Thursday, October 11, 2018

Today was a gift to me of refreshment in the midst of it all



















Today was a real gift to me.
I was able to be home in solitude all day.
I had quiet, other times beautiful music, including this:


I realized yesterday, with some surprise and sadness, that I had read 
almost all of Miss Read Thrush Green books. 
I have been so blessed by these quiet peaceful books.
Often when things have been difficult, 
I would go visit Thrush Green, book by book, and peace would return.
I realized, also with some surprise, that I had forgotten what it was like
to have something to look forward to the next day.
What a sad state of affairs I have been in for quite a while, that way.
Not that I never had things to look forward to, 
but that sense of delight, solitude and inward happiness that can never
be grabbed at but only given, usually unexpectedly.
Anyway, visiting Thrush Green gave me this, esp. at times and it was such 
a solace for me. 
So this morning I relished in a quiet morning,
it was raining and grey,
I had delicious tea, and I read and later enjoyed a small bit of chocolate
before a simple lunch.
One cannot create these moments, they are simply given as a gift. 
Of course, one can do things to open oneself up to them,
for me reading Miss Read, my morning habit of a pot of tea, using 
my beautiful china, it all lead me towards this refreshment.
I also got a lot done that afternoon, folding clean laundry, washing many loads,
dishes, dishwasher, moving books to my office nook 
(isn't it lovely? I don't use it often at present but it is a closet in our office
so that my Husband has most of the office for himself as I have so much 
in the rest of the house that is more 'mine' as it were). 
and I even decluttered my sewing table in the livingroom.
I have not had a chance to sew much in a long time, I keep hoping but
often what I find I need first is reading, 
it helps me with the unbloggable and having a bit of refreshment
and peace that I can then have to bless my Husband with also,
is paramount in the midst of our personal challenges.
And it is not that today did not have struggle,
oh no, my friend's and their very difficult news was very much with me
and it took work for me to gain the peace and sense of cozy rest that I 
needed after being plunged into such ice-cold hard news and an afternoon in NYC yesterday.
And next week I most probably will be in NYC 3 different days so today
was even more important that today I had some quiet.
I've not had much solitude in the last bit and it was very restorative...
candles at night for dinner and a hot bath was helpful also.
Something I have learned and am learning that sometimes the best thing I can 
do when other people's worlds are tumbling down, 
is to maintain peace and create it in my home, in myself,
it took me a long time to realize that it is not wrong to 
be happy (i.e. have refreshment, quiet and restoration if one can get it) when 
another person is in such grief. 
I am seeing now that the only way I can give
to another is if I have something to give and if I let myself
be worn out without doing anything to get rest,
I will have nothing to give, nothing to offer.
And so today, 
I am grateful for the gift of it,
of the gift of beauty, quiet and restoration that I experienced
in the midst of it all.

7 comments:

Tracy said...

Glad you are having some times of slowness, quiet and refreshment after some busy days lately... and all the rest. LOVE your closet office and how much you've maximized a small space--brilliant! The Blue Bird is such beautiful music! Books, music, tea, they do lift a day. :) Be taking good care, my friend ((LOVE & HUGS))

Nancy said...

A very relaxing post.

Elizabethd said...

You are so right to say that to give to another one has to be in a place where one has that strength. Little times of peace and quiet are essential during a day. I find the odd half hour with a book is very restorative.

Becki said...

This idea of being happy and at peace when, say, a loved one another is struggling is something I wrestle with. I don't know that it's bad to wrestle with it since the root of it, I think, is wanting to honor (and not forget) the one who is struggling, but it is good to work toward peace of mind when others need our emotional support. We'd not be terribly supportive if we're bound up in our own emotional quagmire over their struggle.

The books I've found give me what it seems Miss Read books give you are the Mitford series books (by Jan Karon). After an hour of reading, I feel like I've been in the company of friends. And when reading one of them and life finds me experiencing a frustrating moment, the question pops into my brain, "What would Father Tim do?"

You have made me curious about Miss Read books. I need to get my hands on one and experience her for myself. :)

elizabeth said...

Tracy, thanks so much!!! yes, that music and these things are such blessings!

Thanks Nancy!

Elizabethd - yes. and books and quiet reading are so restorative!

Becki - yes - I do too. The book _Becoming a Healing Presence_ is actually articulating a lot of what I am learning about this... it's not that one is not saddened by the struggle of a friend, but if we are worn down by it or, another way to put it is if we are drowning in the sea of another's suffering, then we can't offer a spot in a lifeboat or offer a life-saving device to another. It does not mean not caring or being compassionate. It's a hard thing to figure out and everyone needs to do this in a way that works for them and where they are at.

The Miss Read books were an inspiration to Jan Karon so you MUST look into them!!!!!! I do need to revisit her books :)

Becki said...

Oh, I definitely must, then! Thank you for telling me this, Elizabeth. :)

elizabeth said...

You are most welcome Becki! :)