Be the Bridge

“We do not think ourselves into new ways of living, we live ourselves into new ways of thinking.”
― Richard Rohr

Found this guy, Richard Rohr, love what he has to share. He has a lot of talks on YouTube. I wouldn’t call myself a fan just yet. It’s all very new to me. What I like is that this man has created a bridge so that I can connect with my grandmother. She loved the Franciscans and was very supportive of the Franciscan Monks. I’m glad he’s here sharing new ways to see.

What are you watching?

New Eyes

“Every sunset is an opportunity to reset. Every sunrise begins with new eyes.” -Richie Norton

Wow, today required a lot of intentional peace. Thankfully, peace found me where I was. And tomorrow will bring me new joys and new moments of peace. This is why resets are literally my favorite.

How was your day?

Today, I tried a new coffee and it was terrible. lol

Solitude Sunday -A Place Where You Can Be Human

“Without great solitude, no serious work is possible.” — Pablo Picasso

Perfect quote for my Sunday Solitude. I dragged myself out of bed and allowed my Sunday chores to come along as slowly as I wanted them to. I stared at the sky. I listened to my daughter tell stories to my husband. I was not pushing through today. I listened to my body and completed my day at my own pace. This took me a long time to learn. The world always calls me to be someplace at some time. Sundays will not be that for me. It is on these days where I can finally connect with my body and answer to all its notifications. Aches, pains, cravings, and what they are all really telling me. I can listen to my true thoughts and pull myself from the unnecessary ones. I can nourish myself with the things my mind, body, and soul are deeply calling for. Sundays are when I allow myself to be this complex human I was created to be.

One reason I started this blog was to create a space where we can peel away all the world’s expectations and just be. Be emotional, dark, light, enlightened, lost, profound, dumbfounded, in awe, bored, all of it. This makes me realize that Jayne.Press isn’t just a place where we can express ourselves but it’s also a place where we can find solitude and feel safe away from the harshness of this world.

Jayne.Press, a place where you can be human.

How are you feeling today?

A Bit of a Romantic

“The personal life deeply lived always expands into truths beyond itself.” -Anais Nin

It’s so much better to romanticize your life. Finding ways to make miserable things have a bit of sparkle is what works. There’s a song from the original Mary Poppins titled A Spoonful of Sugar that taught me young how to do just this. I must add that I’m so deeply grateful for every day that I have with my family, all the support, and all the love that flows through us. Finding ways to discover bubbles of joy in every moment is one way that I feel adds to this flow.

What are some things your are grateful for?

Latest Cellphone Game

I like to share what I’m playing on my cell phone to decompress. I still play My Oasis. I really do enjoy that game, but I needed to switch it up a little bit, so lately I’ve been playing Find It Out. It’s just like Where’s Waldo but digital. I do the same thing with this game by putting a YouTube video on while playing. I feel silly sharing this, but we all need our toolkit that gives us moments to refresh.

What are you playing on your cellphone lately?

Evil is Unspectacular

“Evil is unspectacular and always human, and shares our bed and eats at our own table.” -W. H. Auden

What a line. I have never heard of this author but yea I appreciate these words right now. W.H. Auden

“English poet, playwright, critic, and librettist Wystan Hugh Auden exerted a major influence on the poetry of the 20th century. Auden grew up in Birmingham, England and was known for his extraordinary intellect and wit.” -Poetry Foundation

The Age of Anxiety is the work that got Auden a Pulitzer Prize.

You can read more about him here.

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/w-h-auden

Gentle Reminder

Not much summer left for me, but I’m happy that I got to spend this summer focused on my home and my family. My girls are just about ready to start the school year, and I hope I can keep working on finding ways to increase our well-being as a family without sacrificing too much of myself.

I can’t believe how important well-being is, and I wish that I had understood its importance years ago (I’m talking a fully grown human years ago). But I know now. I want to raise my girls in a way that shows them that maintaining their well-being is baseline.

Just think, it all started when I realized I was passing up all the things that made me feel more like a woman.

This post isn’t about feeling more like a woman though. This post is about doing things that make you feel better in your own skin. It’s a reminder that those things are yours to prioritize.

What kind of things make you feel good in your skin?

Artistic Dreams

“I dream of painting and then I paint my dream.” -Vincent Van Gogh

Now this I can relate to. I wasn’t expecting to find anything really interesting tonight, but here it is. An amazing artist is guiding me back to my place in this world. Not that I only have one place! I am a woman of many places, but writing is the root of it all.

What do you dream of?

I Have Stood on the Peaky Mountain

“I have been in Sorrow’s kitchen and licked out all the pots. Then I have stood on the peaky mountain wrapped in rainbows, with a harp and sword in my hands.” -Zora Neale Hurston

I was trying to think of Ms. Hurston’s name this weekend at a writing group I attend. I had to look her up. She has left us some good words, especially this one. I like how this specific quote ends with her on a peaky mountain. Sometimes in our greatest moments, all we have are the tools we’ve been given to rise above it all. I think this quote captures that perfectly.

Keep building that tool kit.

What’s in your tool kit as a writer?

Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

“I think the story is the most ancient form of human entertainment.” -David Mitchell

I’ve been thinking about Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell a lot lately. I haven’t read the book yet, but I loved the movie. It definitely had an impact on me and made me rethink a lot of things that go on in the different systems that make up our world.

Here’s a little description from Good Reads

“A postmodern visionary who is also a master of styles of genres, David Mitchell combines flat-out adventure, a Nabokovian lore of puzzles, a keen eye for character, and a taste for mind-bending philosophical and scientific speculation in the tradition of Umberto Eco, Haruki Murakami, and Philip K. Dick. The result is brilliantly original fiction as profound as it is playful. Now in his new novel, David Mitchell explores with daring artistry fundamental questions of reality and identity.”

Have you seen or read Cloud Atlas?