Dear Readers,
I'm drafting this on our porch in Indiana; it's the first time it's warm enough to sit outside this
year. And still, the daffodils I planted last year are the only sign of spring in our climes. Our caretaker here just told me that the season is three weeks behind schedule. No kidding!
Japanese Garden, Fredrik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, Grand Rapids
I
apologize for being a bit late with this month's newsletter but I've been busy doing "real things" (as I like to call them, as opposed to things at the computer). This month is full of book events, which is fitting for the one-year anniversary of Jumping Over Shadows' publication. I'll
be in Boston this coming week, teaching workshops at GrubStreet (see below if you're in the area and haven't signed up yet!). Sadly it looks like this year's everlasting winter will have thwarted my hopes of experiencing spring in Boston's Public Garden. But I will for sure look closely, as GrubStreet is right by the park. Japanese Garden, Fredrik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, Grand Rapids Last week I traveled to Grand Rapids, Michigan--my first trip ever to Michigan's second largest city. After my lunch-time talk for the Jewish Federation there, I took advantage of spring's first warm and sunny day (today is only the second...), and visited the Fredrik Meijer Gardens, where I spent all my time in the Japanese Garden. I love Japanese gardens, their amazing attention to detail, and their little surprises--a lantern hidden in a grove of trees, an uneven rocky path leading up a hill, a bench by the water's edge, a fence tied in twine, and Zen garden behind a wall. What a serene place!
Fence detail, Japanese Garden, Fredrik Meijer Gardens, Grand Rapids
The ladies of the
book group at Congregation Etz Chaim, where I had spoken the week before, had told me about these spectacular gardens (thank you!), and I spent all my time there until the sky clouded over, and it got chilly again. I did inspect all the trees I passed for signs of buds but alas, this willow was the only one that showed some promise. I've been thinking about the phenomenon of big days and small days, and that day in Grand Rapids certainly was a big day, namely a day during which you experience a
lot, and a day that you know you will remember, as opposed to a small day, i.e. a hohum day. Quite often, big days involve travel, as did this one. I left Chicago at 7 a.m. to drive to Grand Rapids in time for my lunchtime talk, where I met enough people and heard enough interesting stories to last for a few days. Then I wandered through the Japanese Garden and fueled up on serenity. And that evening I met a writer, whom I'd only known online until then, for supper at Calvin College, where we
both had events the following day at the Festival of Faith & Writing. A big day, like that one, fills you up with stories to tell and experiences to share.
Time expands on a big day, and I always marvel how much can be stuffed into 24 hours, when by
comparison so little happens or is experienced on a small day. How can 24 hours be so different? Of course we cannot live life entirely in big days, that would be exhausting. Small days are there to digest the big days, and I guess the big days wouldn't have as much value if we didn't have small days to savor them. Zen Garden, Japanese Garden, Fredrik Meijer Gardens, Grand Rapids
Big days are also those that cause us stress, sometimes anyway, when we embark on something new. When I wrote about anxiety-inducing events in my last newsletter, and I received some interesting responses, among them this quote:
A comforting
thought for the next time I'm stressing myself out, which will be in a few days, in Boston:
I will also present my "Shaping Family History into Compelling Stories" workshop at the Story Circle Network Conference, July 20-22, 2018 in Austin, Texas.
If you're in Chicagoland, do check out my
events, I'm adding new ones all the time!
Long Island Buddha by Zhang Huan, Japanese Garden, Grand Rapids
Lastly, please do check out my blog where I have way more space than this newsletter to share insights on the writing life, discoveries of the magic in everyday life or photo essays of my exploits (You can also subscribe here to receive blog posts via email):
On that note I wish you lots of magic and many big
days, |
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