Talking Tuesday: Tony Woodlief

An excellent reflection on the mortal coil and the condition of the soul by Tony Woodlief, writing about the death of actor Philip Seymour Hoffman.  Read the whole thing--it is well worth it, and not very long.  

"Things have never been better in the realm of the measurable. But the human soul has no gauge. It has no quantity and so no self-respecting scholar will come near it. This world is better than it has ever been, so long as we forget that we have souls, and hearts that beat despite being broken.

This is not a brief against progress. I have the luxury of this lament because I do not have to spend all my hours scratching out subsistence. I am only trying to say that something has gone missing. We aren’t measuring wrong things, it’s just that we’ve forgotten what is immeasurable. And if we cannot remember this part of humanity, we will turn every good thing against ourselves. Man is, in the end, a creature who flees pain.

And where may he run, to be free from a life that is, by every scientific measure, less painful than ever, yet somehow more inviting of despair?

I have run many places and never found refuge. At best I’ve achieved brief forgetfulness, the price of which is recalling, when you come back to yourself, what you did to forget. I do not know the shape of hell, but I think it is a spiral."

Tony Woodlief, "Past Where Legs Can Carry", Sand in the Gears Blog, February 6, 2014

Let Me Say Once More That I Love You...

In our current culture, (and I'm super guilty of this) we tend to use the word "love" for almost everything, from the extremely mundane to the supremely sublime.  It's not that the English language doesn't have gradations for words to indicate strength of feeling or simple preference, but most of us default to the simple love.

Lest you think I'm here to talk about how we shouldn't use it so much, or that we've devalued the word, or whathaveyou, that isn't my focus at all today.  In fact, I'm here to say that we don't say it nearly enough, especially when it really matters.  I think it is important to tell people that we love them, and not just on special occasions.  Everyone is struggling with something, and usually the people who need love the most are the ones who appear to need it the least.  I'm a fairly private person, and it is difficult for me to express myself emotionally, and I think sometimes that comes off as aloofness, or coldness.  The opposite is actually true--I feel so deeply, so strongly, that I can't articulate it adequately, and I'm afraid of being rejected.  But I know that when love is expressed to me, it lifts me up, pulls me out of myself, helps me to see others and love them too.  Sometimes hearing a simple "love you" or "sending love" or even reading a closing on an e-mail that is signed, "love" from a friend can make a huge difference to my day.  It can be the difference between hope and despair.  I'll be the first to admit that it is hard to do sometimes.  What will the other person think?  I feel uncomfortable sharing my feelings!  Push past the discomfort and do it anyway.  You just might save a life.  And perhaps that life might be your own.

Odds and Ends, Vol. 4

I've amassed another list of articles, so time for another edition of Odds and Ends!  I'm glad that some of you are enjoying this feature.  I'm hoping to make some blog buttons to go along with the regular features here, but first things first.

Jen Fulwiler on why it is important to take time to rest, and on the importance of adhering to a sane daily schedule.  I really needed to read that this week.

Rod Dreher on the importance of telling stories.  I know this is becoming somewhat of a theme on this blog, but the loss of shared cultural narrative in the West troubles me very much, and I'm interested to hear what thinking people have to say about it, as well as what to do to save the stories we have.

Amazing photos of a frozen cave along Lake Superior.

How to raise a pagan kid in a Christian home.  The ways that we can subtly undermine our own teaching in the home, or worse, fail to pass on our values, our beliefs, our stories to the next generation.

The stuff priests are made of.  These photos gave me goosebumps--fearless priests and monks facing the riot police, in the no-man land between the angry protesters and the authorities in Ukraine.  It has never been more important to pray for the peace of the world.

Why the phrase "Do What You Love, Love What You Do" is not only fallacious, it undermines the menial work that makes up much of life.  Long, but worth reading.

For those of us who come out of academia, the phrase "publish or perish" is just part of the deal.  Sarah Kendzior writes why this might be a bad thing.

Notes on Nursery Rhymes--how the stories we tell our children form a collective cultural narrative.

