because even Mr Google can no longer help me find it.

img_3359

Grevillea with droplets

The Surrender Experiment: my journey into Life’s perfection  by Michael Singer is one of my top books for this year because it changed my life. The funny thing is, I nearly put it aside after about a quarter of the way into it. It is an autobiography, and frankly, I’d never heard of the author. What hooked me was my curiosity to know what happened. I’m hopelessly interested in why people make certain decisions in life.

It’s easy to read, but very factual and maybe a little dry–sorry Michael. What makes it remarkable, though, is Michael’s life. He comes from an ordinary beginning, has no specific aspirations, but a great work ethic, if that makes any sense. It turns out Michael was very instrumental in the early development of computers and software, and you know what that means, he made a packet of money. None of that was what motivated him, however, and that was what interested me. The changes this book inspired for me, were twofold.

img_3413

after the rain

First, it inspired me to meditate again, but more importantly, to see it from a different perspective than ever before. It is not a book about meditation at all, though he is a lifelong meditator and it is integral to the story. Somehow, I saw in his story, the reason to meditate is for the practice itself. The quiet, the calm, the awareness of the moment. We have all heard about the benefits of meditation, but that is not why it is a valuable practice. It is valuable because through stilling our mind, we uncover our own wisdom.

The second concept Michael modelled is ‘to do what is in front of you’. That was his work. What is presented to us in the form of life events, is Life saying…’here, this is what will give you the experience you need right now‘. What valuable lessons to receive from a book.

In the previous post I told you about the third book I found most worthwhile from my year of reading, so I will only mention it briefly again, Love Warrior by Glennon Doyle Melton. Truly, I would find it hard to say which of these books was my very favourite. There were takeaway lessons for me from all of them. That is something I crave when I read. I want something to take with me, to carry me forward to the next part of life and the next book.

If you want to share your favourite book from 2016, or from any year, for that matter, leave the title in the comments below and I will compile a list of them and publish them in an upcoming post. Include a small review as well if you want to, or just the title is fine.

(photos were taken during this wet week in Alice)

*Alice Parker is a 91 year old choral director, composer and writer. A new podcast series which I recently started listening to called On Being with Krista Tippett introduced me to Alice. If you are a lover of choral music or interested in creative process this is a very interesting interview. Full disclosure; this podcast has an underlying spiritual theme and so does the interview.

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the lessons of pain…

02 Friday Dec 2016

Posted by Ardys in Books, Inspiration, Life

≈ 10 Comments

Tags

Books, emotions, Glennondoylemelton, Love Warrior, pain

Processed with VSCO with b3 preset

Cactus blossom

I’ve been absent from blogging for a couple of weeks. Sometimes Life just needs to act itself out. And then suddenly everything jumps back in its own box and things are a bit controlled again. Sort of.

I’ve been seeing a new man. A physical therapist. After over a year of undiagnosed difficulties in my hip and groin and trying a myriad of things from personal trainer to chiropractor and masseuse, the problem gradually worsened. Had I listened to the small voice in my head which said ‘go to the physical therapist’, I would have saved myself some money and some angst. But sometimes we just can’t get out of our own way. I’m not sure if I was afraid of what the problem might be, or if I knew it involved work to fix it and I really didn’t want more work in my life. Whatever.

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spent Cactus blossom

I read all the time. I always have a book on the go. In recent years I have posted the list of books I’ve read throughout the year. This year I thought I would do it differently. I thought I would write a post only about the books I really loved. The list is short. *Spoiler alert* I’m about to reveal one of the three books now, so the list just got shorter for that future post.

The book is one of those rare finds I wish I could discover all over again. It is like reading a very long letter from your best friend–that is, if your best friend is brutally honest and a very good writer. The book reveals a difficult past and how the author set about changing the results of that past. It is so honest and confronting and insightful and beautifully written, it is almost hard to believe.

The book is called Love Warrior by Glennon Doyle-Melton.

I don’t want to spoil the experience for you, should you decide to read her memoir. But I want to make you aware, in case you want a good book for the eventual downtime you might have after Christmas is over.

