Hello again! Lovely Readers,
Susannah Conway is a wonderfully soulful, sensual, photographer, journalist, teacher and creative blogger! Unlike dry step by step guides for idiots and others, her ecourse, Blogging from the Heart is full of achievable, aesthetically pleasing, enjoyable, useful, prompts, tools, and tips!! It speaks to those of us more interested in blogging as mindful reflection and creative expression than a means to monetization. Susannah’s blog is also full of photographs and other good stuff to engage your senses. As well as some truly wonderful ecourses and books! Like Photo Meditations, which, cue trumpets, I am starting today!
Taking the course is one of the birthday gifts I am giving myself this month. Lucky 7-11, that’s me. It wasn’t long after my birthday in 2009, two years before EngagingtheSenses.wordpress.com was born, that I returned from The Maui Writers Conference sure of two things. I had a publishable book and I needed a blog. Every publisher said the same thing..writing a book was about a lot more than writing a book. I needed to prove to my intended publishers, New World, Penguin, Hay house, that I had “a following” willing ostensibly to buy my book, when the time came.
In the meantime, I was stumped. I am not the sort who can do something for the money. I have to believe passionately in my cause, and its goodness, and then I am happy to sing its praises like the poet, I am. So what could I blog about and how could I create a blog that was like a gallery with many wonderful rooms, a haven, respite, inspiration and re-source online? I didn’t have anything to sell. What I had then and now is something worthwhile to offer. All of it time-tested and Mother approved.
Through the best of times these hard-earned practices have engaged my senses in Beauty, and through the worst they saved me from succumbing to overwhelming pain and despair.
I believe we can make our own luck. And it is through hard-won Luck that I have come to understand one of life’s great secrets. Come closer and I’ll whisper it in your heart. The source of my suffering, and of all suffering, is never the thing itself, rather it is my resistance to it. As Shakespeare in Hamlet said, “there is nothing good nor bad but thinking makes it so.” And as my Great GG liked to say in her pragmatic Bronx meets Eastern-European accent, Why pay twice? You like to suffva or something?
Yes sometimes, like with basil flavored gelato, once really is enough, and the sooner we realize that the sooner we can regain our power. To suffer or not to suffer, is that simple, if not easy, to release.
I have learned to see, smell, hear, touch, taste, and experience life through the lens of Beauty.. which is always there.. just waiting to be noticed….I do this by engaging, appreciating, and practicing joy- every day- “come what may”.
That we seek Beauty’s refuge and sustenance in this often ‘ugly new on demand world’ is what ensures our survival. It is natural to be drawn to beauty, like moths to the light. If we want to thrive we can learn to refine this innate impulse, learn to mindfully engage, and take charge of our desires. Instead of being controlled by our endless wanting, and tendency toward distraction and escapism under pressure, we can use the intelligence of our senses to our advantage. I’ll be getting more specific about how in part two!
Neither a 1000 channels or million channels and no number of shoes or french fries can feed our need for peace and connection. Beauty can and does every time!
I want to end here for now by thanking Susannah for inspiring me, and for making me laugh until it hurt and healed. http://www.lifebuzz.com/funny-texts/ I hope you laugh until it heals too!!
See you later Beauties! xoxoxox Sabrina
