Thank you as always for sharing. Most mornings I spend some time at a nearby small lake. At this time of year it is often still dark when I arrive. I listen to some news enroute most days and then attempt to settle down with scripture, poetry and songs from my own head. I still often find it hard to settle down as much as I would like , but I know that it helps.
I have been away from this community. It was a choice for my need to be more still. So, I shut down my time of reading on social media. I missed you all and knew I needed the time to adjust to a new call. Though I am still trying to get my feet under me, I knew that I needed this community to help me stand again. You were the first I came back to and what a present was waiting there! A present filled with the simplicity of presence and "permission" to be OK with lying down on the ground to be still. Thank you, Carrie. You are such a gift in my life.
Thank you for this reminder to listen to the nudges and slow down and rest, recharge and ground yourself in this chaotic world. It was much needed for me today as I woke up rather tense and anxious for some reason( even though we had an extra hour of sleep) I felt that way right through our church service until I went to go home. Something kept nudging me to slow down and take a deep breath and relax. I was getting frustrated that my apple car play wasn’t working for some reason in my car and I knew I needed some Carrie Newcomer music therapy on my drive home. I turned to YouTube to get me home. I felt so much better after slowing myself down, taking a breath, not worrying about what made me feel anxious or frustrated and I listened to some Carrie Newcomer music!
Thank you Carrie for the wonderful and amazing person that you are!!
Precious Carrie, thank you for introducing me to the practice of reading a poem each morning before my feet hit the ground instead of checking the morning news. The news won’t change if I don’t focus on it, but my heart is grounded for the day through poetry. Currently, I’m reading “until now.” 😊 “Sing,” “Turning the Soil,” and “Egg Gourds” all touched a chord with me, though in different ways.
May our world be rooted in love, joy, peace and hope.
I love your sharing. It's so true, a full and deep life requires times of meditation, contemplation, just allowing oneself to rest and be. For an artist, of course, it's vital to have this restorative time, a time to get in touch with the deep aquifers of our being. Good art comes from these depths. Every morning I have a time of meditation, which often involves sitting and sipping a cup of coffee or tea and letting myself not "do" anything. During my daily work, I try to listen to my body. After working for two or three hours, my body often lets me know I need to rest and relax. I try to pay attention, but don't always. In addition, I take short naps after lunch, usually about 10 or 15 minutes.
Beautiful note, Carrie, thank you as always. For me 'doing' is usually about avoiding simply being, but I have noticed that when I do finally surrender to just being (generally because all else has failed:) often a lot of stuff gets done, effortlessly.
Yesterday I was driving home from a birthday brunch with lots of women, lots of energy. I passed a small town park and caught, out of the corner of my eyes, a blue heron in the park. I continued driving but my inner voice said, pull over. So I parked and walked back, inching slowly closer to the heron. I was amazed that others in the park seemed to not notice this beauty. I just quietly watched as the heron leaned down and then was perfectly still…..then pounced on something that it ate. I was too far away to see what it grabbed. Then, it returned to stillness. They’re awesome birds and I so appreciated the attention and stillness that I mirrored in order to be with the heron.
Thank you for reminding of the importance of the time to rest; it comes naturally with the autumn slowing down, which I like every year.
When I started working as an engineer, a designer, as a young graduate, almost four decades ago, the work was focused, intense, but all the artificial "busyness" only to show that I am never ever lazy was not invented yet. The golden calfs of "productivity", and the fad to keep ourselves "busy" all the time, came later, and I have always been ridiculing and rejecting them.
We need a time to be idle as much as we need a time to work intensely. We need silence to listen to the thoughts that come to our minds; the more nuanced they are, the quieter their voice is.
Let not blame ourselves on procrastination; in most cases when we don't feel like starting a task, it means that the thought of it has not matured in our minds yet, that we need more time.
Dear Carrie, I love your work and your sweet soul, so please take this comment with a grain of salt. I cannot resist pointing out that you have used the verb “to lie” perfectly incorrectly throughout this posting. E.g., “She began telling me how she had spent the whole morning laying on her back in a wooded area near an artist retreat . . .“ should read “she had spent the whole morning lying on her back” etc. Knowing you love language, I thought you might want to get this right in the future. You can Google “lie vs. lay” and see lots of good illustrations of correct usage. Shalom!
Thank you as always for sharing. Most mornings I spend some time at a nearby small lake. At this time of year it is often still dark when I arrive. I listen to some news enroute most days and then attempt to settle down with scripture, poetry and songs from my own head. I still often find it hard to settle down as much as I would like , but I know that it helps.
