What Ifs and If Onlys

Today's Thought for Today, which arrives in my inbox each morning, concluded with the following wise advice: "the key to mental serenity is to steer your attention away from the whirlpool or 'what ifs' and focus on the 'what is'."

The post suggested that we can attain this serene state through meditation / mindfulness. For some of us, this may mean formal silent meditation, seated on a mat and following one's breath. For others of us (perhaps more of us) mental serenity may be found in nature. The photo above is of a sunset on Arnside in the Lake District, and I only have to gaze at it for a while to feel at peace. It is even better to be out in nature, of course - a walk up into the Forest or round the fields soon brings me back into mental balance. 

However, it is not necessary to get outside to achieve mental serenity. One of the best pieces of advice I ever heard was printed in an old Inquirer article. I cannot remember who the author was, but I have never forgotten the advice. They suggested not rushing from one task to another, but to pause inbetween, taking a few deep breaths with your eyes closed. It is amazing how effective this is.

"What if?" and "If only" are two of the most toxic phrases in the English language, in my opinion. "What if?" keeps us in a state of constant anxiety, worrying about what *might* happen in the future. I'm not saying that it is not wise to be prepared (see the government's current advice) but that we try not to let our fears of the future wreck our enjoyment of the present. "If only" works in the other direction: if only I hadn't said / done that; if only this / that / the other hadn't happened. And, worst of all, "if only things could go back to the way they used to be" - generally a downright lie, idealising the past, usually to the detriment of new factors in our lives, ignoring how that idealised past was achieved by discrimination against and hatred of The Other.

Very many social media posts feed our anxieties and our fears. My Facebook feed is currently full of stories about women in their sixties (my age, what a coincidence!) who are losing their marbles or becoming "invisible". If you read on, you soon find that these are adverts recommending x supplement or y cosmetic. Gah.

If we can recognise this is happening, the solution can be surprisingly simple: put your phone away and take a few deep breaths, or go out for a walk. These are excellent ways of regaining perspective and balance.

And, breathe...

That'll Preach!

The process of finding inspiration for a worship service in the Unitarian tradition is a complex one. We don't have a lectionary to follow, and every service has to be put together from scratch. Some are time-sensitive (for Christmas, Easter, Harvest, Remembrance Sunday, the Wheel of the Year for example) but most are "ordinary" services, dependent on the inspiration found by the worship leader.

This inspiration may come from many places - a snippet of news, an overheard conversation, a few lines (or an entire section) from a book or a poem or a blogpost.  Or something on social media may get our creative juices flowing. The very title of this blogpost comes from a book I have read and re-read: Sensible Shoes by Sharon Garlough Brown. One of the four main characters, Hannah, is a minister, and if something unusual happens, her first thought is, "That'll preach."

It is a comment I have taken for my own, and it happened again yesterday. I was driving back down the M6, returning from a gorgeous few days in the Lake District with my best friend, and listening (as is my wont) to a talking book. The "book" in this instance was a series of talks given by Richard Rohr on The Sermon on the Mount, from the Gospel of Matthew. In the sixth session (it is a long journey there and back) he mentioned the three great temptations with which the devil tempted Jesus during his 40 days in the wilderness, and summarised them as Prestige, Power, and Possessions. 

It occurred to me that the desire for one (or a combination of) these three leads to almost every war, every act of violence... That'll Preach. 

The Joy of Being a Creator

There is nothing quite like the joy of creating something new - something which has never existed before, until you created it. 

Yesterday, I collected my SAGA sampler, which has taken almost every moment of my spare time for the past nine months, from the Framing Centre in Northampton. It cost me an arm and a leg to get it framed, but it was so worth it. It is now in pride of place above the mantelpiece.

The particular joy of this creation was choosing the colours. The 25 page chart from Long Dog Samplers is all in black and white, and many LDS stitchers do it in all one colour. But just before I began it, someone posted a full-colour version on the LDS Facebook page, and I thought, "Wow! I could do that." I chose a gorgeous rich mid-green (DMC 470) for the arches, made a policy decision to eschew blues and purples, and to make all (or most) of the animals, birds and insects look as real as possible. I began at the top left corner and worked across, then down, choosing the colours as I went. Luckily for me, I have an extensive stash of silks, both inherited (from my mother and mother-in-law) and my own. I also borrowed some from my best friend. 

I find all modes of creation similarly rewarding - whether it is choosing particular words for a scene, a poem, a sermon, a blogpost, or yarn for a crochet project. The uniquely satisfying combination of using brain, heart and hands to make something never before seen. 

I believe that every human being has the capacity to be creative and there are so many outlets for our creativity. Maybe textile art and words are not your bag - how about cooking, woodworking, pottery, art of all kinds... it is the chance to step out of our everyday lives and make something beautiful, purely for its own sake. I find it deeply spiritual.