It was February and there was snow on the ground the last time I showed you the view out this window next to my drawing table. . . .
The temperature will rise to 91 degrees today, but for now it is still cool enough to have the window open as I type. The cicadas are already making a racket. You can see the path into the woods just to the left of the stained-glass peacock and the burial ground for my cats just to the right. I am amazed to see how much undergrowth has sprung up in our woods!
A year ago the post for August's View Outside My Kitchen Window was about all the plans I was making for hosting a Tasha Tudor birthday celebration. My question that month was related to the question I'd asked the month before. In that post I said I was taking some time away from the computer--which looking at my Archives I see that I did not! I had encouraged you to put aside things you might be addicted to in order to explore your creative side. The August post then asked whether your inner child was awakened or did you start some project you'd been wanting to do?
I'm realizing now that this past year's activities have been a kind of "undergrowth" in my life. Preparing for the Tasha Tudor gatherings and the friendships it has brought--my posts on The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady and the drawing/painting it requires--my newest web journal "I Come in the Little Things"--and the bi-weekly babysitting for our granddaughter have all brought me to this point: Advance confidently in the direction of your dreams.
I am once again preparing for Tasha's birthday celebration this month--the 100th anniversary. It is based on the theme for the coming year of gatherings which I've taken from Tasha's quote by Henry David Thoreau:
If one advances confidently in the direction
of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life
which he has imagined, he will meet with
a success unexpected in common hours."
At the birthday gathering I will have lots of hand-outs to help us discover what our dreams are and then how to move confidently in that direction. I'm calling it a mini-retreat because I'm sending them into the woods to walk the paths and find a bench or chair or swing on which to perch while they write in the journal I'm giving them. Then we'll gather again for some lively discussion!
My question to you this month: Do you have a dream that's sitting on the back burner? What would it take to get it moved to the front burner where you can give it your attention?
Here is the other view out my bedroom window. As you can see, this magnificent Spruce is dying. It had been planted by the previous owner about 37 years ago. Then just a few years ago a storm broke off the top half. I think this has allowed insects and disease to attack the tree. It has never been this brown before. I'm giving it one more year to see if it is just going "through a phase," then we'll have to take it down before it falls on the house. . . .
I'm already trying to envision what the area will look like without that tree. It will open up a whole new view. Perhaps that is the lesson here. Dead things must be cleared away to make way for new growth.
•*¨`*•. ☆ .•*¨`*•
Take Joy!
Your spruce tree lesson is one to ponder. As is your dream question. I don't have a clue, I'm so content, but I should give it thought. I would love to come to your TT 100th anniversary retreat!
ReplyDeleteContentment is good. Perhaps I am too restless! I can't imagine myself being content with anything for very long! 😊
DeleteYour gathering sounds amazing. I'm left again wishing I could easily come to one of them! I have lately been taking the time to consider what my very own dreams are. I think I easily become swept up in the dreams others have, and take them on board as my own. And then, in the midst, realize it's not really what I want to be doing or fun for myself. So I am really trying to figure things out on my own at this point. I have done a couple of things in the last two years that I thought would be wonderful for me, only for them not to live up to my expectations. I realize they were never my own dreams but sort of being swept into the feelings of others as well as partially something I enjoyed that I realize isn't the direction I want to go in. It feels like a nice, quiet time of year to think about all of this!
DeletePatricia, this is great that you're going to think about your own dreams! There are so many books out there that could help you if you get stuck. A place to start looking is your library's catalog under Subject: Self-actualization. I'm on the hunt for a fiction book that would be a good book discussion for our group--a story that has the character confidently going after her dream--that we could use to get some good conversation going.
DeleteReading this post and then the replys, I realize how many of us women don't know what our dreams for ourselves might be. We have been so busy being wives and mothers and care givers and homemakers, we don't have time to stop and dream. Personally I am limping to the finish line, hoping to retire in the next 2-3 years. I am ready NOW, but still need to tie up some loose ends. Maybe after I retire, I will have time to dream, right now I am just too tired keeping all the balls in the air!
