June Miscellany: New Directions

For some of us, books are as important as almost anything else on earth.  What a miracle it is that out of these small, flat, rigid squares of paper unfolds world after world after world, worlds that sing to you, comfort and quiet or excite you.  Books help us understand who we are and how we are to behave.  They show us what community and friendship mean; they show us how to live and die.

-- Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird: Reflections on Writing and Life

June 2012.  Why are all the photos that I choose for these miscellany posts photos of the reflections along the shore of a lake?

It's been a odd month.  It's been one of our coolest, wettest Junes on record.  Neighbouring communities have been dealing with flooding as the levels of local rivers and lakes reach their peaks.  Luckily, our town is not located near any large bodies of water, so we haven't had to worry about that.  We had a few days of hot weather around the solstice, and it looks like it's starting to warm up again now, but much of the month has been more like March or October than June.  Nevertheless, our strawberries are starting to get ripe and we've eaten our first fresh salads from the garden.  And despite the grey weather, I've felt more positive and confident this month than I have in a long time.

Although my life is still up and down, the trend is starting to be more upwards than anything else.  New ideas have been floating around in my mind.  One of these is the idea of e-books.  I've been seriously thinking of self-publishing an e-book.  Mind you, I'm not yet sure what such a book would even be about yet, but I think I may well give it a try.  And I'm curious: Would you be interested in buying an e-book from me?  Are there any specific topics that you be interested in?

I've come across so many examples in the past month of individuals who have followed their dreams and become writers, musicians, artists, and owners of their own businesses, and I'm beginning to think that maybe I can do it too. I've been so stuck in conventional ideas about what I should be doing now with my life - getting a job, getting a place of my own, etc. - but I suspect that the path that I truly need to follow is not going to be conventional at all.

Following that theme, Quinn McDonald's post on Throwing Your Life Away has been a reminder to me that sometimes we simply need to go in our own direction - despite what others think we should do. These days, it feels like everyone I know has all sorts of good ideas about what I should be doing with my life - but none of them are quite right for me. I feel bad when I disappoint people who care for me, but I know that I must follow my own path as well and I can't always be trying to satisfy other people's expectations.

I have also been enjoying reading Gleomstapa's posts on playing the accordion (and being happy with who she is) in The Fear of Being Heard and Just a woman and her accordion. I played the flute myself for six years in high school. I've scarcely touched it since then, but lately I've been thinking of starting to play it again.

Here's something else I'm thinking of doing: taking 100 photographs of the same object. Joanna Paterson has been doing that, and her photos are beautiful. I've been wanting to improve my photography skills, and perhaps a project like that would be just what I need.

Finally, I loved this story of T. Thorn Coyle's meeting with the Dalai Lama in a soup kitchen.

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What has been inspiring you lately?  And what are the signs of the season in your neck of the woods?