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ivy in tree in South Australia

After a life filled with running away from her pain and hiding in sex, booze and dysfunction, Glennon had one of a number of crises that started to heal her. She writes about the pain of sitting in a ‘hot yoga’ class, because she didn’t know where else to go. The instructor asked around the room ‘what were the intentions of each participant?’ When it was her turn, aware that she had made a terrible mistake coming to hot yoga when her hot emotions were at a peak, she squeezed out the words ‘my intention is just to stay on this mat and make it through whatever is about to happen without running out of here’. She didn’t want to run away from the pain any more. Those words stuck with me. Several times this week I have been challenged by things I did not want to deal with. Glennon’s words hovered in my ear,  and were transformed by my brain into shorthand that I understood–‘stay on the mat’.

Sometimes, staying with things is hard. But the pain in our lives is there to teach us. To run away means you miss that lesson. This week the Universe has quietly bestowed upon me lessons I have been running from for some time. They were not nearly as painful once I decided to ‘stay on the mat’ and feel what they had to show me. The malfunction of my hip is enormously improved. I learned that expertise and efficiency are no match for humanity and energy. I was reminded that the Universe is, in equal portions, brutal and compassionate. And I learned that staying on the mat doesn’t mean nothing is happening.

Light Chaser, out.

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thoughts of an artist…

29 Friday Jan 2016

Posted by Ardys in Creativity, photography

≈ 18 Comments

Tags

Anne Truitt, art, artist, Books, creative life, creativity, photography

I regularly see or hear things that give me shivers. It was about 20 years ago now that I first became aware of this quirk in myself. Perhaps you have experienced it too. I’ve heard people explain a feeling akin to which I refer, as something that makes your ‘hairs stand on end’; though mine is a shiver down the spine. Many years ago, I asked a trusted friend who was a massage and colour therapist what she thought of this phenomena and she said ‘it is your way of recognising something to pay attention to.’ I had surmised as much but confirmation is often helpful as we blunder through life, having left our roadmap at home.

Dried native lilies in milk jug. Waterlogue

Dried native lilies in milk jug. Waterlogue

Dried wild flowers. Waterlogue

Dried wild flowers. Waterlogue

Recently, I read a blog post and within minutes found myself purchasing the book to which it referred with great anticipation and still experiencing shivers. It’s unlikely it would be the same experience for most of you, because we all respond viscerally to different things. If you have been sharing much of my creative journey, you know without even reading to the end of this post, it will change my perspective. Everything visceral does this, whether or not we recognise it.

The blog to which I refer, and have included links a number of times previously, is Brainpickings by Maria Popova. The book with which I connected on this occasion is ‘Daybook – The Diary of an Artist’ by Anne Truitt. Brainpickings’ posts are based on books, sharing the views and comparative analysis of other books, essays and life observations. I hope Maria gets a commission from Amazon or Dymocks because she has often moved me to purchase books about which she has written. Maria’s blog post, and the now deceased, Anne Truitt’s thoughtful journal, reinforce the power of the written word to change ideas–even lives. 

Grasses

Grasses

Last year I wrote about Elizabeth Gilbert’s book ‘Big Magic’. I relished this book so much I did not want it to end. It wrestled with the age old question of ‘what is the difference between being an artist and leading a creative life?’ Truitt, herself an artist, with background education and experience as a psychologist, left that profession to follow the creative life. Her psychoanalytical mind and her artistic soul, have given her a unique voice. She takes this question a step farther, asking whether or not one who practices art can, or should, call themselves an artist.

Devouring this book in near record time, has taken me a step closer to understanding who is an artist?

In the grand scheme of things this is an unnecessary question to answer. Of course. That we exist is all we really need to acknowledge. But my human ego wrestles with it. Truthfully, no one except us probably cares what we call ourselves, though others often want to put us into one crab basket or the other by asking ‘what do you do?’, thus labelling us according to their understanding of whatever you answer. Truitt points out there is baggage that goes with calling oneself an artist, indeed, with any label, but, specifically, there is often (not always) an arrogance and competitiveness in the echelon of calling oneself an artist, with which she and I don’t care at all to be associated.

Grevillea and Rosella Pears

Grevillea and Rosella Pears

Perhaps the most compelling reason in the affirmative to label oneself, is so that we are not allowing others to define us. Early in the book, Truitt writes “I refused, and still refuse, the inflated definition of artists as special people with special prerogatives and special excuses. If artists embrace this view of themselves, they necessarily have to attend to its perpetuation. They have to live it out.” And isn’t that the dilemma of any label we put on ourself or others? The need to live out the expectation can be heavy baggage. I know personally, I stick to one suitcase with rollers when I travel and attempt the same when accumulating baggage in life!

