June, 2024
My personal meditation practice took an interesting turn when I came across this book recently. It talks about a modern interpretation of an ancient Tibetan practice called Chöd.
I’m pretty sure we have all had thoughts, feelings, or even physical pain that we just want to get rid of, and there are practices that focus on “clearing” them out – removing them. There are examples I can think of in Christian prayer as well as many forms of healing work.
Chöd takes a different approach. Instead of asking or seeking to be rid of these things, we should consider why they are there, what they want, and then give it to them. The idea is then that, once satiated, they will abate and perhaps even transform into an energy that can be helpful and healing.
It’s a very specific and detailed practice, and I can’t claim that I’ve applied much rigor to my experiments, but I have found it helpful and effective. Having said that, it’s a little bit of a trust fall to honor or almost befriend the thing that is causing you pain. I was intrigued, though, by the serendipity of the fact that, having never heard anyone mention it before, I almost immediately learned that someone I know well is so interested in it that she is going to Tsultrim Allione’s center in Colorado for a Chöd retreat.
It reminds me of the Internal Family Systems approach, and similar approaches, to talk therapy. My very, very simplistic interpretation being that the more you try to deny or get rid of something that is trying to get your attention, the more it will fight to survive.
October, 2023
Why am I grateful this #ThankfulThursday to Ali Manning of @vintagepage designs?
Is it a coincidence that I finally developed the #morningpages habit just as I was introduced to the #handmadebookclub?
Just today I wrote the final pages and added another completed journal to this stack of hand-mades from the past year
Fortunately, I have a stash ready to go. Which one would you choose next?
March, 2022
I’ve been aware of Arthur Brooks as a “think tank” guy, and more recently as someone who writes for The Atlantic magazine. Recently, my husband came across an interview he did on the 10% Happier podcast for his new book From Strength to Strength, and we listened to it while on a road trip to Tucson. Then, we each got the book. Wasteful, perhaps, but he likes hard copy, and he likes to write all over his hard copy, and he likes to read his hard copy at the cigar bar, so that by the time he finishes, let’s just say, well-loved and stinky. I suppose I could have read it first, but neither of us wanted to wait.
Which is a long way of saying we were pretty intrigued. He and I have talked about a lot of these concepts before, but there was some great new language about the second stage of life – not a retirement planning book really, more about finding meaning as you go through life’s inevitable transitions, many of which are driven by simple biology.
Each of us really was compelled to keep talking about it. For my part, I reached out to three women that I thought might indulge me in some conversation. It’s hard to do any kind of book club thing when you are busy, and we are iin four different places in the country and three time zones, but we’re doing it – April 1 is our date. I didn’t even want them to have to bow out if there wasn’t time to read the book, so I created a little cheat sheet, and maybe I’ll do a video.
I especially want to talk to these women, because as much as I really liked the book, he does seem to me to have a man’s perspective, and a lot of the research cited only used men as subjects. That’s what my husband called a “Brene Brown problem”. She outed herself shortly after publishing a lot of her work on shame, and said she hadn’t adequately incorporated men’s point of view or experiences, something she has since worked hard to correct.
I’m so grateful to these women, that they would be open to my out-of-the-blue phone call asking them to indulge my craving for conversation.
Perhaps more later ….
August, 2021
I love living in Chicago, but I do miss my Atlanta quilting community. Several years ago, a small neighborhood bee I was part of decided to try an experiment, combining a book club with our quilting challenge. To keep it manageable we picked a 12 x 12 format. This is a little piece I made after we read a book called The Other Typist by Suzanne Rindell.
12 x 12 was a popular size for a number of challenge groups, and every year a local organization called the Southeastern Fiber Arts Association held a 12 x 12 pinup show for all fiber artists. The book club quilt challenge didn’t go on for very long, but SEFAA’s 12 x 12 pinup show has persisted, even going virtual during Covid.
June, 2021
One of the perks of being in Ali Manning’s Handmade Book Club are occasional workshops with teachers she brings in. One recent Sunday, Bel Mills of Scrap Paper Circus led a workshop using business reply envelopes to make this mail art wallet. Lots of ways you could take the collage design with this, and lots of possible uses to keep bits and pieces organized. It also gave me an excuse to buy and try a Crop-a-Dial for the little rivet closure. And then there was the new experience with clear gesso. So yes, it’s intended to be a project focused on up cycling, but no stash busting project feels complete without a new purchase or two! I love a workshop where you can actually complete the whole project by the time the session is over. Take a look at the video to see how this one works by clicking on the photo below.
