The world is made up of endless creative cycles that keep everything moving. Keeping in sync with these cycles will ensure that you stay on your path and enjoy living it.
Celebrate the moment, whatever it is. The current season of your life or the year is where you are now. Find your own rituals and ways of appreciating what is around you.
| natural cycles | creative cycle | rituals | |
| what | Actions in nature that repeat at dependable, regular intervals. They shape everything about life on the planet. | The way creative energy ebbs and flows, is shared among artists and groups, and winds it way through time. | A series of actions performed in a specific order, done on a regular or intermittent schedule by an individual or group. |
| examples | day/night, life cycle, lunar cycles, season cycles | inspiration, thinking, action, dormancy, rethinking, etc. | fasting, bathing, holiday rituals, getting married |
I attended the Philadelphia Flower Show on March 6, 2015. This year’s theme was about the movies, specifically Disney/Pixar movies from which several exhibits took inspiration. I enjoyed the show immensely and felt the quality of the displays were much improved from last year. One thing I have noticed the last couple of years is […]
2015 Philly Flower Show: Movie Fantasy Read More »
Inspirational fitness stories come in all shapes, sizes and ages. Bruce Grierson’s book What Makes Olga Run? is about a track star in her 90s. The book was published earlier this year, and Olga ended up dying in June at the age of 95, but it is one of the most inspiring stories I have
The ultimate obsession: aging well Read More »
While traveling from Pennsylvania to North Carolina recently, I stopped at Williamsburg, VA one evening and walked around. Every time I go there I notice something different. This time it was all the variety of wooden benches lining the historic area. I photographed as many different designs of the many Williamsburg benches as I could
Williamsburg Benches: practical and beautiful Read More »
I grew up in the suburbs of Atlanta in the 1980s in a three-bedroom, two-bath ranch house with a romantic dream about farm life. No doubt, this fantasy came from my favorite books as a child: Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder, Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt and Where the Red Fern Grows by
Dreaming of the Farm: A Farm Dies Once a Year Read More »
I attended the Philadelphia Flower Show on March 3. This year the show combined art and flowers, with some displays being inspired by paintings and other works of art. And the display of blooms and greenery was very welcome in the midst of the cold, snowy winter we’ve had in Pennsylvania. The art inspired
2014 Philly Flower Show: Art and Flowers Read More »
Almost a year ago I moved to a house in a small town in Central Pennsylvania, Gratz, PA. Last week I had the chance to go to my first Gratz Fair.
Gratz Fair 2011: the joys of rural America Read More »
White, Sharon. (2008). Vanished Gardens: Finding Nature in Philadelphia. Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press. ISBN: 0-8203-3156-2 This book was a great find, especially great for winter reading during the recent snow storm. The book combines a discussion of plants that grow in the city with city history. But the book is not nearly as dry as that
Dreams of Philadelphia Gardening Read More »
Dickson Wright, Clarissa & Scott, Johnny. (2005). A Greener Life: the modern country compendium. London: David & Charles. North American edition. ISBN: 978-0-7153-2750-0. One of the perennial appeals of the country lifestyle is the sense of living simpler, healthier, more in tune with the planet. The idea of self-sufficiency holds great appeal for those of
Connected. A greener life, rural or not Read More »
Goleman, Daniel (2009). Ecological Intelligence: How Knowing the Hidden Impacts of What we Buy Can Change Everything. New York: Broadway Books. ISBN: 978-0-385-52782-8 “Going Green” is everywhere right now, and nowhere more than in retail stores. Most of the things that we think of as good for the environment, such as recycling and bringing our
Going Green is More Complex Than We’d Like to Think Read More »