I have been away from this community. It was a choice for my need to be more still. So, I shut down my time of reading on social media. I missed you all and knew I needed the time to adjust to a new call. Though I am still trying to get my feet under me, I knew that I needed this community to help me stand again. You were the first I came back to and what a present was waiting there! A present filled with the simplicity of presence and "permission" to be OK with lying down on the ground to be still. Thank you, Carrie. You are such a gift in my life.
Dearest Carrie,
Thank you for this reminder to listen to the nudges and slow down and rest, recharge and ground yourself in this chaotic world. It was much needed for me today as I woke up rather tense and anxious for some reason( even though we had an extra hour of sleep) I felt that way right through our church service until I went to go home. Something kept nudging me to slow down and take a deep breath and relax. I was getting frustrated that my apple car play wasn’t working for some reason in my car and I knew I needed some Carrie Newcomer music therapy on my drive home. I turned to YouTube to get me home. I felt so much better after slowing myself down, taking a breath, not worrying about what made me feel anxious or frustrated and I listened to some Carrie Newcomer music!
Thank you Carrie for the wonderful and amazing person that you are!!
Precious Carrie, thank you for introducing me to the practice of reading a poem each morning before my feet hit the ground instead of checking the morning news. The news won’t change if I don’t focus on it, but my heart is grounded for the day through poetry. Currently, I’m reading “until now.” 😊 “Sing,” “Turning the Soil,” and “Egg Gourds” all touched a chord with me, though in different ways.
May our world be rooted in love, joy, peace and hope.
I love your sharing. It's so true, a full and deep life requires times of meditation, contemplation, just allowing oneself to rest and be. For an artist, of course, it's vital to have this restorative time, a time to get in touch with the deep aquifers of our being. Good art comes from these depths. Every morning I have a time of meditation, which often involves sitting and sipping a cup of coffee or tea and letting myself not "do" anything. During my daily work, I try to listen to my body. After working for two or three hours, my body often lets me know I need to rest and relax. I try to pay attention, but don't always. In addition, I take short naps after lunch, usually about 10 or 15 minutes.
Consider the lyrics of the song “Below my feet” by Mumford and Sons.
Beautiful note, Carrie, thank you as always. For me 'doing' is usually about avoiding simply being, but I have noticed that when I do finally surrender to just being (generally because all else has failed:) often a lot of stuff gets done, effortlessly.
I love your posts and your observations 💜
Yesterday I was driving home from a birthday brunch with lots of women, lots of energy. I passed a small town park and caught, out of the corner of my eyes, a blue heron in the park. I continued driving but my inner voice said, pull over. So I parked and walked back, inching slowly closer to the heron. I was amazed that others in the park seemed to not notice this beauty. I just quietly watched as the heron leaned down and then was perfectly still…..then pounced on something that it ate. I was too far away to see what it grabbed. Then, it returned to stillness. They’re awesome birds and I so appreciated the attention and stillness that I mirrored in order to be with the heron.
I always try to make time for music and a good hot cup of ginger tea.... and some days I need both of those things even after spending time in nature!
This has been a recurring lesson in my life ... it’s ok to rest ... it’s vital that we rest. Great reminder, Carrie. Thank you 💕🦩
Thank you for reminding of the importance of the time to rest; it comes naturally with the autumn slowing down, which I like every year.
When I started working as an engineer, a designer, as a young graduate, almost four decades ago, the work was focused, intense, but all the artificial "busyness" only to show that I am never ever lazy was not invented yet. The golden calfs of "productivity", and the fad to keep ourselves "busy" all the time, came later, and I have always been ridiculing and rejecting them.
We need a time to be idle as much as we need a time to work intensely. We need silence to listen to the thoughts that come to our minds; the more nuanced they are, the quieter their voice is.
Let not blame ourselves on procrastination; in most cases when we don't feel like starting a task, it means that the thought of it has not matured in our minds yet, that we need more time.
Please lay you bundle of leaves on the table and lie down.
Carrie You truly are a gift 💝 that keeps sharing and shining music, poetry and more light in the world 🌎. Thank you 🙏
Carrie, your post reminded me of thst classic Eric Anderson song: “Thirsty Boots”
Carrie - I love this message and the recommendation is so true.
Dear Carrie, I love your work and your sweet soul, so please take this comment with a grain of salt. I cannot resist pointing out that you have used the verb “to lie” perfectly incorrectly throughout this posting. E.g., “She began telling me how she had spent the whole morning laying on her back in a wooded area near an artist retreat . . .“ should read “she had spent the whole morning lying on her back” etc. Knowing you love language, I thought you might want to get this right in the future. You can Google “lie vs. lay” and see lots of good illustrations of correct usage. Shalom!