Living Abundantly

What goes up must come down and all such.  Flaming Renaissance went up but the IE 6 flaw just wasn’t going to be ignorable so now it’s back down.  Well, not truly down, you can still go read the blog, but the side bar has been completely stripped down to bear bones.

The good news is that my lovely designer is trying to help me with it and so hopefully the IE 6 issue will be resolved (and everything restored) in the next few days.  I’ll keep you posted on the progress.

It’s finally up and ready for visitors!

Flaming Renaissance (the blog for my business, Everyday Renaissance) is finally ready to be shared publically.  (I can’t promise there aren’t any glitches, but if you see any please let me know.)  It looks all wonky in IE 6 or lower but seems to work perfectly if your IE is up to date (I don’t know how to fix that glitch so I’m just warning you).

I’m still working out what content and blog topics go on which blog, I suppose it will take me a few weeks to get into the swing of things.  But, despite being low on content, it is up running!

Which means Everyday Renaissance’s doors are also finally open.  I still have some few finishing touches – a telephone (to go with the phone line), a final logo for E.R., business cards – but I’m otherwise up and running.

That’s it, I’m officially in business!  (I think I’m almost as scared as I am excited.)  Where’s the champagne?

Mornings are important to me; a properly planned and balanced morning is essential to my mental (and emotional) well-being.  Just ask Wakizashi if you don’t believe me.  Actually, I’m starting to suspect that that’s true for everyone (don’t give me your excuses, I’m not a morning person either – uless 4am counts as morning), I’m still working on the proof though.

Back to my morning…  Even more important than my breakfast (which I tend to forget about) is my time of rest and quiet – my time to ground.  That really is the best definition for it.  I suppose it’s commonly known as a “devotional time”, but I’m still trying to work out what the word devotional means and therefore tend to call it my “quiet time”.  Quiet being the essential element in my morning.

It really is a kind of grounding for me.  I can literally feel the difference between a morning where I just dived into life (feeling I didn’t have time for Quiet Time or allowing myself to be swept up in some worry or concern without balance), and a morning where I took even just five or ten minutes to breath and focus.  It’s hard to describe but, writing that sentence made a phrase pop into my head, which made an image pop into my head – Michaelangelo’s (overused) image of God and Adam reaching for each other.  I need to take the time to touch God in my mornings.  This grounds me into the reality of who I am, who God is, and gives me some sense of control over my day.  Otherwise my day careens out of control and I end up an emotional mess.

Like I said, mornings are important to me.  But I’ve finished all the “morning books” I was previously working through (Praying the Names of God, Art&Soul).  Many people say that you need time of Bible reading and Prayer (but some specific definition of prayer I suppose) to have a true devotional time (maybe that’s why I don’t use that word), but I find I don’t specifically need those things.  That I still manage to meet and find God without such pre-set religious trappings.

For the last few weeks my morning book has been my quote book.  I read one or four pages of quotes, highlight the ones I love, and meditate on things like peace of mind, happiness, and acceptance (those are the sections I’ve read so far).  But yesterday I went to the library and I’ve added to my morning readings.  So far they are perfect for the kind of thing my quiet time needs.

- Selected Poems and Letters of Emily Dickenson Edited by: Robert M. Linscott (my sister loves her so I thought I’d read some of her stuff)

- Writer’s Little Instruction Book: Motivation & Inspiration

- Writing Down the Bones (an absolute essential for any kind of writing work – this is my third time reading it)

My morning is meant to inspire me, make me think about life and the world (and my place in it), it’s meant to remind me of God and our relationship.  I know they seem unconventional but these books do just that for me.  Today, despite having a short time because I slept in, I feel like flying. Always a sign that my morning has done it’s job and I can expect a good day.

I enjoyed this poem – it spoke to me – so I’m sharing it with you.

It’s all I have to bring today,
This, and my heart beside,
This, and my heart, and all the fields,
And all the meadows wide.
Be sure you count, should I forget-
Some one the sum could tell -
This, and my heart, and all the bees
Which in the clover dwell.
–Emily Dickenson

I took this quote from an article on Oprah because I thought it was interesting, and a lesson worth repeating.  It also makes a nice compliment to today’s post.

“My favorite words of all time are Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s, “Everybody has the power for greatness, not for fame but greatness because greatness is determined by service.”

This is the defining question in my life: How do you use your life to best serve yourself and extend that to the world?”

To some serving yourself might seem contrary to spirituality.  But for Oprah everything starts with self, and then using who you are on earth for a purpose larger than yourself.  “How do I align the energy of my soul with my personality to serve my soul?”  She asks in an MSNBC.com interview.  “The answer always comes back to self.  There is no moving up and out into the world unless you are fully acquainted with who you are.  You cannot move freely, be free unless you are comfortable with yourself.”

– From Science of the Mind article on Oprah: Matinee Ministry

After writing yesterday’s long complaint I came across this quote and thought it was the perfect compliment to the topic.  It’s how I try to choose to live my life.

Little progress can be made merely attempting to repress what is evil; our great hope lies in developing what is good.

– Calvin Coolidge

Smart man that Coolidge.

I can’t stand silence.  I like quiet, but silence unnerves me, I can’t think.  So, if I’m still working around 3 or 4 pm I’ll turn on the TV to let something like Oprah play in the background.

I used to watch Oprah all the time, not so much now.  I enjoy some of her stuff and other things I disagree with; it’s hit and miss.  I just say this so you know where I’m coming from; I wouldn’t want you think I was some unthinking Oprah junky.

Right, so, yesterday at about 3:30 when the Kung Fu Master went off to play I decided the TV would be a nice addition to my silent house.  I flicked Oprah on to see if her show was worth listening to.  Above all else, it occured to me that that show was the perfect counter point to my point yesterday.

I’ve heard (or read I should say) many church people critiscize the “Gospel of Oprah” looking down on her brand of loose religion.  I’m not saying I agree with everything she preaches from her pulpit, but if Isaiah and James are right and true religion is comforting the widow and sheltering the orphan then I’d have to say that her version of the gospel is right on the money.

(Let’s not argue semantics.)  I’m really not creating a campaign for her – like she needs any extra publicity – I just wanted you to see yesterday’s episode.  Or at least see the bits of it that you can on her website. 

Oprah’s Favorite Giveaway

My dream?  Someday maybe I’ll be able to inspire greatness in thousands of people; to call out to the heart of a nation (and beyond) like Oprah does today.  Sigh… Well, I’ll settle for making the world a better place one heart at a time.