Thoughts for the New Year

 As the New Year is unfolding we are always inspired to think of the future and the past.  A perfect time to blog some personal thoughts, take a deep breath and think back on a worrisome and dramatic year in the life of our country and a war-torn world. Wondering how to survive what's ahead and how to be pro-active keeping courage. How to "cushion" our soul from being crushed by it.  How to take deep breaths and then push forward from sad to hopeful.  Giving up is not an option.  

My first thought turns to Wendell Berry's amazing poem:

THE PEACE OF WILD THINGS

by Wendell Berry

When despair for the world grows in me

and I wake in the night at the least sound

in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,

I go and lie down where the wood drake

rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.

I come into the peace of wild things

who do not tax their lives with forethought

of grief. I come into the presence of still water.

And I feel above me the day-blind stars

waiting with their light. For a time

I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

And each of us has a personal life to balance while we keep larger thoughts of the community, the country and our world in mind at the same time.  Each of us has our own personal ups and downs.  It's amazing, isn't it, that we manage it.  At least much of the time.  

You all know by now, that creating art is a mainstay in my mental health..whether it's painting, sketching, or Zentangle™.  It's my personal way of "lying down where the wood drake rests".  Although nothing beats actually being out there in the woods and I go there as often as I can.  

Maria Popova writes: "What if we awoke each morning with the bright awareness that every atom in our bodies can be traced to one of the stars— a particular star in the infant universe that made this particular body to sinew this particular soul across billions and billions of blind steps each one of which could have gone otherwise — we would be too wonder-struck by the miraculousness of it all to deal with the mundane. But the dishes have to be washed and the emails have to be written, so we avert our eyes from the majesty and mystery of a universe that made them in order to look at itself, from the majesty and mystery of what we are."

Actually, you might have an inkling of this once in awhile if you are allowing yourself to make art or spend time in a woods.  

And in conclusion I have to say that this winter ahead will be one of a variety of challenges for Greg and me.  For one thing I have finally decided to have my 2nd knee replacement surgery done (January 21). It's a decision not without angst for someone my age.  Weighing all the options and thinking about quality of living in my last years.  Obviously I have done this before and so I pretty much know what's ahead...making the decision even harder!  My husband and family have stepped up to support me and Oakwood is a good place to recover in.  On top of this Greg will have some out-patient surgery on January 9 to replace his DBS chest battery.  So we BOTH have some recovery ahead.  Prayers welcome.

A few of my recent Zenangles follow.  But before I leave I want to send you my hope for a positive New Year.  I wish you courage and joy.  I wish you safety and strength.  I wish you good health and new insights.  I wish you rest in the grace of the world.  Ginny