a gathering of things – no.1
navy blue, snoopy, and the loveliness of november
hello everyone,
A poem of mine was recently published in Ekstasis, you can find ‘Fox Song’ here. It’s about the longing to be perfected when it seems that our nature is a wild beast. God offers hope that this too is tamable.
This is my first poem to be published (very exciting!), and since its release I’ve noticed several new faces around lifenotes. A warm hello, and I’m grateful you’re here.
Lately I find that I’ve been gathering things more and more as the days get colder. Perhaps the little squirrel in me is getting ready for hibernation and is trying to store the ideas from pinterest boards, substack notes, and real life to dream upon this winter.
Here is a small gathering of things I’ve been storing lately —
snoopy & peanuts
The little beagle has finally charmed me and I love delighting in the nostalgic cartoon of Snoopy and his friends.
autumn fashion
a new journal
I started a new journal recently, switching to a soft cover instead of my typical hardcover. with each of my journals I write “precious, not scarce” as a reminder to myself to not feel anxious about using pages in it. Viewing my journal pages as valuable instead of limited has given me the freedom to be creative on the page.
unique lamps
november as a concept
One of my defining personality traits has to be my love for the month of November – not quite winter, not quite autumn, but a little bit of both. It’s entirely too underrated for a month that offers both the joys of fall and the coziness of the Christmas season. I love the celebratory feeling of this month, and it all culminates for me with my birthday on Nov. 30th. I could write pages of reasons for why November is the best month of the year (even without counting my birthday), and perhaps I will in a future newsletter.
nanowrimo
I’ve longed to do NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) probably since I was 12 years old. This year I decided to take on the challenge but with a very different approach. Rather than trying to complete my book in 30 days, I’m aiming to just work on my book each day instead.
To reach this, I set two possible goals for myself: write 1,000 words OR write one sentence. So far, having these two goals has kept me writing something each day. Usually when I try to write just once sentence, I end up writing several. I really do recommend this approach if you’re looking for a way to start writing with low stakes.
these paintings
I hope something in this gathering has delighted you or caused you to think deeply about something new. I look forward to catching you in the next lifenote. Take care <3
postscript
I have recently been contemplating the painting of My Jesus Mercy in my prayer time with Visio Divina, a spiritual discipline where you pray through and meditate on an image. I couldn’t recommend this enough! It’s such a moving image, and praying through the thoughts and feelings it evokes has been healing.