Nothing New Under The Sun

Blog # 1

Well, I am finally going to blog & vlog!

Over the years people have have suggested that I blog and I have at times considered it.

I have been putting it off because well, everything has actually been said & done before, and I wasn't sure I needed to add to the wordliness in this vast sea of information and ideas.

Then I realized that although there is nothing new under the sun, the way in which one expresses something varies and perhaps my way of expressing can inspire others as I have been inspired by blogs I have read and vlogs I have watched.

To me it is of utmost importance that we inspire each other, to try new things, to expand our perspective, to reach beyond our comfort zone, to go as far and wide outside of ourselves and within.

Thoreau says it beautifully,

"If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.

He will put some things behind, will pass an invisible boundary; new, universal, and more liberal laws will begin to establish themselves around and within him; or the old laws be expanded, and interpreted in his favor in a more liberal sense, and he will live with the license of a higher order of beings.

Another reason I have shied away from blogging is because I have seen so much narcissism and superficiality throughout social media that I did not want to be a part of that.

That said, I want the focus here to be, not me, but my life experiences as a way of connecting, to finding our commonality, the universal themes of life and our search for meaning here and beyond.

The only way I can do this is to share my life with the reader/ observer not as a "look at me" but as an open window to my experiences that could perhaps be of help to the onlooker.

As I am now an elder, I have a few areas of knowledge and experience that I know can be valuable to others and this is a way of reaching more people and to pass it on the the next generations.

The topics covered will be very broad, as the scope of my interests is just that.

Nutrition, healing foods, wellness, vegetarian/vegan way of life & cooking, macrobiotics, Ayurveda, instruction & recipes, growing food, flowers & herbs, & foraging will of course lead the way, but literature, poetry, writing, nature & natural living, music, art, crafting, cottage life, philosophy, spirituality and all things that inspire will be explored.

I am looking forward to developing a relationship with any & all who decide to come along on this adventure with me.

After having a cafe for 7 years, I know that putting myself in the public "eye" can come with criticism. I will take that risk, as I am not trying at all to portray my self as the authority on anything. I am a humble sojourner seeking the Truth just as we all are. I have behaved well & poorly in my life, I have done my best and my worst, all according to what level of consciousness I was in at any given time. Sadly, I have always learned the hard way, but I think that may be true for most.

I have a strong remorse mechanism that keeps me in check and brings me back to the reality of "judge not, lest ye be judged" which makes a larger space for forgiveness and compassion for others and myself.

So I embark on this adventure as "an open book".

I am technologically challenged!!

Bear with me as I learn how to navigate this blogging & vlogging, so please no flogging!!

With all of this in mind, I end with some inspirational quotes:

From, The Alchemical Wedding Of Christian Rosycross, by Johann Valentin Andrea of the 16th Century:

"The highest knowledge is to know that we know nothing"

From Siddhartha, by Hermann Hesse

“I have always believed, and I still believe, that whatever good or bad fortune may come our way we can always give it meaning and transform it into something of value.”

The title of my blog comes from Ecclesiastes 1:9

The photos are in this order:

The beloved Elixir when it was still a location

The back yard at Konkapot Cottage (my home)

A photo of a peony, I can still smell its sweetness!