BeautyDialogues

Belissimo Felissimo

One of my bibliophile friends frequents his local library's infamous monthly book sales and distributes the inexpensive treasures he finds there as 'prizes' for our families' regular Wizard games. The other night I received (for 4th place, no less) a gorgeous book that appeared to have been produced by an international group I'd not yet heard of, Felissimo.

Trifle

Two of the great pleasures of life and the Christmas season are good friends and good food, and I got to experience both of them this year.

Living in England so long I got addicted to many things about that green and pleasant land, not least the fabulous array of English Christmas puddings. So in homage I made a trifle this year and brought it to my friends for our dessert... check it out:

Here's my recipe:

All is Light

Once again I am finding myself utterly enchanted by the lights of this season  ... from the emblazoned houses and glittering trees to the reflected glory of tonight's crescent moon.

I experienced something the other night I would have given a lot to have the skill to photograph - little white lights wound gracefully between the branches of a red maple and a tall wooden fence; all red and gold and brown - the shadow and light and shape of the leaves together making something completely transcendent, shimmering there in the evening's cold still air.

Sometimes it's even better when I can't capture a moment in a photograph... it makes me hold it more gently, as a perfect memory... And then there are the perfect memories that become icons of themselves through the magic of representation.

We decorated our tree today, and here are two imperfect photos I took of its perfect light:

 

Chanukah Blessings & Rob Brezsny

Well the 8th day of Chanukah is over, even though it isn’t over here yet because Heather hasn’t posted her last image. (12/26 update: it's up now!)

I actually had a chance to take my own 8th-night photo, since I was at a party where there were something like 6 menorahs all fully lit and blazing away at the same time - alas, I got there too late for the prayers. Truth be told I missed the photo op as well since I was rooted to a spot next to the food table, mesmerized by a mercurial conversation with the absolutely fascinating Rob Breszny, who wrote/ dreamt/ birthed/ spontaneously combusted one of the best books ever – Pronoia is the Antidote for Paranoia: How the Whole World is Conspiring to Shower You with Blessings.

It was one of those totally engaging minds agog with the pleasure of finding another soul sibling moment, and I was standing there talking to him long after the candles were a memory.

Message from the Goddess

The other night I was sitting in circle with my women's group, listening to each other's news: a serious illness to face; an engagement and grandchild to celebrate; all the ongoing weave of joy and heartbreak, inspiration and disillusion.

One of us* read a note that had been left to her in a dream by 'the Goddess' and I thought you'd like to hear it as well, since I think it was a Solstice blessing for all:

"Be happy; for if not now, when?
Trust in me again, and again and again
For I, the Goddess, have declared it your duty,
To always find your way back to beauty."

*(Thank you, Diane)

Second Night

Second Night  Originally uploaded by heather.

How cool! Heather Champ is posting photographs to Flickr as she lights the candle for each night of Hanukkah...

I think I'll add them one by one to this post, ceremonially, offering that gesture as a collective lighting of each flame on our virtual menorah. In honor of life, and miracles.

Winter Banner

My new banner is excerpted from this fabulous photo by the amazing Alan Briskin, a brilliant original mind and one of my favorite creative mentor/muses. We've just finished his new website, which features Alan's many books, including his newest - Daily Miracles, about the way love can transform health care - and two photographic galleries of luscious images like these. 

Quilts

I finally saw the Quilts from Gee's Bend at the DeYoung yesterday. This brave exhibit flies like a proud flag the extraordinary human spirit that weaves beauty and usefulness and hope from the thin threads of poverty. 

These quilts were painstakingly hand-pieced by three generations  of Gee's Bend women, made of scraps from worn-out clothing with bleached fertilizer sacks for backing & stuffed with pounded flint from processed cotton they picked during the day. Working late into the night, the women gathered to quilt and sing together for a few hours practical pleasure after the dinner meal was over and the dishes cleaned and put away.

In the film accompanying the exhibition I was struck by one of the younger women (67!) who was talking about her craft with the passion and devotion that marks her as an artist recognizable anywhere. She said she loved her quilts ... that her favorite pleasure was to find and stitch in a swatch of fabric with color that "took your breath and made you feel amazed to look at it."

These quilts - and the women who made them - certainly had that effect on me.

Design ala Pink

Daniel Pink's A Whole New Mind heralds a whole new day, when the right brain skills and traits join the traditional dominion of the right brain perspective to produce a truly integrated psyche, and a healthier more balanced future. Moreover, he says this shift is imminent for a number of perfectly logical reasons.

Design is the first of six right brain skill or 'senses' Pink profiles in his book as important to our emerging collective future, and he seems to look at the design mind-set as a kind of super-aptitude that encompasses all the others in interesting ways. 

Color

This color combination really inspired me: