~Colette Pichon Battle (via)
We must have courage to admit we have taken too much.
~Colette Pichon Battle (via)
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A little snapshot of a few of the things I'm loving right now:
I had to restrain myself with the exclamation points - ha! I think they translate to, "delight!" Hope you take note of some the little, lovely things (delights!) around you too! Love, Jane A few alterations were on my to-do list today. As I picked the stitches, I realized that I have a sort of go-to set of alterations that ultimately point toward a settling into my personal style. It's not that my personal style is completely unique. It's just that having less clothing has made me tune in to the smaller details that help a garment earn my devotion. Removing the (beautiful) collar from this linen shirt makes it just a little more casual in my mind + will probably earn it more time on my body as a lounging-around-the-house top with shorts or as a tuck-it-in-to-high-waisted-pants top for work. This well-worn, vintage, army jacket had it's sleeves narrowed, buttons changed (so they'd all match), and large hole patched (again) recently. It's my favorite, super soft thing to throw on over a tee + overalls or jeans on these transitional spring days. (I'm surprised I didn't share the first patch that was stitched on our roadtrip to Asheville, North Carolina. (I love stitches with traveling memories.) It was a big, round, denim patch that was pretty cool, but sometimes I felt like I wanted something a little less conspicuous. It's getting worn more often now.) And these pants got the same ankle bone skimming hemline as all my others. What can I say? I just know what I like...on me.
(That army jacket benefitted from the offcuts from the same ankle bone skimming hemline on my army pants.) :) Taking time to get intimate with my clothing truly does reinforce my relationship with each piece. I reawaken to this connection with each intervention. The immense value of the farmer's time in sowing seeds, cultivating + harvesting natural fibers comes into focus. I feel gratitude for the process of spinning fiber into thread that gets woven into cloth. I consider the effects that the dyes have on surrounding waterways + the origins of the buttons, zipper + thread. I can imagine myself sitting shoulder to shoulder with the people who cut + stitched the garment together. I honor all the time + effort + work that went into each of my garments by wearing it again + again. I am honored to wear their handiwork...and the little that is mine too. Love, Jane Snippets from this week's drawn cards, journal entries, words read aloud together, thoughts + phone notifications (in chronological order): Rituals, however, are a way to keep ourselves educated about + in tune with our internal + external realities. When we let ourselves align with nature's ways, what is best + healthiest for us will appear clearly + instinctually. ~Sarah Kucera, Ayurvedic Self-Care Handbook The mint that dried itself on the counter. Fresh turmeric + ginger root. Lemon. Local honey. Anti-inflammatory. Ritual relaxation, presence, connection to what grows + nourishes. What does freedom mean to me? Freedom from the constraints of the way things are normally done. English is a noun-based language, somehow appropriate to a culture so obsessed with things. Only 30% of English words are verbs, but in Potawatomi that proportion is 70%. In that moment I could smell the water of the bay, watch it rock against the shore and hear it sift onto the sand. A bay is a noun only if water is dead. When bay is a noun, it is defined by humans, trapped between its shores and contained by the word. But the verb wiikwegamaa- to be a bay- releases the water from bondage and lets it live. ~Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass How would it change my view of shelter to think of indoor space after thinking of living in the world of living things- trees, sky, mushrooms, birds, milkweed, snow, moon...? Somehow my picture of my ideal shelter became smaller and the importance of furniture and a place for everything receded. It became only wall of windows and skylight. When we release our expectations + attachment to specific outcomes, we free the mind. ~Headspace The presence of one good outfit for the situation is comfort...is (possibly?) enough. That might be worth investigating further. Branches waving newly sprouted leaves in the breeze, the dance of the trio of robins in the grass, the alignment of that closest star, spinning planet and my own fingers creating shadow...all evidence that nature is home. All is interconnected. Love is the way forward. "univocity" (one voice) of all being ~John Duns Scotus "cosmic mutuality" ~Dawn Nothwehr Magical through lines.