I see now that one must separate the expectations of the artist, and the process of being an artist; leading the creative life, as Elizabeth Gilbert calls it. To set oneself aside as something special, either because one calls oneself an artist, or chooses not to, is an egotistical rationale that may or may not correlate respective skill, message or intent.

Later, after a period of residence in a community of artists, Truitt is reflective of her former attitude and admits:

So to think myself an artist was self-idolatry. In a clear wind of the company of artists this summer, I am gently disarmed. We are artists because we are ourselves.

This was the nugget of truth that lay in my shivers. My deeper self had recognised this immediately, and felt much more at peace. The process of being oneself doesn’t require a label, it just requires unfolding.

Treasures.

Treasures.

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what I read in 2015

28 Monday Dec 2015

Posted by Ardys in Books

≈ 19 Comments

Tags

Books, reading

I’m poking my head up out of my summer hibernation to give you some holiday reading suggestions. About this time last year I posted ‘what I read in 2014’. It seems like a number of you are interested in what others read, as am I, so here is this year’s instalment. I continue to love that I can carry around an entire library in my iPad mini. Also, the ready accessibility of books for someone who lives in a place which no longer has a book store, and is far away from any place that does, is much appreciated. (Also, our town library is limited.) An ebook does not feel as satisfying as holding an actual book and turning the pages, and I find my eyes tire more quickly, but all in all, it allows me to read more and that makes me happy.

All of my reading this year has been non-fiction. That is my favourite broad category, but my tastes within it are diverse. Life is too short to read books you don’t like, so I started a couple of books and then put them aside as I was just not connecting with the material or writing style. That’s okay. Here are the ones I did finish, in the order I read them, and a comment or two about each one:

Small Victories by Anne Lamott – To start the year I had been saving this new book (hardcover) as a treat. It was enjoyable, but not as enjoyable as other books of hers, in my opinion. Bird by Bird and Stitches were more my cup of tea.

The Highly Sensitive Person by Elaine N. Aron, Ph.D. – Listening to Elaine’s talks on YouTube and reading her book (paperback) helped me understand something I had previously only heard in passing. Some of us are highly sensitive beings, both in physical body and spirit. We are often made to feel abnormal with comments like ‘Toughen up’ or ‘Don’t be so sensitive’. The fact is we are sensitive to everything and it is not something we can help. Like most things it has its positive side, and we can manage the challenges very well.

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying: A simple, effective way to banish clutter forever by Marie Kondo – It isn’t an exaggeration for me to say this book changed my life. It inspired me to have a huge cleanup and what’s more to look at ‘things’ and tidying in a whole different light. I highly recommend this book in its genre.

The Light of the World: A Memoir by Elizabeth Alexander – A simply gorgeously written, and evocative account, of her husband’s life and the trauma she and their sons faced upon his untimely death. Elizabeth is a poet and her writing has a poetic density to it. At one stage I felt as if I was grieving for my own husband, when he was away on a trip, and I had to stop reading the book until he was safely home again. I highly recommend this book.

Better Than Before: Mastering the Habits of Our Everyday Lives by Gretchen Rubin – I have written in a little more detail about how this book helped me look at the decisions and habits revolved around my 365 Photo Challenge. I did not read it with particular thoughts of changing my habits, but more about understanding why certain things work for me and certain things don’t. Once one understands these things better, it is likely to change a person, and possibly it has, but I enjoyed the book nevertheless.

The Perfect Day Plan: Unlock the secrets of your body clock by Jost Sauer – Ok. This was kind of ‘assigned reading’…from my trainer. Ahem. I will elaborate on this adventure in a future blog post, but about four months ago I embarked on an exercise program with a trainer. It remains to be seen what the outcome will be. This book talks through the Chinese philosophy of chi and the body clock and how we can better work with our body clocks to achieve wellness. It was interesting, but I am not dedicating myself to this way of doing things, just keeping it in mind. I actually found that much of what it recommends, I had already gravitated to over the years, and the other ideas were not necessarily ones I found particularly useful.

