24/24/24

 They say that when you sit at a computer for a long time, you should practice the Rule of 20...every 20 minutes look 20 feet away for 20 seconds.  Sound advice to save our eyes from fatigue...and perhaps even our sanity at times.  I was reminded of that health tip today after texting with a friend who SO wanted to stop the work she was doing, because as she put it, she was "feeling drawn to pen some words."  I encouraged her, as I did everyone on Day Three of my blog, to take just 15 minutes and write what she saw out her window. I was hoping that this might energize her, letting her brain break the cycle of planning and prepping she was engaged in, to finish her day's work with a fresh, maybe more creative perspective.  

This got me thinking about that little helpful phrase...20 minutes, 20 feet, 20 seconds. If our eyes need that kind of redirection and rest, what about our spirits?  Is the pause that sleep gives us enough, especially when most of us don't get our body's required need through the week anyway?  Is watching TV the best distraction from a stressful mind?  I will admit that sometimes it is, but as a consistent solution, I think we all know by now this is not a healthy practice in dealing with life's daily stress points.  So what about a small solution, a simple piece of the puzzle to keep us creative, and on-track to be our best mental and spiritual selves?



How about every 24 hours, spend 24 minutes, writing at least 24 words?  Words that perhaps carry some meaning for you on that particular day or for your life in general. Words in a journal or on a scrap of paper to be tossed once you're minutes are up. Words that are affirmations.  Words that come from a sacred text.  Words that review your mission or calling in life.  Words that are prayers. Words that bless, express gratitude or words that may come from a dry, burdened heart.  Above all, truthful words...

Last year I heard a quote from someone that said, "The act of stopping...literally stopping what you are doing...is a form of repentance."  Repentance in its literal meaning "to turn around and go in the other direction."  Religious and non-religious people throughout history, albeit too few, practiced this art of stopping to once again acknowledge their God, their purpose or who they really are...mystics, monks, Muslims, recoverers, etc.  And occasionally an average Joe or Joetta, like you and me, learn the art of human rebooting. 



Twenty-four minutes every twenty-four hours. Now some days this just can't be done, I get that. But this is less than 3 hours a week devoted to self-care and creativity, so it's worth trying. Are you worth 2.8 hours of your own time?  Of course you are!  Can it be done?  If you're willing...you tell me.



Mini-Retreat Suggestion:  You know the drill...:-)

 

OLD BONES / OLD SOULS - Day Three

Lots of crunching and
cracking

interrupts this quiet
fall morning,

the kind of perfect
day I wish 

could enter every cell
of my body.

But it's not just my old
bones I hear,
it's the twig snap of a
white-tailed deer

running scared when the path turns.

It's the squirrels
making provisions,
their chins looking
charred from
gleaning black,
cracked walnuts

It's the blue jay,
high in the canopy
hammering hickory nuts
and letting
the pieces splatter to the dry ground.

It's hundreds of
grackles and blackbirds,

chattering as they
mass migrate from one
tree top to another,
that comfort me.

Their chorus, which is
for me not them,
(they know how to
navigate this world),
says, "It is time
now...

...get ready
...wind down
...make soup
...plan to have some
folks over
...choose something to
learn
on those too soon
nights
when the wind
threatens harm
just outside the
frosted window.
"Study
blackbirds," they say.

This is what those old
souls are clacking.

They're reminding me
there are reasons 

for the seasons.


Mini-Retreat Suggestion:
Take 15 minutes to look outside your favorite window in your house.  Write a short poem about what you see.  What elements of fall call you to "wind down?"  Post your thoughts under Comments.

HIGH-TECH WALK - DAY TWO

                                       

When I set out down the prairie path this chilly morning, with its low-hung, gray sky, I decided to try to look with an artist's eye; to notice the composition of things framed in a view-finder, see the colors and the textures around me.  Though I began this way, with binoculars on and camera in hand, what struck me were all the sounds I heard in the quiet vacuum the songbirds left.  And from that observation, came a new idea for me...to record my thoughts for future writings on my I-Phone while I walked. Since I had it on me, today was my first experiment, so it remains to be seen whether I like the idea.  I felt a bit "on the spot" at first...almost making stuff up if I started down a thought and then ran out of interesting things to say.  But eventually, I settled in...or more appropriately...it settled into my shirt pocket.

 In every season there are dominate flowers in the prairie.  Just a few
weeks ago it was the yellow goldenrods, the white bonesets and the
purple ironweed complimenting each other.  Today, near the end of September, it is the Asters.  They are the only bright whites
and shades of purple popping out against the browning and faded backdrop
of grasses and flowers going to seed.  Prairies are dynamic, and even
when that last flower family hangs low and brown, it will have a warm
beauty all its own (until perhaps the purple stiff gentian blooms...one last colorful hurrah in
October!)  

The tall bluestem arches over the path and I must push it aside to move on.  Parachutes of milkweed seeds are leaving their gnarly pods or just about to. The periwinkled mist flower, so abundant and glorious this year, is fading to a dirty blue and makes me a little sad.  Things fade in life.  My lips and hair are proof.  But this is not a dead prairie, though the unknowing eye may see it that way. When I take women for walks here I explain to them that when it turns this color, the land becomes a smorgasbord for all sorts of other creatures.  Not dead at all, just at one of the ever-revolving stages of life...the one where one life must end so another life can begin. 