Love, Jane "Whoever uses the spirit that is in him creatively
is an artist. To make living itself an art, that is the goal." - Henry Miller I think I first came across perfect white tee during a visit to my hometown. I pulled on a sweatshirt made of the softest cotton, and it fit just the way I like. The sleeves + the length were just slightly cropped. There were raglan sleeves, and it all hit just right on my high rise army pants. I so rarely get to try on fair clothing in a shop before making a purchase. This felt like a real treat, and I wore that sweatshirt for the rest of the trip.
Perfect white tee is designed in California, made with fabric milled in California + sewn in California too. Lovely photo via perfect white tee. I desire rituals in my life. I envision ritual as a moment when I tune in to goodness, beauty + connection. This morning, it occurred to me that my favorite rituals are often just the way we do life. I neglect to recognize them as rituals, but they become even more precious when named as such.
A few rituals that are very much worth remembering as such:
Reading this today (a month after I wrote it) reminded me of the richness of these moments ...again! I often wonder if these musings are worth putting out into the abyss...but today I feel the simple value myself. Let's take note of treasured moments + give them the name they deserve. Naming reminds me to maintain these practices...to see the sacred in them...to return to them again + again...ritual. Love, Jane Not everything is meant for you.
Even all the good stuff isn't meant for you. Limit what you allow in. From email + social media to opportunities + opinions, if it isn't meant for you, walk away. Usually, no explanation or response is necessary. P.S. When you are walking away from the stuff that isn't meant for you, you are taking steps towards what is. ~Courtney Carver When I came home that day + walked up the stairs, the light hit my eyes differently. I turned around + saw a shadow that in 13 years of living in this house I'd never seen before. The angle of the sun...the time of day...the lack of cloud cover...my attention...all aligned for just a moment. The sun streamed clear through the sliding door on one side of the house to this wall on the other side, and it was worth noticing.
I took this arguably unremarkable picture to send to my partner right away. Can you believe it? This light that I've never seen before!? Amazing! This is not the type of thing that I hear people speak of much, but it's the type of thing I'd love to have conversations about. Ross Gay talks about acknowledging such delights as an act of resistance. Ann Voskamp recognizes them as gifts of love. Richard Rohr recognizes characteristics of the Divine in such things. I feel the gutteral joy that can be experienced in such moments as a sort of homecoming to the most basic + deepest sense of ourselves. We reawaken to our knowing that our deepest self is connected to the center of it all...to Love. This beauty before us is an expression of Love...and in noticing...stopping...letting it penetrate to our essence...we connect...plug in...to our connection with that center... In this moment, we see clearly again. Namaste...the light in me sees the light in you...the beauty in me sees the beauty in you...the love in me sees the love in you. We are connected...in Love...connected to light, to sky + soil, to color + sound, to each other. From this place, completely immersed in Love, this is where joy + hope + compassion are found. Love, Jane March felt transitional in weather + dressing + feeling. Some days called for windows thrown open, weeding garden beds + clipping fresh chives, thyme + daffodils. Days later snow floated in the air. That's spring...a shift that is also a back + forth.
I took the shift as an opportunity to pull everything out of my closet + reassess ...again. The feeling that I have too much clothing had been poking me. This feeling was more disturbing than its opposing feeling (that I don't really have that much) was calming. Both things were true, but once the things that I decided to let serve someone else were removed, I felt so much more at peace. I listed for sale lots of things that I still like, because I decided that I don't like or wear them enough to hold space for them...space in my house + space in my mind. I sold shirts that I do like to wear to work. I just choose to wear other shirts more often. I listed lounge-y pants that I tried just this year. They are still in good shape, so someone else can start fresh with them. My objective is really to listen for peace. I'm trying to tune my dial to "enough". Too much feels just as uncomfortable as too little. I think society, consumerism, social media (whatever...something) tries to deaden the feeling of too much. Might it not be helpful to recognize the feeling of too much? What does it feel like to you? To me, too much feels like:
To me, less feels:
Forever tuning the dial to "enough", Jane |
on a journey toward zero-waste, simplicity, + compassion :: daring to choose fair one choice at a time
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