Check out the new cover! I decided, after 22 weeks, to redesign the book, inside and out, and now it’s a special gift or coffee table book. And on Day 22 in the book, I focused on Faith. Khalil Gibran said “Faith is a knowledge within the heart, beyond the reach of proof.” If only we had the faith that everything would turn out all right. Isn’t it what a woman wants her lover to tell her, a child wants to hear from her mother, a parishioner wants to hear from her priest? During Lent, I try harder than usual to find peace, love, meaning, oneness, in an attempt to conquer worry. On my desk in the office, I keep a small magnet decorated with green foliage, trees, and flowers as the background on which I pasted the words “You don’t have to spend another moment wondering and worrying.” It seems to me that if we trust the universe and live in the moment, there can be no worrying. Worry is about something in the past or something in the future, both of which are out of control. We just need to open up our hearts to the present moment with complete abandonment, in faith, for worry to be conquered and no longer part of our lives.
Tag Archives | journey
Log Post 20, Week 20–Sacred Nature
Many apologies for posting on Sunday this time—life gets in the way, and we have to respect that (besides, I wondered if more people pay attention on Mondays than on Fridays). In the 20th chapter of 30 Perfect Days, called “Sacred Nature,” I quote Margaret Atwood, who said that at the end of the day in the spring, we should smell like mud. Now that the snow is starting to melt and I might just see crocuses in a few days, I can think about immersing in the outdoors. I would rather walk in the woods than go to church, but it’s a really good day when I can do both. I know God’s with us as we walk and talk and experience the outdoors. What does the longing to live in the woods, away from civilization, mean? In Thoreau’s Walden, Thoreau journals about living by one’s self and being with God and Nature at Walden Pond. I still remember the solitude, reflection, ease of day that Cynthia Huntington wrote about in The Salt House: A Summer on the Dunes of Cape Cod – I must have read that book 20 years ago, and I don’t own it. I once read a book about storms in the Outer Banks written by Henry Beston called The Outermost House, where a man tried to be faithful in telling his experience of living within nature. Annie Dillard writes about hiking through the woods and noticing the daily changes in Pilgrim at Tinker Creek. These memoirs are slow, meandering, and thoughtful, and I like them just the way they are—poetry in nature put on paper. What are your favorite outdoor spaces, your sacred spaces? Do you experience God in your sacred space? For more on the book, go to https://www.claudiajtaller.com/30-perfect-days-finding-abundance-in-everyday-life/.
30 Perfect Days, Blog Post 16 – Just Be
Week 16, Friday, January 30, Living in Luxury—On the 16th day of my 30 Perfect Days journey, I looked back over the previous two weeks and was ashamed of how many times I went out to eat. What luxury I’m living in! How hard do I want to work to support this consumption? It’s absurd to deplete the meaning from our lives so we can live in luxury. While I believe in my heart that it’s the journey rather than the goal that’s important, I strive too much, work too hard, try to have more, of everything. When a friend of mine recently told me that she’s amazed every day by life and what it brings, the connections, beauty, and awesomeness of it all, I remembered how simple it is to appreciate what we already have. It’s enough. The happiest we can be is when we’re enjoying the journey. We need to just be. Can you find a way to live in the luxury of just being, or are you working so hard at trying to have it all that you’re missing what you have?
30 Perfect Days Log Post 14 — Finding Privacy
From Day 14 of the Book–Audrey Hepburn once said, “I have to be alone very often. I’d be quite happy if I spent from Saturday night until Monday morning alone in my apartment. That’s how I refuel.” I refuel in my studio, ensconced in my big chair, where a photo of the stained glass at St. Benedictine’s monastery in Erie reminds me of the time I spent in a hermitage, reflecting and writing. The wall opposite my chair is covered by floor-to-ceiling bookcases of books, photo boxes, the Tibetan bowl that sings only for me, and a basketful of Yoga Journals. My desk is loaded with photos, trinkets, and affirmations, the mementos of my life. It is here that I journal, write, read, and reflect, where the world is outside and may as well not be there, where nothing can touch me or bring me down. In the room that is my own, I allow my mind to understand and accept that there are no answers. Privacy is what’s going on in my head, and being alone is meditative. Should we carry that private self, the one who’s open to possibility and honesty, into the real world or should we keep it in its separate place?
30 Perfect Days Log 13 — Meditative Sleep
The Dalai Lama said “Sleep is the best meditation,” which I find interesting. But only if you get enough sleep are you able to concentrate, to meditate, to get rid of what yogis call “monkey brain.” We lose ourselves and go into the subconscious, the place where our minds let go of all the chatter to dream and we let go of worldly cares when we’re sleeping. When one’s tired, it’s time to go with the flow with the people you encounter and let others take over. The river becomes less muddy. For those of us who can’t find sleep, getting up and doing something—a warm shower or bath, a glass of wine or cup of chamomile tea, a good book, or an old movie—helps. Sometimes we need to take care of a nagging chore, one we’ve been putting off. But sometimes when I wake up at four in the morning, it’s simply time to get going, to go with the flow. Going with the flow is also a form of meditation.