In the Deep Winter Quiet

'Winter landscape view from a window, 1919'

Harald Moltke (1871-1960, Danish)

" She opened her curtains, and looked out

towards the bit of road that lay in view, with fields

beyond outside the entrance-gates. "
GEORGE ELIOT, Middlemarch

Someone on Twitter recently posted this painting by Danish artist Harald Moltke. I love it! I was so drawn into its gentle winter scene, for it matches the soft mood of our own winter wrapped home. How often these quiet days I am perched on the couch in the front window, ready to glance from my book out into my snowy world. I am comforted to see its beauty even as I'm nestled within my warm walls.

With our Christmas quieter than usual, there was no real holiday hustle and bustle to get over—the contrast in our days was barely noticeable. Still, I have appreciated soaking in the quietude of these past few days between the holidays. I am entertained by the birds busy at the feeders, who sing in spite of the bitter cold. I immerse myself in books, listen to music, play Scrabble with Rick in the afternoons, and dream up tiny treats to enjoy with tea or decaf coffee.  

While we've been hibernating, I feel as if it's been a gathering time for my soul. Everywhere I read, I find lines that draw me in, succor me. I write them down so as not to forget. Today I share a few of these words that ring true in my heart, hoping there will be something that resonates for you as well.

* * *

" For me the silent winter landscape of this wild place holds

a special magic, echoing powerfully with feelings deep

inside me. Like strong winds and storms Hickling's winter silence

puts me in touch with an inner wildness... It's funny how

silence is sometimes so much louder, or deeper, than words. "

DAVID NORTH, Winter Anthology

* * *

" We were made to enjoy music, to enjoy beautiful sunsets,

to enjoy looking at the billows of the sea

and to be thrilled with a rose that is bedecked with dew...

Human beings are actually created for the transcendent,

for the sublime, for the beautiful, for the truthful...

and all of us are given the task of trying to make this world

a little more hospitable to these beautiful things. "

DESMOND TUTU (1931 - 2021)

* * *

" I’m not telling you to make the world better, because

I don’t think that progress is necessarily part of the package,

I’m just telling you to live in it. Not just to endure it,

not just to suffer it, not just to pass through it, but to live in it.

To look at it. To try to get the picture. To live recklessly.

To take chances. To make your own work and take pride in it.

To seize the moment… "

JOAN DIDION (1934 - 2021)

(from a 1975 Commencement Speech at University of California Riverside) 

As seen on Literary Ladies Guide in a tribute

to American author Joan Didion by Nancy Snyder.

* * *

" I would rather sit in silence

for days than let my hurtful words echo

on in someone's heart forever. "

BODMIN HERMIT, @TheCarceri on Twitter

* * *

" If you think you're burned out, you're burned out, 

and if you don't think you're burned out you're burned out.

Everyone sits under the shade of that juniper tree,

weeping, and whispering, 'Enough.' "

JILL LEPORE, American Historian

* * *

" Have patience

with everything that

remains unsolved in your heart. "

RAINER MARIA RILKE

* * *

" Lord, grant me peace above all else

no matter the circumstances

I may face this year. "

UNKNOWN

* * *

We stand ready to knock at the front door of 2022, and I am most grateful for your company as we share this new year together. I remind myself and you, should you need it, to keep watch for those glimpses of heaven with hope that 'beyond the pain, life continues to be sweet' (ROSAMUNDE PILCHER). Facing another New Year with still so much uncertainty and upheaval, we remind ourselves to take 'courage, dear hearts' (C.S. LEWIS).

"Go. Be. Love. The world needs you" (SUSAN BRANCH). Happy New Year!

Heart hugs,

Brenda