ReplyDeleteAnd it is too hot to think right now.......104 today and for the next 10 days more of the same!
Keep doing what you are doing Cathy, this blog is certainly one of your gifts and I look forward to the little gatherings we have here!
Chris in Texas
Those temperatures can certainly strain our enjoyment of our ordinary days! Hang in there. It's got to get better sooner or later....right? In the meantime, as busy as you are, I hope you can plan at least 15 minutes a day of just YOU time, doing something you love--without feeling guilty about it. If you have to, go in the bathroom and lock the door! Sometimes that's the only way mothers can have privacy--although I can attest that it won't stop people from trying to get your attention anyway!
DeleteYou have such a wonderfully creative mind, Cathy, always exploring possibilities and encouraging others.
ReplyDeleteYou are a gift. And your gift of a mini retreat for your group sounds so lovely.
It appears that your spruce tree has green tips at the ends of those seemingly dead branches. Do you know an arborist or have you spoken to someone at your lovely garden center about it?
We don't have spruce trees but rather mostly different kinds of pine and fir and they do not do that. For them, a dead branch is dead and I've never seen end tips grow on one.
I wonder if it could have been a kind of winter kill and perhaps requires some pruning?? If it is a pest infestation, there may be other considerations for the rest of your forest.
Trees have such presence, it is hard to think of losing one. We've lost some major trees in storms but the ever changing views bring delights I could not imagine.
Cathy, as I read your posts, I see you as a contented woman - content with who God made you to be and because of that, you can explore the depths of His creation of you with Joy. I'm sure this is inspiring to many in your life who do not have that understanding yet.
Blessings!
The green tips are why we're giving it another year. We've had pine trees drop lots of needles some years and be fine the next. This Spruce, however, has already lost entire limbs. You used to not be able to see through it. Thank you for your sweet words. I like how you phrased what I called my restlessness in my comment to Dotsie--that I'm exploring the depths of God's creation of me. That is such a lovely thought--very uplifting. That is something we all should be doing because each of us is unique and have a purpose for being that God wants to help us fulfill.
DeleteMy dream was to be a mother & that was all I wished for. I am very contented & filled with love, anything else that comes along is a bonus.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your gathering
Fondly Michelle
Michelle, that was my dream, too. That you have daughters will help keep your dream alive much longer than mine was. Having only boys forces you to keep dreaming once they grow up.
DeleteI am pretty much a go-getter and my dreams are never on the back-burner, they are on the front-burner. I am pretty passionate about my goals; if I determine to do achieve something, build something or create something, I just do it. It may take awhile, depending, but I always get there in the end.
ReplyDeleteAlready having the resources to achieve your dream (your immense talent!) certainly helps to make them happen sooner rather than later. Ones stage in life also makes a difference for some people. I know plenty of women raised children while writing and illustrating books (look at Tasha Tudor!), but some of us aren't quite wired to do that. It really helps to know what your dream is so you can at least work on it in your spare time--but I think confidence is also a huge factor, so that is why our little group is going to band together and help build confidence in each other!
DeleteYour window views look so shady and refreshing! We had to remove the only shade tree in our yard several years ago due to disease. So, I feel your hesitance to loose your evergreen and for wanting to wait one more season. I do hope it revives. But, if it is so be lost, I know that it will, as you said, open up a whole new view and world for you to see through your windows!
ReplyDeleteI also understand about creativity and our need, sometimes, to hold it back until our lives and minds are a bit freer and roomier allowing it to flourish! While I have always had a crafty, creative side, it hasn't been until recently that I have allowed it to flow so freely! And, the invention of Pinterest has only fed the fire! LOL!! So many creative people out there...Great inspiration! Have a beautifully, creative weekend! ~ Donna E.
