Hello there! This is my 99th post and I originally thought I would reorganise my blog for the 100th, but hey, I don't normally do the done thing so why start now... :b I'm fond of giving presents far away from birthdays and christmas, cooking special suppers without an occasion and telling people how much I like them on the most ordinary days. That's when you need it the most, I figure.
I do respect the value of traditions and rituals, but I would like to find out for myself when and why I want to have mine. When during my year do I need a ritual to mark the occasion when I leave one phase for the next?
I think - one when I hear the first blackbird sing in spring that makes my heart flutter, one for the first day I can walk barefoot and I feel the warmth that is to come, one for the day the first fresh autumn breeze comes and I think of knitted sweaters, one for the first blustery rain that makes the leaves fall and cover the ground and I go to find a good storybook, one for the first frost to whiten the grass in the morning and I pull on my mittens, one for the day I put up my December star light in the window and think with fondness of my mum and one for the first dry day when the streets go dusty and I find seedlings under the leaves. Hmm, I'll definitely need one or two in the winter for no reason whatsoever as January to March is looking rather empty... Lucky thing I've got my birthday in mid-February! I don't exclude common traditions you see, I just add to them. :)
Or rather, I haven't so much yet apart from in my head, I'd just like to try. As long as one doesn't get so attached to the traditions that they become institutions with compulsory shopping and over-eating I think they could make life richer and closer. What you consciously welcome, acknowledge, give thanks for, appreciate and let go can give meaning, structure and acceptance to life. I'm not saying this should bring pressures to do more, I just mean acknowledging where you are - in the muddle where time is slipping away fast, you're not sure what you're doing and so many things are left to do. Just a moment of thanks when you're hanging the laundry, looking out the window or walking home from the shop. That's what I intend to do anyway. Goodbye dry leaves and fresh breezes, hello rainy roads and warm jackets.
As for this pocket of mine - it will go through some more changes soon I think, but this will do for now. I have wanted to change that blog header for so long now. It was only ever meant to be a transitory one until I came up with something better. I would like to change some other things already now though - one being responding to the lovely comments you people give, which I don't always do, and the other being commenting on other people's blogs, which is something I balk at - too shy!
These kind of posts are the reason why your blog is among my favourits. I don't know why. Perhaps because you express thoughts very similar to those I find wandering in my own head. Thank you for sharing Carlone.
Posted by: Anne Marie | Thursday, 18 October 2007 at 09:23
Hi Anne Marie! thanks for writing that, it means a lot to me. I keep thinking i can't offer anything to anyone, so if you like it that makes me happy! and i'm so glad there are people who think similarly to me. I love dipping into your blog too, looking forward to when you're settled in your place and can start again! :)
Posted by: caroline | Thursday, 18 October 2007 at 15:10
Hi there, congratulations on 99 posts! I love your writing -- keep it up -- your voice is so fresh and honest.
Posted by: Abbey | Saturday, 27 October 2007 at 16:04