Linda July 1st, 2010
In between making dolly corsets and a 2 headed rabbit, I have been reading:
I heard this author on NPR (National Public Radio) one day while in the the car and found it intriguing. Lo and behold the library had it. It took me about 2 days to read it cover to cover. Now the first thing I must say about this book is that I did not agree with her final conclusion but found the information that she presented very compelling and touching. Barbara Bradly Hagardly is a religion correspondent for NPR. As she accounts in her book, she was raised christian science (my grandmothers sister was too which has caused not end of disapproval in my family). But has found that that “brand” faith was not working for her so she is now a “born-again” christian. As a reporter she wanted to delve into the question of spirituality and science–to see what science has to say about this very important part of our life and if science could approve or dis-prove our beliefs. What sticks with me the most is that when a person is “touched” by a divine incident that there is an actual change in the brain (she calls it God’s fingerprint). It is a documented fact–while people have been meditating or praying while in a MRI there is a noticeable/recordable change. This book piggyback on to another book that was mentioned in this one and again I head a brief interview on NPR.
John Geiger recounts stories of people in awful circumstances that while in the midst of these (mainly mountain climbers–all of the men as you will note and sailors–again men?! Whats with that I ask???) who feel or see a presence that aids and comforts them. The most famous being Sir Ernest Shackleton…while tracking across frozen ice and over mountains mentions the presence of a 4th man when there were only three of them. As Geiger points out, explorers are not surprised by hearing stories such as that because it is a know occurrence among them. These presences have steered ships, talked people down off of mountains, given hope and comfort, and alerted people to danger. He documents story after story of people experiencing this..and one of the things that they all have in common is that the “other” is very there, very real, and it is a very moving experience (almost to the point that most don’t talk about it, because to talk about it would “cheapen” the incident). Never do they experience fear but only overwhelming care and companionship. I read this book in a day.
Linda October 9th, 2008
Here is Agnes, in 2 outfits that I made. The first is made with some fabric that Scott gave me for Christmas..can’t remember the line (if you want to know, contact me and I can ask him..it might be Micheal Miller?!). It has little skulls with scissors on it—he bought it for me in 3 different color ways, very fun stuff. The one next to that is some stripped fabric that I found somewhere knowing that it would be a good fabric to have in my stash (who does not like black and white stripe???) I cut the skull out of another fabric and sewed it on..there are 3 layers of vintage lace and she has a big silk bow in the back. The outfits that you can buy from Tonner are very cool but…VERY expensive so I made my own. I bought her purely as a personal indulgence. So between big projects I use her as a way of relaxing but staying creative.
Yesterday the 8th of Oct, Scott and went out for our 19th anniversary. We spent a fun day in Duvall, Wa. Went to the doll store and then off to the Quilting store (Scott is going to teach a class there…the sign-up is already FULL!!!). We of course went to the used book store and found some awesome books, I found a back issue of “The Studio” (#14) for $1.50 (it has the original inserts/collage sheets), and the out of print book, The Way of the Doll by Cassandra Light for $6.00. Whahoo!!! I have been interested in buying this book for years. It is about doll making and inner healing, a subject that I have deep interest. Scott found some treasures too, one being a VERY old book of Dickens (whom he adores) and an old Kaffee Fassett book..ahhh, books are our favorites and weakness ;0) Then off to dinner. It was a lovely place called the Grange (sorry they don’t have a website) but they served all locally produced food only. It was relaxing and tasty—I had chicken curry (it has golden raisins in it–different that how I make it) and Scott had a big yummy burger…so big in fact that he had to eat it with a knife and fork. Nineteen years is a long time (at least in my book) and sometimes it was rough..we took a lot of childhood baggage into the marriage with us but I guess we are both too stubbornto give up LOL. I think we are better at seeing our relationship heading into the “touchy” zone and stopping it before it gets to far along. (I tried to write something here about marriage and time etc and it all came out sounding sappy, like a bad Hallmark card, so I will stop here with saying that it is work but it is very very good and I can’t imagine not being married to him ;0)
Linda June 11th, 2008
“Standing at Water’s Edge–Moving Past Fear, Blocks, and Pitfalls to Discover the Power if Creative Immersion”, by Anne Paris, PhD
I highly recommend this book. The past year or so I have been reading books on art and creativity and I found out about this one reading a Somerset magazine. In it the author writes, “My fundamental assumption is that is that creativity (and the hope that is needed to fuel our movement) comes from a state of experience that I call immersion. The experience of immersion is one of total connection and engagement. Literally, to immerse means to plunge into something that surrounds or covers. We usually think of immersing into water: an immersed object is completely suspended in liquid but not drowned by it. Immersion means to be totally absorbed or engrossed in an activity.” That is Anne Paris’s description of being in the “art zone”, as others put it.
She goes onto discuss the nature of immersion and what happens if we starve our selves of this experience (depression, anxiety, underachievement, anger, isolation, addictions etc). When we immerse we are putting “our self” out of the way and entering into ameditative/spiritual experience. Now I am sure that some of you may find this kind of description esoteric but I truly believe that we all have a “creative” spark in us and that spark calls us to be fellow creators. One point of hers that I found particularly interesting is the idea that we need 3 types of people in our lives to keep us healthy (and yes, she purports that we need community contrary to what messages our cultures gives us!). We need “heroes, mirrors and twins.” A hero is a person real or imaginary who we “look up to, to admire, and to please….We want to be like them and to make them proud of us.” A twin is described as “being with a like kind…..Relationships with ‘twins’ help us feel understood and understandable; our feelings and experiences make sense and we find comfort in the awareness that we are all alike”. And finally a mirror is a person who “see(s) our specialness and…reflect(s) it back to us…these people (who) validate our strengths, and our talents and our uniqueness….” Dr. Paris points out that these people can be real or imaginary (this was a new thought for me!!)…a hero could be a dead grandparent and a twin could be a imagined person.
