My Sunday List
April 21, 2024
Words
To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow. —Audrey Hepburn
Song
My sister has a new single and it’s a banger. Check it out! But I Ain’t.
I watched
The first episode of the Thomas Jefferson documentary by Ken Burns. It’s good. I love seeing Monticello and knowing I’ve stood on those grounds. Jefferson is fascinating — also hard to reconcile.
Book
I loved Tom Lake so much that I went right into Commonwealth, which I finished Saturday morning with tears streaming down my face. That’s not an uncommon reaction when I finish a book that touches me. I clutch it to my chest a bid a mournful yet hopeful goodbye to the characters I’ve grown to know and love and maybe not love at all. A good book is a type of heaven — where the brain and the soul are nourished at the same time. Again, highly recommended.
Favorite moments
John Henry came home yesterday for spring break.
Planting six new Japanese maples in pots.
Hayes came home for about 36 hours.
Lunch with a few of my most favorite girlfriends.
Having a telehealth appointment on Friday morning and getting the medicine I need to get over a virus and possibly infection that has kicked my butt.
Pulling weeds at my sister’s house.
What I’m wearing
I did that closet clean out I’ve been talking about. I was not quite ruthless, but I was pretty real with myself. I discovered a book that helped me along the way, Wear it Well, by Allison Bornstein. I particularly like the word wheel she invented to identify one’s style and keep to a theme. I think I’ll have a massive yard sale sometime before fall. I’m also committing to buying as few new clothes as possible. The resale market is so good now, there’s really no reason to for most items — check out The Real Real or any of the other great resale sights. It’s easier on the pocketbook and also the planet to buy secondhand.
I also watched a documentary the other day, Brandi Melville and the Cult of Fast Fashion, and it was harrowing. All of the stuff we buy for cheap and in bulk that we maybe keep for a season or at the most a year and then donate? Well, the majority of that pile of synthetic fibers is sent to Ghana, and they have to accept it or receive sanctions from the US. They have to deal with it, and as a result, there are layers and layers of clothing on their beaches, and therefore probably in the ocean. It made me ashamed that I ever participated in the never ending cycle of buying and casting off. Just something to think about.
What I’m cooking
Well, I made a sausage and egg scramble this morning and it was delicious. Last night it was grilled salmon with a soy/lemon sauce over rice with a huge, delicious salad of butter lettuce, mixed greens, fennel, english cucumber, cherry tomatoes, radishes, and oil and vinegar dressing. Scrumptious. Hayes made the salad. He’s especially cute in the kitchen.
Favorite Photo I Took This Week
I’m grateful for
Spring, flowers, a yard to plant in and take care of and improve, the sunshine, the seasons, the food that nourishes my body, flexibility and wellness in my body, my desire to improve, and most of all, I’m grateful for my hopeful spirit.
What I made
I keep painting the butterfly woman. The one on top is oil pastel and colored pencil.
Something wonderful I noticed
The more I let go, the better life gets.
What brought me joy
The knowledge that every day is a new beginning, that there is forgiveness, that there can be fresh starts in old situations, and there’s something interesting to learn around every corner. I can’t find joy if I can’t find optimism. So I’m looking all the time!
Prayer
Thank you, Great Spirit, for giving me the strength to let go of everything I cannot control, which is everything outside of myself. Allow me to let go of shenpa and exchange it for shunyata. Only through you can I do that and know peace. And finally, please give me the strength that is required to clearly see what I need to see.
(shenpa - what hooks us. shunyata - being empty of what hooks us, no ego, no separate idea of self)
Intention for the week to come
May I be present before I am concerned with being anything else.
May I breathe peace in, and breathe love out.
May I meet others with kindness and acceptance and still keep my boundaries.
May I feel confident enough in those boundaries to be flexible in my actions.
May I use my words for good.
May I be grateful.
May I trust.
May I have CLARITY.
May I be patient.
May I be open to what the Great Spirit knows is for me, and may I walk my path accordingly by remembering I can only take it one step at the time.
Something I’m thinking about
Compassion.
Consideration.
How to listen.
How to see.
And I started this book yesterday. I will report, as you know.
Before enlightenment; chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment; chop wood, carry water. — Buddha
Habit
This week, it’s been coughing. I’m so happy it’s finally passing.
Best Word or Term
crackjaw: difficult to pronounce, such a word or phrase.
I find the entire French language to be crackjaw for me, so I guess that’s why I’ve always been drawn to it. I’m a glutton for punishment.
Wishes
That I recognize every opportunity to feel joy, and that I take each one.
That my fellow creatures do that too.
That you all are content and well.
That you will forward this to one person you think might like it.
Have a wonderful, peaceful, joyous week. And thank you for supporting my work here at The Autotelic.
Peace. Love.
Allison
There are first edition copies of I Dream He Talks to Me and Blood in the shop. I will sign each copy that is ordered. If you would like it personalized, please send an email with your order number and the name you would like on the signature page to allisonmoorercontact@gmail.com.
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I sure hope "crackjaw" isn't a reflection of the cough you've had! I'm loving Shelby's new music and the remastering of IASL. I'm waiting with bated breath to hear about your Sissy tour dates.
Your butterfly women with oil pastel and colored pencil is stunning. If you haven't watched "Ripley" on Netflix, it's a must see!!
I suspect it's my autism, but I wear clothes until I ruin them. I've had one coat since 2003.