Ps...Your T. Tudor Gathering sounds lovely...I look forward to reading all about it! =)
Donna, the Internet has certainly given our inner artist a canvas on which to express itself! It's better than making our families listen to or look at our creations. Now we can just put it out there and hope someone responds--after all, there are millions of people who are our potential audience! And an artist needs an audience or else we tend to get lazy (at least I do!).
DeleteLovely to see such a different view out of your window! We have learnt that dreams will only be realised if you take small steps to make them happen and always have the vision of your dream ahead. Sarah x
ReplyDeleteExcellent advice, Sarah. Someone said if you don't try you've already failed. Something to think about!
DeleteI think the only dream I currently have that's "on the "back burner" is my dream house dream, and I "work" on that one so consistently that it almost feels as though it's an actual ongoing project. It may never actually be built, but the planning of it, the choosing of designs and furnishings and materials and colors, makes it feel quite real. And it's a ton of what my Dad called "no money fun." Things that could be done without spending a penny but were really fun to do. One of his favorites was to take us to the airport to watch planes take off and land. He'd park along one of the perimeter roads where we had an excellent view and didn't have to get out of the car. And we kids LOVED it! All good luck with your tree - I hope it comes roaring back next year. But you're smart to be thinking how your view may change if the tree is lost. We had a pretty bad ice storm here in upstate New York in March 1991. Power outages that lasted for as much as two weeks in places, and ice that felled a LOT of trees. The ice also damaged many trees, including the second biggest one on my parents' property - a huge old pine. Since 1966 we had played under that tree, gathered 1000s of pine cones, had countless family meals and parties beneath its scented shade. But it became clear after a few years that the old tree wasn't going to bounce back from the storm. Now 24 years later, it's bark-free and branch-free, and very clearly Gone. A straight whitish pole sticking up out of the ground - unrecognizable from the big, tall, thick, healthy green tree it once was. It's actually painful to see. Yet my brother, who now lives in my parents' house, just can't bring himself to remove it. I suspect HE thinks it would be closing a chapter, one he doesn't want to accept has ended. And I can understand that - it's probably how I'd feel too. So preparing yourself for the possibility of a change is really smart, and honest. Take care and talk to you soon...
ReplyDeleteJanet, I'm a big believer fun that doesn't cost money, too! It makes even more fun. That's why I started my doll house collection. I thought it was cheaper than redoing my own house! We have left lots of dead trees with just the tops cut off on our property and let the rampant ivy grow up them. There are two pines out by that Spruce that I use to have my clothesline strung between. When they died, Ken climbed to the top of a ladder and cut it off there. Now they're like columns anchoring my garden back there. One is so decayed that only the ivy vines, which are very thick, are holding it together and upright. Once we leave this property I hope to "visit" it just to see what the next owner does with it.
DeleteMy hopes and dreams have always revolved around my family and home. My "big" dreams have already been realized. I'm so blessed with a family to love and a home to be creative in. Simplicity is where I find peace. ♥
ReplyDeleteBeing able to find peace in this chaotic world is indeed a blessing!
DeleteHas it really been a year since you took the break from social media? Time has, indeed, flown so fast, for I remember it as if it were yesterday, not a full year ago.
ReplyDeleteAh, dreams ~~~ we are such stuff as dreams are made on ~~~
~~~ merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, life is but a dream ~~~ and so I keep on rowing, for my dreams to be reality some day ~~~ some have missed the boat and will never find fruition, but others come to take their place ~~~ my dreams are always changing, shifting focus, for life makes the need to change, be flexible, as long as we keep on dreaming ~~~ for now, keep on swimming out to meet our ship!
Oh, my! I'm rattling now on a lyrical wax!
Can you choose just one and focus on it? I know you have some restrictions on your life, but like the daily art challenge you were doing, you could at least start (and not worry about not finishing). In the meantime, you'd enjoyed yourself while working toward your dream. As they say, it's really all about the journey! ❤️
Delete