hope

Calming words

Writer Anne Lamott before her 61st birthday sat down and wrote all the truths she absolutely knew.  They include the importance of radical self-care

“Being full of affection for one’s goofy, self-centred, cranky, annoying self is home; it’s where world peace begins.”

“Every writer you know writes really terrible first drafts – but they keep their butt in the chair… they do it by prearrangement with themselves, they do it as a debt of honour.”

“if people want you to write more warmly about them – they should have behaved better” (round of applause from the audience)

“Grace is spiritual WD40 or waterwings”

These are words specifically written for people feeling overwhelmed by complicated politics in their country, by rapidly changing world events.  Above all, they are humane and hopeful, positive and spiritual.

Advertisements

Kaleidoscopic mixed media – Jill Ricci (NY)

Just met Jill’s work this morning, and I’m a fan.

Jill Ricci’s one of a kind collages immediately stand out with their unique and playful shapes & figures.  – http://www.artisticmoods.com

Vim_and_Vigor_30x40-1-933x1280.jpg

Vim and Vigor  30 x 40 cm

“I am exploring the place between “high art” and popular culture, text and image, figuration and abstraction, past and present, and two and three-dimensional space.”

– Jill Ricci

Champion_10x2022-621x1280.jpg

“Champion” 10 x 20 cm

Jill Ricci is inspired by peeling walls, layered posters and says:

“I want the pieces to evoke the walls of Morocco, a Renaissance Church, a NYC subway wall, and a hint of Malibu Barbie all simultaneously existing on one canvas.” – Jill Ricci

Her website is at http://www.jillricci.com

If you’re in New York, you can call in at the gallery she co-owns, Parlor Gallery, Asbury Park.

 

 

Poetry vs depression

Rachel Kelly has a remarkable story to tell – it’s her own life – of her 2 mental breakdowns and how poetry helped her recover.

The love of my family, drugs and therapy were hugely important in the battle to recover from an illness so severe that the first time I was bed-ridden for six months, the second for a year. But it’s no exaggeration to say that poetry proved a lifeline.

Her story is grippingly told in her book “The Black Rainbow” – which I recently read through in 24 hours straight as it is so well-written and gripping – Rachel is a journalist (more…)

Baking Calm

Seattle-based Oh Honey Bakes made this enticing recipe to celebrate St Valentine’s Day this year, on her visually sumptuous blog.

Screen shot 2017-04-28 at 16.50.10.png

See, I told you it was a scrumptious blog….

At the same time, the blog post (link below) speaks to the deeper movement in society at that time, the unsettledness of international relations.  And also to the baker’s personal anxieties, with her beautiful remedy

“When I’m stressed or life is feeling out of control I retreat to my kitchen and the comfort of predictable chemistry, it’s one of the most effective ways I’ve found of dealing with the anxiety and bouts of depression I’ve faced for years. Sharing the delicious things that emerge from that process with you is like life springing from an unexpected place, a light shining into so many dark corners.”

This blog entry for vanilla meringues with dark chocolate ganache, rounds up with an exquisite, calorie-free, hope-dipped 34 word verse by the poet Hafiz.  Worth popping over to the website to visit, at:

http://ohhoneybakes.com/vanilla-meringues-with-dark-chocolate-ganache/

And where did the name from Tiffany’s blog come from?

what’s with the name? My sweet great-grandmother called everyone ‘honey’ and never met a person she didn’t like. She never said hello, she said ‘oh, honey!’