Big Magic: Creative Living beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert – This book was one that I enjoyed so much, I didn’t want it to end! I loved reading about Elizabeth’s journey through creative endeavours, and recognised many of my own experiences as well. Possibly my favourite book of the year. Loved it. I especially recommend this one for people who pursue the creative life.

Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent and Lead by Brené Brown – I kept seeing the author’s name popping up in the media and thought I would investigate her ideas. I first watched a Ted Talk that she gave and enjoyed it. Then I bought the book and started reading. I got a little bogged down about halfway through so I went back and watched her second Ted Talk and that reinvigorated my interest to finish it. I can see why her ideas are hitting a note with people and I liked them, though I did find it hard to maintain interest in the detail. Glad I read it, and Her Ted Talks are very good and funny.

The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion – This was a book I had been meaning to read for years. It is the memoir of her husband’s death and her subsequent grief and mourning the year that followed. It’s hard to say one ‘enjoys’ reading about another person’s pain but it certainly gives context to a lot of behaviours and thoughts we have around the subject of death, grief and mourning. I’m very glad I read it, and if you aren’t bothered too much by this sort of thing, I recommend it. Again, as with Light of the World, I had to put it down for a few days and regain my composure before finishing.

Man’s Search For Meaning: The classic tribute to hope from the Holocaust by Victor E. Frankl – This would have been a bit much to read immediately following Didion’s book, however, I did start another book in between the two, which I stopped reading and have now gone back to finish—a book called, The Wife Drought, which will probably be first on my list to finish for 2016, so I’ll tell you about it next year! Meanwhile, Dr. Frankl’s book is a harrowing account of his own and others’ survival of the Holocaust during the first 60% of the book. The last part of the book is his summary of a type of Psychotherapy which he pioneered, called ‘logotherapy’. It is based on helping people find the purpose of their life, which he asserts gives them hope and meaning enough to carry them through the most difficult of times. He died in 1997. I’m very glad I have read this, though, again, not an easy emotional journey at times.

my friend's family book

my friend’s family book

A Gentle and Hard Working Family Man – My final book to finish in 2015, is not one that is commercially available. It was written by a friend of mine. It is the story of her Grandfather who came from Italy to Australia, through his life and eyes. She had foresight enough to interview him over 20 years ago and record many details of life as it was, early last century in both Italy and Australia. The detail in the account made for very interesting reading. My own Grandfather migrated from Italy to the USA in about the same era, so it was particularly interesting to me. She also included lovely old photos. She and her husband put the book together and had it printed and bound as a gift to her family. Isn’t that a nice thing to do?

And speaking of gifts…

I will close with a photo of one of my favourite new things, a gift from a good friend. I mean, how can you not start the morning well when drinking coffee or tea and seeing this? Sending you love for the New Year.

give love, live simply, dream big be grateful, laugh lots. Yes.

give love, live simply, dream big, be grateful, laugh lots. Yes.

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the creative life

05 Thursday Nov 2015

Posted by Ardys in Creativity

≈ 21 Comments

Tags

Big Magic, Books, creativity, ee cummings, Elizabeth Gilbert, Fierce Attachments, inspiration

For most of my life I have grappled with a couple of ideas; What is an Artist? And why do some of us follow the creative life? In the last 10 days or so I have had Three Awarenesses visit me on these familiar topics, and I wonder what you think about them?

I shared with you recently that I was reading Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert. Page after page her insight to the creative process made perfect sense to me. Since most of us humans are capable of being creative (in addition to creating life) she talks about what it means to choose to follow a creative life. For her, it was a very conscious choice.

For myself it was not.

So this, I believe, is the central question upon which all creative living hinges: Do you have the courage to bring forth the treasures that are hidden within you? –Elizabeth Gilbert

Calling myself an ‘Artist’ has never sat comfortably. And yet, when it was time to fill out the line beside ‘occupation’, I usually wrote Artist or Designer. What do you think immigration officials would say if I wrote on their form ‘she who follows a creative life’? After they rolled their eyes loudly, they would stamp my passport ‘nut case’. For most of my 62 years, ‘following a creative life’ seems a much more apt description than whatever the vague notion of ‘Artist’ is to most of us.

The only one of the Arts most of my family followed was Music. Though Dad’s love/hate relationship with it left me with an ambivalence toward music I scarcely understand to this day. I just knew that I liked making things, but music wasn’t one of them. The piano and I never understood each other.

