Sacred Life Sunday: Rested and Nested

This is where I spent most of my Sunday, in my bed/sanctuary.

Ah, Sacred Life Sundays…This year they’ve been sporadic, but as the year winds down, I find myself craving them.  Of course, a lot of times this year, I wasn’t allowing myself a true, uninterrupted sacred Sunday.  I’d leave errands to be run, or chores to be done.  I’d go waste time.

Today, though, I made my bed, so it would look nice, rested and nested.  I haven’t been out of pajamas all day, just changed into a fresh pair after my shower this evening.  (And yes, the photo above my bed is this one.)

I checked my email to get the Picture the Holidays photo prompt, then briefly ventured outside to snap the picture.  (Today was a nature assignment, and I photographed the dusting of powdered sugar snow on the front step and quickly darted back inside.)

I finished reading and sinking into a book a dear friend gave me after she heard the author speak at a yoga retreat, An Offering of Leaves by Ruth Lauer Manenti.

I began drinking in Karen Walrond‘s beautiful book, The Beauty of Different: Observations of a Confident Misfit.  Ah, it is gorgeous, thought-provoking, and soul-nourishing.  Just what I needed today.  I’m trying not to read it all today.  I’d like to savor it rather than get through it in a breathless sprint, even though that is so tempting.

I took a nap.

I’ve sipped herbal tea throughout the day, lit scented candles.

I spent some time writing in my paper journal, trying to make sense of this month’s hormone-fueled emotional rollercoaster.

I listened to some kirtan, David Newman’s album, Love, Peace, Chant.

I hit the yoga mat for a short unwinding asana practice, having promised myself I’d be on my yoga mat everyday this month, even if only for a short time.

I rested.  I didn’t worry about tomorrow, or rehash this week.  That felt sacred to me.

Now I am going to abandon the laptop for a cup of peppermint tea, some more time with my journal, meditation, then bed…A fitting end to a sacred, restful Sunday.

‘The Happy Book’: Gratitude

This week, in The Next Chapter‘s tour through The Happy Book, it’s all about gratitude.  The activity as printed suggests actually writing thank you notes, but I haven’t had time this week to do that, nor do I feel entirely comfortable sharing them publicly, so I’m doing something a little different…

Dear Camera,

Thank you for working again.  I missed you so, so much.

xo,
Rebekah

Dear Photography,

Thank you for making me stop and take notice of the myriad small, everyday, but beautiful things…Things like this:

Magenta chrysanthemum. Taken 9/15/2010.

Love,
Rebekah

Dear Patanjali,

Thank you for writing down what you knew about yoga, and for teaching.  I am so grateful it survived all these centuries between your time and mine, as it simply makes life better, which I’m sure you knew.

Sincerely,
Rebekah

Dear Mom,

Thank you for the awesome walnut fudge you brought back for me from your mini-vacation.  It is wonderfully rich and tasty, and, as such, automatically inspires moderation, something I’ve recently been lacking when it comes to sweets.

Love,
Rebekah

Dear Self-Control,

Thank you for looking out for me.  Because of you I met yet another savings goal this week.  Hooray!  And we will not celebrate by going on a spending spree, but by going to hang out at the lake this weekend with some books, a journal, and my camera.

xo,
Rebekah

Dear Car (a.k.a. Daisy Blue):

Thank you for getting me to and from work every day, and everywhere else I need to go.  I promise I will clean you up tomorrow.  I’m sorry I’ve been neglecting that.  And next week I’ll put you in the shop for an oil change and check-up.

Repentantly,
Rebekah

Dear Kittens,

Thank you for the love you bestow and laughs you inspire every single day.  I love your little furry faces!

xo,
Rebekah

I could go on and on and on, but I think I’ll stop here.  It has been, despite some emotional dips and quietude on my part, a happy week.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

‘The Happy Book’: Photo Scavenger Hunt + This Week’s Happy-Makers

This is the second week in The Happy Book Shake-Up with The Next Chapter, a book club led by Jamie Ridler of Jamie Ridler Studios. The Happy Book is a guided journal, focusing on fun, silly things and everyday things that make people happy.

This week, our page assignment was a photo scavenger hunt.  Jamie chose a list of words to inspire our photos: circle, tree, smile, sparkle, heart, clean, treasure, red, fresh, sky, yum, toes, morning, and home.

During the week, my camera stopped functioning, so I didn’t get to finish, but it was fun.  Here are the photos I managed to capture before camera trouble hit:

Circle and sky. (Neighborhood basketball goal.)

Red, circle, and yum. (Lindt Lindor truffles.)

Home + heart + red + circle. (A decorative piece by our door.)

Tree trunk. I thought the pattern of the bark was interesting, likely the result of frequent traffic by squirrels and other animals.

Red. (The print of my new, very comfy organic cotton pajama bottoms.)

Sparkle. (Sun sparkling off the creek current near my house.)

Sky + some trees. (Taken standing on the railroad tracks in my neighborhood.)

Smile. (The antenna topper on my car.)

Other happy-makers this week:

• Due to having had Monday off for Labor day, it was a short work-week, so Friday seemed to arrive faster. 🙂
• I truly enjoyed a photo essay I found via Twitter, “18 Places to Feel Dwarfed by Nature.”  These photos are breathtaking!
• Sleep.  I’ve had several good nights of sleep this week.

What made you happy in the past week?  Care to share?

Bowl Full of Encouragement + Other Inspiration

This past Friday, as part of the Mondo Beyondo lesson we were given a set of affirmation cards to print out.  It was suggested that we put them in a bowl or other receptacle and place them somewhere we’d see them every day.  Then, if we wanted, we could share a photo.  Here are mine:

My Mondo Beyondo affirmation cards in their bowl on my altar in my room.

You may notice they’re not in that bowl alone.  Having been given that assignment, I also printed out some inspirational quote cards that were mailing list goodies from Magpie Girl, and a set of Kind Over Matter quote cards, which you can find here.  I had already downloaded both, but hadn’t printed them on card stock because I didn’t feel I had a place to put them.  Not so anymore.

Having a little extra inspirational oomph to see every day has been, and I think will be, a good thing. 🙂

Other inspiring things in recent days:

1. Mumford & Sons’ Sigh No More: I cannot rave about this album enough!  It is unbelievably good, bolstering one in even the crappiest of moods.  (Or me, anyway.)  Particularly inspiring for me are the title track, plus “The Cave,” “Roll Away Your Stone,” and “Timshel.”
2. Alice Hoffman’s The Probable Future:  It’s a beautiful, complex novel predominately about how Fate and Destiny can change with every turn our lives take and every decision we make.
3. And The Next Chapter’s Phase II trip through The Happy Book is bringing so much inspiration and fun into photography for me, both last week and this week.  (If only my camera were functioning this week!)

What’s inspiring you these days?

Switch Off Sunday: Plans to Sink into a Novel and Sundry

It’s Sunday, which means I’ll be participating in Goddess Leonie’s Switch Off Sunday.   The basic premise:  to spend all or part of the day away from the computer and/or the internet, with or without a list of Glorious Possibilities.

This week, I’m not taking the entire day switched off.   I’ll be offline from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. local time…Eight hours, I think, is enough.  If, after that, I want to continue being offline, fine.  If not, fine.

This week, my main intention is to sink into a beautiful novel, Alice Hoffman’s The Probable Future.

Aside from that, I’m going grocery shopping, which I find enjoyable.  Past that, I have no plans, and will just see what I feel like doing.

Have a blessed and restful Sunday, y’all!