Men and women experience time differently, and it affects how they parent and perceive household duties.  This article was quite fascinating to me, as I've done a lot of research and writing on time.

How Place Fosters Art.

Amazing photo portraits of a five year old recreating old paintings.

And in a similar thread (for those who haven't seen it): Flemish self portraits in an airplane lavatory.

Why communal spaces are important (and please do follow the embedded links to the anti-ergonomic park benches.  They are funny and sad at the same time.  I live in a city that struggles with high poverty rates, and I get why loitering needs to be curtailed (broken windows theory certainly applies here), but the commons are important for vital city life, and I'm interested in how to preserve it in ways that serve the needs of the majority of residents.

Can't have an Odds and Ends without Matt Walsh, and he's killing it with this one.

Christy reflects on Chesterton's thoughts about the importance of freedom in the home.

Meagan Francis talks about This Tenuous Life and the resilience and fragility of humans.

Jenny's Wellness Project.  I'm taking notes.

Cheers for Chubby, a funny little video from the 1950s that playfully demonstrates how to get fit and healthy.

A funny: if company slogans were honest.

Glennon at Momastery writes about how social media can interfere with real life (but also provides reasonable ways to live with social media).  I'm reading her book, Carry On Warrior, and am highlighting something every few pages!

Also from Glennon, The questions that can save your relationship.  My favorite part is the description of her day with littles.  "How was my day? Today has been a lifetime. It was the best of times and the worst of times. There were moments when my heart was so full I thought I might explode, and there were other moments when my senses were under such intense assault that I was CERTAIN I'd explode. I was both lonely and absolutely desperate to be alone. I was saturated -- just BOMBARDED with touch and then the second I put down this baby I yearned to smell her sweet skin again. I was simultaneously bored out of my skull and completely overwhelmed with so much to do. Today was too much and not enough. It was loud and silent. It was brutal and beautiful. I was at my very best today and then, just a moment later, at my very worst. At 3:30 today I decided that we should adopt four more children, and then at 3:35 I decided that we should give up the kids we already have for adoption. Husband -- when your day is completely and totally dependent upon the moods and needs and schedules of tiny, messy, beautiful rug rats your day is ALL OF THE THINGS and NONE OF THE THINGS, sometimes within the same three minute period. But I'm not complaining. This is not a complaint, so don't try to FIX IT. I wouldn't have my day Any.Other.Way. I'm just saying -- it's a hell of a hard thing to explain -- an entire day with lots of babies."

Spot on.

Yarn Along: Knit for Victory Sweater Progress, Thoughts on late 19-teens clothing, and Carry On, Warrior

Time for a knitting update!  I didn't quite make the deadline for Knit for Victory last week (drat!), but I have made tremendous progress on the sweater!  I've got one more sleeve to knit and then the final construction, but lookie:



I did the collar last night--I picked up stitches around the neck edge on a straight needle, quickly realized I couldn't knit it on the straight, so put it on circular size nines and off I went.  I sewed the edges down at the front.  The color in the top photo is a little truer to the actual color.

Fit is decent and I can get it over my ginormous head!  Yeah for that!  I wanted the V to be pretty high and I brought the shoulders in slightly as I was knitting to account for my narrow shoulders.  I'll have to do a finished outfit post when I complete the other side.

 

I finished Downton Abbey season four last week while I was knitting like a fiend, (no spoilers, promise!), and am seriously having Downton Abbey fashion envy.  I ordered this book:

 

as I own the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s versions and have been having a visual feast since it arrived.  I realized that I really love the 1919-1922 fashions, before the flapper look really took over.  (Not to mention that dropped waists look really, really bad on me)

 Yes, this.  I basically want Edith's wardrobe (but not her troubles, ha!)  I noticed that Wearing History is coming out with a Great War suit and I think I might have to get that later this spring!!  I found some 1920s inspired pieces on ThredUp yesterday, so watch this space for a DA-inspired outfit!  I'm working out what to do with my hair.