 

Here are two mini-retreat suggestions for tonight or tomorrow:

1. Find something in nature that looks dead.  Is it really dead or merely dormant?  Is it now completely useless?  What are the chances new life came from it in some way?


2. If your phone has recording capabilities, go off by yourself and answer this question in the microphone:  "[Your Name], what I would like to say to you is..."   Yes, what would you like to say to yourself?  Sounds silly...but I'll bet it will be interesting.

 Don't forget to comment...I would love to know your thoughts

HOW I TAKE A RETREAT - DAY ONE

No one said going on a retreat is easy, even though the point once you get there is to let go and ease your mind from all its stresses and voices. So after getting all the other aspects of my life cleaned and put away, washed and folded, bought and bagged, gathered and dispersed, I turned my attention to the one aspect I want to focus on for the next five days, which is writing. 

Now, one cannot concentrate on any creative endeavor 24/7, so I have a few worthy distractions when I'm not sitting at the computer or walking the Refresher Course for inspiration.  I like to lay it out - literally.  On the entry room table (i.e., dining, art, desk) at Prairie Pond Woods I have set about all the things I desire to engage in, as well as the cameras, field guides and binoculars ready to grab at a moment's notice for the big surprise awaiting outside. 


 



(As I wrote this post...a loud thump came from the patio door...I grabbed the well-placed camera and caught a juvenile titmouse that had crashed into the glass...after an hour or so it must have flown off...happy ending)

 

  There's my morning meditative reading (this month, The Artist's Rule), my 2012 and 2013 calendars for a little business and pleasure planning, a few poetry books and another book I may or may not read this go-around entitled, On the Unseriousness of Human Affairs by James V. Schall.  Also laid out is a 10-year Phenology Journal I keep (woefully neglected this spring and summer) and lastly, a few files of family genealogy, in case I really need a brain change. 

So, all the chores are done, and if there are more, they can wait.  The plan is to take morning and evening walks (with camera and notepad in hand), do some reading and journaling afterward, then write.  The goal is to continue to work on a compilation of nature poems, essays and prose, accompanied by photos, that I hope to turn into a book.



I invite you along on this 5-day journey with me online or in reality, and encourage you to take a mini-retreat of your own this week.  Maybe just a half-hour everyday to do something you love; something BY YOURSELF that feeds your soul. I would love to read your comments, as well as hear about your own experiences with taking a retreat.  It won't be easy, but as the saying goes, not everybody does the hard, but significant, things in life.

A Day of Questioning Yourself

Saturday, October 20
10 am – 5 pm

Now, it's not what you might think! 

 

We won't spend the day second-guessing our lives
or questioning our worth in the world,

but we will ask ourselves some important questions.  

In the gospels,
Jesus asked 168 questions.  He was asked 186 questions, only 3 of which
he answered directly.  As Jesus showed us, often the answers are discovered
through the questions.  You are invited to spend a day asking and
answering a few for yourself.  

Nature Walk, Lunch, Handouts, Solitude and Fellowship
provided

What are you looking for?

                                                     -Jesus

 
♥

Update: Overnight Option is full!!

There are two options for this Fall Retreat...One-day & Overnight.
Friday evening will be a casual time to unwind with fellowship under the
stars, maybe a creative activity and simple snacks. We might even venture out for a
night hike...

Contact cindy@heartbynature.com for more info

or to register as an individual or group.

One-day - Saturday 10 am - 5 pm
-$45.00 pp (5 max)
Overnight- Friday 7pm - Saturday 4/5pm-
$75.00 pp (5 max)

Registration limited to 10 total

Registration Deadline: Monday, October 8, 2012

OCTOBER RETREAT

A Day of Questioning Yourself

Saturday, October 20
10 am – 5 pm

Now, it's not what you might think! 

 


We won't spend the day second-guessing our lives

or questioning our worth in the world,

but we will ask ourselves some important questions.  

In the gospels,
Jesus asked 168 questions.  He was asked 186 questions, only 3 of which
he answered directly.  As Jesus showed us, often the answers are discovered
through the questions.  You are invited to spend a day asking and
answering a few for yourself.  

Nature Walk, Lunch, Handouts, Solitude and Fellowship
provided

What are you looking for?

                                                     -Jesus

 
♥

Update: Overnight Option is full!!

There are two options for this Fall Retreat...One-day & Overnight.
Friday evening will be a casual time to unwind with fellowship under the
stars, maybe a creative activity and simple snacks. We might even venture out for a
night hike...

Contact cindy@heartbynature.com for more info


or to register as an individual or group.

One-day - Saturday 10 am - 5 pm
-$45.00 pp (5 max)
Overnight- Friday 7pm - Saturday 4/5pm-
$75.00 pp (5 max)

Registration limited to 10 total

Registration Deadline: Monday, October 8, 2012