Tuesday, January 21, 2014

we are the night ocean


 So many birds stop by before it snows. I fill the feeders and scatter seed on top of the old snow, watch them swoop in, cluster, chatter. It's bitter cold again and I'm reading a wonderful book, Body & Soul by Frank Conroy. New York in the 1940's, a lonely, neglected young child prodigy taken under the wing of a neighborhood music store owner. A book filled with heart and soul.

I'm going to have tomato soup with grated cheddar cheese in it for dinner, while the rest of the family eats Cuban pork sandwiches from leftover pork Bob made last night. (I have never acquired a taste for pork.) I have some good clementines too.

Whenever I post something personal (like family pictures) I have to overcome the urge to remove them, and then I usually put up another post the next day, a more impersonal one---birds, books, mugs of tea...

We are the night ocean filled
with glints of light. We are the space
between the fish and the moon,
while we sit here together.
                            
                                   -Rumi

27 comments:

  1. I know exactly how you feel. We're vulnerable when we share something so personal.

    But I thank you for sharing with us.

    In a 100 years it will be all new people.

    xo J

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    1. It's hard for me. I've spent a lot of my life hiding. But I'm trying.

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  2. Actually, I think the posts we want to take down because we may feel we revealed too much are usually the best ones. I love it when people share themselves in more than flowers and what tea they like the best. I was thinking about writing a post on tea. :)

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    1. I agree. My favorite blogs are the ones that have personality, a fingerprint, a unique voice. Do write about tea. I love tea.

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  3. I know what you mean, is it too much? Is anybody interested , am I looking foolish? I as the viewer don't feel that way so I hope it goes around. I hope they enjoyed their Cuban pork sandwiches, a little bit of my soul. Soup is the best medicine for this weather though.

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    1. Exactly.
      Yes, they loved their sandwiches. (And last night I did eat the plantains and the rice and beans. Yum.)

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  4. I'm back...is that your painting? I love it.

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  5. I admire your energetic motivation and writing, Jen.
    I'm very slow on blogging now ; in other word it's time for charging like hibernation:)
    I love that poem which you chose!

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    1. I miss your posts, but I understand the need for hibernation. xo

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  6. So you have another storm up there. How many times has your walk been shoveled this winter?

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    1. I don't mind shoveling, but I hate the ice that forms when we have a quick thaw that refreezes the slush.

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  7. I know what you mean. my posts are becoming more personal, but I am always very aware of it and not necessarily comfortable with it. but it's what I love most about other blogs, and it's what people react most to on mine... that should tell us something, no? xoxo

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  8. Hello Jen, There really is no such thing as an impersonal blog, because we reveal ourselves through our choices--topics, lists of books, attitudes, etc. I think that memories and anecdotes also make a good part of the mix.
    --Jim

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    1. Well put. I hope you will post again one of these days--I miss you.

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  9. Rumi seems to always get it right. I love your painting.

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  10. Jen.. Your heart is always evident in your posts. I struggle with what parts of life belong to me and what I can share without being too intrusive on others. Your painting is lovely and the poem by Rumi so perfect. Amazing how words written centuries ago speak so deeply to our souls today. Blessings...Susan

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    1. It's all so interesting--how we find each other, how we care.

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  11. I prefer to reveal my inner self rather than my outer self. I'm much cuter on the inside.

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    1. It's nice the way we can edit our online selves.
      Thanks for showing us the outside and inside (right down to the skeleton) of your house!

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  12. Hi Jen,
    Your book sounds interesting.
    love your painting and interpretation and poem
    I have put some photos of my family out there.
    I do enjoy the interaction between blogging friends.
    Its difficult sometimes, not to touch on family . I think I have connected to many of my blogging members, through what we write about and share.
    nice post.
    wishing you the rest of a happy week Jen.
    val x

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  13. grilled cheese is simply the best :) and love the peek into your art journal

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    1. I love grilled cheese--easy and delicious.
      Thanks for stopping by.

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  14. Jen, I think the neat thing about blogging is that we can be intimate and share with others our inner self, what is important to us and what interests us. I find it fun to guess what the writers might look like through what they choose to share. Blogging truly focuses on our inner self and that is very cool to me.

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