So I made things.

Thank god it never occurred to me to deny this urge! I refinished furniture, taught myself to sew, learned to cook and eventually took art classes during my final two years in High School, because previous to that we had no art teacher. Against the odds, and based primarily on my meagre portfolio, I went on to study Art and finish a Fine Arts Degree.

Most of my adult life I have been in paid work with design of various kinds from TV sets to magazine advertising, computer and jewellery; and unpaid creations in mosaic, needlework, cooking, scrapbooking, photography, interiors and writing. It occurred to me about 10 years ago, while attending an Artist’s retrospective exhibition, that if I was ever to organise such a thing, it would be the most eclectic exhibition ever! And so I began to cogitate again upon this idea of what being an Artist meant. I asked myself, what have I been doing all my life?

The only answer I had was ‘I’ve been living a creative life.’

Your creative work is not your baby; if anything, you are its baby. Everything I have ever written has brought me into being. Every project has matured me in a different way. I am who I am today precisely because of what I have made and what it has made me into. Creativity has hand-raised me and forged me into an adult— Elizabeth Gilbert

And so…Elizabeth Gilbert says the choice to live a creative life is ours to make, and do with whatever we will. It is not likely to be remunerated well, or acknowledged at any high level, though some have done so; but living one’s life in this manner, in and of itself, is a meaningful reward. Or not. If it is not reward enough for you, then choose elsewhere. I cannot imagine living any other way. I really wouldn’t know how. To paraphrase Jerry McGuire, ‘Making things completes me.’

But does it make me an artist? And perhaps more importantly does it matter?

The second awareness regarding creativity came to me this week, as I read a blog post by Pip Marks, reviewing an exhibition in Melbourne, featuring artists with disabilities and experience of mental illness. There, with an Artist’s work was this idea —‘when he’s off balance, it helps to be creative and remember famous people who experienced their own troubles’. That idea of creativity helping one to stay balanced hit me with great force.

Of course. Balance.

And finally, the third awareness came Sunday, while reading Brain Pickings by Maria Popova. I was introduced to Vivien Gornick’s work Fierce Attachments, which examines

what is that singular interior orientation that sets the Artist apart from the rest?

and this:

the Artist is no other than he who unlearns what he has learned, in order to know himself –ee cummings

Simple, eh? As I recall, Picasso thought much the same and we all know what a terrible failure he was. And here is where my analysis starts to crumble. We expect being an Artist is a vocation or a ‘calling’ when compared to other professions. A Plumber is not expected to plumb the depths of the human condition! And plumbing is not who he/she is. Though, I daresay, if one is mindful of the life lessons all work is there to teach us, a plumber’s work could also help to ‘know himself’. But ‘Artist’ seems to automatically presume it is not only what a person does, but who they are.

If we are sentient beings with stardust in our DNA, what we are called is probably fairly irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. But also we are human, with that pesky brain whose need is to categorise things.

Perhaps an old friend, who paints beautifully, had it right all along. He said he would leave it to others to declare him an Artist, it was not for him to say.

And always remember that people’s judgments about you are none of your business. –Elizabeth Gilbert

If that is so, let it be known, I am happy to remain—not an Artist—but simply, satisfyingly, ‘she who has followed the creative life.’

During my Vuillard phase...
During my Vuillard phase…
the heat and the dry, photo 302 of 365 challenge
the heat and the dry, photo 302 of 365 challenge
Sunrise just before the grey cloud took over, #298 in 365 challenge
Sunrise just before the grey cloud took over, #298 in 365 challenge
Hand painted Bilby
Hand painted Bilby
Collage of squares
Collage of squares
MOP necklace
MOP necklace
Christmas card, Photoshop
Christmas card, Photoshop
Lattice top Cherry Pie, a specialty
Lattice top Cherry Pie, a specialty
self portrait using Photoshop
self portrait using Photoshop
lemon crop on mosaic table
lemon crop on mosaic table
Mosaic heart shaped rock
Mosaic heart shaped rock

(A newly launched website, ‘Oh She Thrives’ came into my awareness just as I had finished this piece and it seems pretty interesting. Go here if you would like to see some of their suggestions for staying creatively inspired. I thought they were useful.)

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