The truth is that I've hit that point in my nursing that I'm thoroughly sick of everything in my closet.  I'm ready to tuck things in, or not be unbuttoning or unsnapping something all the livelong day, tired of surplice necklines and having my weight fluctuate three pounds every day.  I'm craving comfort in my wardrobe, especially with all this nasty weather we're having.  I've not done a proper wet set in over a week, and I'm just so tired.  Ponchik is getting up every 90 minutes on the average, and no one is sleeping during the day, so I just feel run ragged.  All my clothing is just a little bit off still--either a little too big (and looks sloppy) or a little snug or just not nursing friendly.  While I love the fitted silhouette of the 1940s, I want some looseness to my clothing, and the immediate post-Great War era seems to be just the thing right now.  

I also bought Glennon Melton's book Carry On, Warrior last week and have been devouring it as well. I'm highlighting passages constantly!  I read Momastery only occasionally, and this book seems to be a best-of from the blog.  

Go see Ginny for more wonderful creations!

Talking Tuesday: Meagan Francis

A good reminder for a snowy slippery day, during this long winter.  (I have this article saved for a future edition of Odds and Ends, which will probably post soon--I've got quite a list of links going again!)

"Life is fragile and dangerous. Yet I am healthy and safe.  One of the great mysteries of being human is that both of those things can be true at the same time. Everything is risk, yet most of us manage to skirt disaster. There are no guarantees that we’ll live to see another day, but the odds are pretty strong in our favor."

Meagan Francis, The Happiest Home, Sunday Morning Tea: This Tenuous Life, January 26, 2014

Talking Tuesday: Chesterton

via

Christy from Fountains of Home posted an excellent short reflection on Chesterton this week, and the main quote she used really stood out to me: 

"But the main point is that the world outside the home is now under a rigid discipline and routine and it is only inside the home that there is really a place for individuality and liberty." 

G.K. Chesterton, "The Drift From Domesticity" in The Thing, 

as quoted in Fountains of Home, January 26, 2014

I'm thinking I need to get into some Chesterton, stat!

Odds and Ends, Vol. 3

Time for another edition of Odds and Ends!  I seem to find myself with another growing list of great articles to share, so time to post them!

A Modern Conversion (how one "becomes" Orthodox)

Why Curation is a Good Idea (this list is one of them!)

Six Elements that Make a Post go Viral, or, the quest for cultural narrative.

McDonald's Is the New Commons, and why it is important to retain public gathering spaces, especially as our societies age.

Top 75 Pictures for 2013.  Stunning, truly stunning.

Alan Jacobs reflects on ways of thinking, especially for writers. From the article: "The key point here is: get out of your comfort zone, your echo chamber. But don't do so by seeking out the crowd-pleasers and rabble-rousers from outside your typical group (unless you’re trying to understand sociological phenomena). If you’re a conservative who wants to understand liberalism, don’t bother with Michael Moore; if you’re a liberal who wants to understand conservatism, don't bother with Sarah Palin; if you’re an unbeliever who’s curious about Christianity, ignore Joel Osteen; if you’re an orthodox Christian trying to get a fix on atheism, steer clear of Bill Maher."

Thinking about seasonality, and how the modern world is flat.  Personally, I'd welcome a public return to the cycles of feast and fast, tied to a publicly known agricultural cycle.  Our brief sojourn in Austria, which still observes many of these customs, was delightful in that way.

And in a related brief reflection, Mat. Anna writes about Holy Days.

In Russia, "How are you?" isn't merely a formality; it is a serious question that asks one to divulge the true state of one's life.  I've never re-accustomed to the American usage, although I've trained myself to observe it.

A friend writes about her resolutions for the New Year.  Everything she wrote, I second.  She articulated exactly what has been on my mind lately.

And Matt Walsh, on parenting and public education.  (Warning: he is a little polemical) I've definitely been thinking about this article.

A decade of winter!

And finally: The Mythology of the French Woman.  Rod Dreher's kitchen sink post on the same topic is also worth reading.  It would appear that our fascination with French ways is in some part a reaction to the public loss of common sense.