On, In, and Around Mondays: Snip by Snip Approach to Goals

The thorn bush has overtaken its space in my front yard.

Prickly stems with teardrop leaves reach into the azalea, hover over hosta, poke the leaves of the chocolate plant.

I can't believe what it takes to tackle this goal of mine, to bring the thorn bush back into shape. First I must buy a better pair of clippers. Then find a suitable pair of women's gloves (the store only has semi-suitable, but I buy them anyway... leather on the palms will provide some needed protection). I need a sunny day when the spot is still in shadow, because I seem sun-allergic if I'm out in the strongest light. 

Then it's a job that requires patience. I can't reach straight to the heart. Too much in the way. I feel a bit daunted, as I begin snipping the outer rim, taking off no more than about 8 inches at a time. Snip, toss. Snip, toss. The detritus pile grows, the bush shrinks.

It takes a long time, but in the end, I've got what I wanted (despite also getting what I didn't want... a few well-placed pierces to the tender skin). Anyway, I have it now. A small thornbush, nicely rounded, looking like it belongs. In Fall, I'll get the red berries and the orange leaves. A lovely fire bush that will make me smile.
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On, In and Around Mondays (which partly means you can post any day and still add a link) is an invitation to write from where you are. Tell us what is on, in, around (over, under, near, by...) you. Feel free to write any which way... compose a tight poem or just ramble for a few paragraphs. But we should feel a sense of place. Would you like to try? Write something 'in place' and add your link below.

If you could kindly link back here when you post, it will create a central meeting place. :)



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This post is also shared with Laura Boggess, for...

Making Your Way

What if there is something you need to be born to today?

How will you make your way?

One little tap at a time in a determined direction.

And suddenly, seemingly overnight, everything will feel open and filled with possibility.

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My favorite form of self-reflective tapping is an occasional return to Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way. It might not be for you. But it might be.

Life Words

My spouse gave a beautiful sermon today, about taking a stand. This was no easy task, considering how well-worn the assigned passage was — the three men in the fiery furnace ("Rack, Shack and Benny," as Veggie Tales affectionately calls them).

I listened intently enough throughout, but it was a small bit at the end that really spoke.

At some point in the message, the story had been told, of a Japanese diplomat named Chiune Sugihara,* who'd been ordered to leave Lithuania in the summer of 1940. It was wartime. The diplomat packed his bags, but upon looking out his window noticed crowds pressed up against his fence... Jews who wanted exit visas, who wanted life.

The long and short of it is that Sugihara defied his government and handwrote visas, 300 a day for 29 days. And here's the bit that spoke: "His small act impacted the lives of thousands of people....And all he did was sit down and write, every day, for 29 days."

All he did was sit down and write.

It occurred to me, there in the morning light, in my little log cabin church, that this is my charge. To sit down and write, whether it be blog posts or notes, emails or books. For 29 days, or weeks, or years... who knows. I may defy nothing in this act. Or I may defy many things. The choice is mine.

What shall I do with my 29 days, or weeks or years?

I want to sit down and write. Life words.


*Click on "watch trailer" to see a brief clip about Sugihara

Stream photo by Sara. Used with permission.

Note: I leave for the Calvin Festival on Wednesday. So I'll not be writing here again until next week. I have many people to meet and decisions to make, so if you might, keep me in your prayers.

Tomato Abstinence

If we can't abstain from eating a tomato out of season, why should we expect our teenagers to abstain from, well, that pre-marital "activity"?

Essentially, this is Barbara Kingsolver's question, in a chapter called "Waiting for Asparagus", in her new book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle.

Says Kingsolver, "We're raising our children on the definition of promiscuity if we feed them a casual, indiscriminate mingling of foods from every season plucked from the supermarket, ignoring how our sustenance is cheapened by wholesale desires." (p.31)

After a year of trying to eat local, Kingsolver doesn't hesitate to say such bold and bothersome things. After all, she's discovered a deeper love for food. Food at its freshest. Food at its tastiest. Food that exacts less cost on both the natural world and our bodies.

So now I'm mulling this one over. Tomatoes in December? Or abstinence 'til July? (I know, maybe I could only answer this honestly come December!)


My Green Tomato photo, by L.L. Barkat.

