My harvest withers. Health, my means to live –
All things seem rushing straight into the dark.
But the dark still is God. I would not give
The smallest silver-piece to turn the rush
Backward or sideways. Am I not a spark
Of him who is the light? Fair hope doth flush
My east. – Divine success – Oh, hush and hark!
George MacDonald
A Diary of an Old Soul
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“Let your white page be ground, my print be seed,
Growing to golden ears, that faith and hope shall feed.”
~ George MacDonald
Why write? Or pursue any other creative endeavor? I’ve been thinking about this as I’ve been reading a lovely book called Writing Motherhood: Tapping into Your Creativity as a Mother and a Writer by Lisa Garrigues. The author really is making my brain whirl with ways we can write from our everyday lives. While she specifically is focusing on mothers, I have found so many tidbits, quotes, and little ideas for general writing, especially as I get deeper into the book. As I thought of this question above, at first, I panicked. I felt a huge need to write beautifully about this and automatically felt this need to justify creativity. However, once I calmed down a bit, I realized, in my heart of hearts I knew why I write. So, here’s a small list that I’m thinking on and refining in my heart:
Have you thought through why you write or pursue your creative bent? I’m sure my reasons will shift a bit in different seasons, but this is a start.
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{a nature journal entry from January- the children and I enjoy doing these together!}
Hello Book Friends! What did you end up reading in March? This is what I finished in March, busy month, I’m slowing down physically, as I’m due with another child soon. I started many fantastic books and hopefully, I’ll be able to finish some of those.
Devotions: The Selected Poems of Mary Oliver by Mary Oliver (****) – This was a 450+ page anthology of Oliver’s poetry. I checked it out from the library following her death earlier this year. Oliver is one of my favorite modern poets, A Thousand Mornings, being my favorite collection of hers. Overall, I loved this and really enjoyed revisiting poems I’ve read before over the years as this is a collection from most of her poetry books. Poetry seems to really be feeding my soul during the last bits of winter and into early spring.
The Invisible Child: On Reading and Writing Books for Children by Katherine Paterson (****) – I love digging into the minds of authors and this book was wonderful for that. This is a collection of essays on life, reading, and writing by the author of the delightful Bridge to Terabithia, among many other things. I had to read it slowly, but it was fantastic and I jotted down many quotes in my commonplace.
The Holy Bible (*****) – Matthew, Mark, a little bit of the Psalms. So lovely to just keep rereading over Jesus’ life. I’m really blessed by this practice!
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{Brambly Hedge ~ Jill Barklem}
A TIME TO GATHER
A time to gather, a time to reap
the fruits we’ve planted, hoping to bear peace.
The seeds have fallen so many months ago:
the harvest of our life will come.
In tenderness is life’s beauty known;
and as we listen the morning star will shine.
The days go by; why not let them be filled
with new and surprising joys?
A time for kneading love’s leaven well,
to open up and go beyond ourselves;
And as we reach for this moment, we know
that love is a gift born in care.
A time for hoping and being still,
to go on turning away from brittle fear.
A time to come back with all of one’s heart
and bending to another’s call.
This is our journey through forests tall;
our paths may differ and yet among them all
life’s dreams and visions sustain us on our way
as loving gives birth to joy, gives birth to joy.
Gregory Norbert, Weston Priory
Celtic Daily Prayer, p. 644-645
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A.M. Pine - Hearth Ridge Reflections 