Red Cedar
More apocalypse, less angst
Post #2037: On the hundred and first day
Today was day one-hundred-and-one for me – that is – days in a row that I have meditated. I have a timer on my phone that I use when I sit down to meditate, and that also keeps track of the number of days I meditate for thirty minutes or longer. The time setting is my doing as thirty minutes feels like a minimum amount to me and something I can always fit into my schedule, though mostly these days I sit for forty-five minutes – and in retreat or at the zen-dō, much longer.
I’m not sure that there’s anything in my life that I have done unfailingly for a streak of a hundred days or more – not even flossing my teeth – so on one level it seems like a big deal to me. On another level, I know meditators who have sat every day for the last twenty years or more – and in that context, one hundred days is nothing. In a month I will be coming up on two years of practicing meditation – another milestone that is both large and small.
As usual, there was nothing particularly special about my meditation this morning – forty-five minutes of attempting to focus on my breath, and my breath alone. My mind played across all the things I am working on, delved into the problem of other people’s expectations, did some self-justifying routines about recent decisions I have made – and got pulled back in to become the breath over and over, for a few seconds at a time.
It’s not magic, this practice. And I don’t have the kind of mind that produces visions or revelatory voices – so mostly it doesn’t even feel insightful. And yet it provokes my curiosity endlessly – glimpses of the mind in its settled state, seconds in which the mind and body integrate to create the relaxation of holism, the occasional glance over the precipice of no-self, and deep feelings of universal love that wash up at the most unexpected moments. This morning practice that I do tints every other aspect of my days as though through a filter which slows down time and reaction instead of refracting light and colour.
And so I am certain that these hundred days will be followed by another hundred, and another. I feel quite sure that this is a lifelong practice, no longer just an experiment to see what it is like. I could be wrong about that of course, but in my current thrall I can’t imagine not getting up and taking my place on the cushion each morning – never sure of what the next breath will bring.
Post #2036: Let’s get this party started……
Besides visiting with family and friends, drinking too much in my backyard, and going to the zendo – I spent my long weekend on Project Sewing Room Closet.
Without going into too much detail on what is evident in the photos – my project goal was to create fabric storage that was organized, specific, and not overflowing. This meant doing a major fabric destash as well as painting and installing an Ikea Algot organizer in the available space. In the end I got rid of four bags of fabric to donation, and two bags of garbage/recycling. There is still much more organizing to be done and I have started on organizing all the bits and pieces that will find their home on my large shelving unit. As that shelving is the only current piece of furniture I am keeping in my recongif, I am confident that however I organize it now will work for the changing space come fall.
I’m feeling really great about this weekend’s project for a few reasons – but most important is the destashing of fabric. I now only possess fabrics that are either those I love or practical (like quilt batting and plain jerseys). And as I went through the two culling passes, I noted that the fabric that I kept was for the most part stuff that I had very intentionally bought, whereas much of that going out the door is stuff that I thrifted, was given, or got through community fabric sales. In short, material that I bought with a purpose is still in the collection, and pretty much everything else is going back into the donation pile. I hope this recognition of a pattern is helpful in keeping down future acquisitions – as my closet is currently full – and I’m not allowing anything else into it until some of the material makes it into garments and quilts this fall.
My closet is no longer an overwhelming hoard that I refuse to look at! Fabrics are organized by garment/project type – skirts, dresses, tops, specialty, jersey, quilt scraps, quilt yardage, and interfacing/batting. On the top shelf that can’t be seen here is a stash of neutral cottons. And so I can easily look and see whether I do have any summer-weight dress fabric or winter-weight skirt material before I make another purchase that will eventually get lost at the bottom of things. This seems elementary on one level, and this is a project I could certainly have tackled long before now, but it seems that I needed the inspiration of an overall room redo to get me thinking about how I actually work, and what organization would be best for me. Some people need to have lots of variety in materials around to feel inspired. For me, too much choice makes me claustrophobic which brings me to a grinding halt rather than encouraging productivity.
At the end of this sewing room project, my aim really is to get to “a place for everything, and everything in its place” – giving me much more room in which to actually make things.
Post 2035: A new skirt for the wardrobe
Following on my post about fall sewing and unfinished objects – I took a sick day on Tuesday because I was wiped out from insomnia, family, and a sore throat – which gave me time to Invisible-hem this skirt that I found at the bottom of my UFO basket last week. I don’t know why I abandoned it in the first place because the fabric is a decent weight for a skirt, the elastic band isn’t turned, and it fits me well (though I have lost weight, so perhaps it was too tight when I made it?) I think I started this more than two years ago, so I’m glad to have it on the hanger in my closet as opposed to wadded up in a ball somewhere.
I wore it to work yesterday and there was no wardrobe malfunction:
Post 2034: Neuroplasticity Advice from 1889
It’s always pleasing when you stumble across early hunches or philosophies that match up with modern science. The excerpt above appears in What A Young Woman Ought to Know (first published in 1889, my copy is from 1905).
Post #2033: A feature every house should have
Months after starting this project, Brian and I finally got this done over the weekend. Behold the life-changing spice cupboard!
What started as a poorly placed ironing board in the kitchen (by the back door, it was a cramped place to iron out anything larger than a small shirt) has now become one of the most useful organizing spots I’ve ever had in a living space. Not only are the spices visible and easy to grab, but the use of small canning jars means that I can always stick a tea/tablespoon in rather than trying to pour it out of a bag or small jar.
No more drawers stuffed full, no more unlabelled jars – this spice rack has got it all. And here’s the before and after just for comparison:
Red Cedar 