Seedlings Invitation: If you write a post related to this post and Link It Back Here, let me know and I'll link to yours.

RELATED:

L.L.'s local tea brew

NEW LINKS TO THIS POST:

L.L.'s Formerly Known as Delicious

Suzanne's Animal Vegetable Miracle

Relational Engagement

So, I said I'm going to work on a few good relationships. Where to begin? I'll start by spending time with The Few instead of The Many. But that won't make the few relationships automatically good.

Today, I picked up (again) The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work. I want to try Gottman's six-week exercise on nurturing fondness and admiration. Call it my effort at relational engagement. I'll try to record the exercise in my journal.

Here's Week One of the exercise, and I think it can be modified if a person wanted to use it parent-to-child, friend-to-friend (maybe even co-worker to co-worker). If anyone modifies it, let me know what you substitute. I'd be interested...

Week 1

Monday
Thought: I am genuinely fond of my partner. (We're supposed to "think" this even if we don't think it!)
Task: List one characteristic you find endearing or lovable.

Tuesday
Thought: I can easily speak of the good times in our marriage. (We're supposed to "speak" of them, even if we have nothing to say.)
Task: Pick one good time and write a sentence about it.

Wednesday
Thought: I can easily remember romantic, special times in our marriage. (We're supposed to "remember" even if we seem to have amnesia.)
Task: Pick one such time and think about it.

Thursday
Thought: I am physically attracted to my partner. (We're supposed to find "attraction" even if we're put off.)
Task: Think of one physical attribute you like.

Friday
Thought: My partner has specific qualities that make me proud. (We're supposed to be "proud" even if we're just irritated.)
Task: Write down one characteristic that makes you proud.

Feel free to ask me if I've gone through with my relational engagement exercise. (Not that I'll tell you my secret thoughts or anything!)

Everybody's Engaged Illustration, by Sara.

Smallness of Scale

In my last post, "Erosion Control," I mentioned Wendell Berry's Peru-farming observations. I want to discuss each observation as a way to approach life in general. Today is "smallness of scale."

As Berry looked out over the fields, he noted...

"For those fields hold their soil on those slopes, first of all, by being little. By being little they protect themselves against erosion, but their smallness also permits attention to be focused accurately and competently on the details." (p 26)

"The fields have to be the right size; to make them too big would be to destroy them....What I was thinking, then, looking down at the little fields of the Andes, was that the most interesting, crucial, difficult questions of agriculture are questions of propriety. What is the proper size for a farm for one family in a given place? What is the proper size for a field, given a particular slope, climate, soil type, and drainage?" (p.43)

How can I apply Berry's "smallness of scale" ideas to my life— to keep things intact or, better yet, to encourage abundant growth? I thought of a few ways I already do this...

• In homeschooling my kids, I keep our lessons short and sweet. Children learn quite a lot in small spaces of time.

• Buying a small house has meant we have less to clean, care for, spend money on, and pay back in mortgage cost.

• In choosing a small dinner plate, I find that I eat an appropriate amount of food.

• I developed and follow (though not slavishly) a 30-Day Meal Plan.

• In reading just a little bit of scripture each week, I eventually make it through my whole bible every so once in a while.


Some new ways I want to incorporate "smallness of scale"...

• get on-line for shorter time periods, and on fewer days (I think I'll try posting on Tues/Thurs for awhile, instead of Tues/Thurs/Fri... I'm over on Green Inventions on Wed/Fri, and my daughter's picture of the Sermon on the Mount, complete with computer on the "me, me, me" side, has made me realize I've once again slipped into too much computer time.)

• focus deeply on a few good relationships

• read only the best books (put the boring ones aside, without guilt!)


So what about you? How might you use "smallness of scale" to make life good, or just prevent erosion?

(If you do a post on "Smallness of Scale," let me know. I'll link to you. Speaking of links, check out what Craver & Son did in response to my "Blessed are The" post. Check out his comment in the original post too. Cool.)

Turtle in His Small Home. Photo by Sonia.


NEW LINKS TO THIS POST:

Smallness of Scale

Narcissus Gone Wild

Smaller Scale Meets Toy Closet

30-Day Meals

Smallness of Scale As I See It

Big Things

Caffeine Addiction