Navel Gazing

$ cd ~meri > Navel Gazing

Beauty in crafts by Yanagi Soetsu.

2015.02.11

“The special quality of beauty in crafts is that it is a beauty of intimacy. Since the articles are to be lived with every day, this quality of intimacy is a natural requirement. The beauty of such objects is not so much of the noble, the huge or the lofty as the beauty of the familiar. People hang art high up on the walls, but they place objects for everyday use close to them, and take them into their hands.”

– Yanagi Soetsu

Yanagi Soetsu (柳 宗悦, March 21, 1889 – May 3, 1961), also known as Yanagi Muneyoshi, was a Japanese philosopher and founder of the mingei (folk craft) movement in Japan in the late 1920s and 1930s.

craft by yanagi soetsu

Craftiness, Navel Gazing

Is it yesterday, or is it today? Also, it’s good to have goals.

2015.01.18

Time, Time, Time

[covert-ops] the thinkerI was talking about this with Jenn the last time I saw her, and it came to me again this morning, so I thought I’d share.

I normally wake up at 5AM. This seems like a stupid early time to many of my friends, but to me, it’s just time to wake up. However, with the latest round of sleep disorder, I’ve often found myself awake at 4AM. While this is only a difference of one hour, that one hour has a huge psychological difference to me. (more…)

Craftiness, Navel Gazing

Decisions, decisions.

2013.09.11

I’m torn about whether or not to actually be online today.  (more…)

Navel Gazing

Homes away from home.

2013.09.04

A few minutes ago, I clambered out of my car and gathered up my bags and trudged up the stairs to the door. I used my key to let myself in, and plopped down in my chair. I pet the dogs and the cats, and pulled my laptop out of my bag, connecting to the house wireless.

This is only remarkable because this is not my own home. This is the lovely home of my friends Jenn and Jim. But I am encouraged to treat it as my own home, and am constantly reassured that I am welcome any time I want to make the trek down.

This got me to thinking a little bit about how lucky I am. I have not one, not two, but three homes (Jer and Shamala also provide me with a lovely home). Places where I am comfortable, and know that I can be me. Even if being me means that I need to sleep, or be grumpy, or be completely antisocial, or be silly. Places where I can rummage in the fridge and go through the pantry. Places where I’ve stashed toiletries, because it’s easier than carrying them back and forth all the time. (And Amy, I haven’t forgotten that your house was once one of my homes, too!)

Growing up, I never felt comfortable in my own home, so those friends’ places where I could really relax were dear to me. As an adult, I’m so much more aware of the overarching idea of personal space and the intrusion of same, so finding these little oases is even more startling. As much as I love the home that G and I share with Sprocket and Widget, it’s wonderful to be able to feel so comfortable in someone else’s space.

Navel Gazing

Having taken a deep breath or two…

2013.08.29

Ok, so I’m calmer now. Certainly calmer than I was yesterday. I had a very bad pain day yesterday, and PT was very hard, and  I could barely walk, and a little part of me snapped, resulting in that post.

This isn’t to say that all of what I wrote isn’t true. My outline of a ‘normal’ day was pretty spot-on. But, looking at my life a little bit more objectively today, it’s not the whole truth. (more…)

EMRT, Navel Gazing

This is not a post about politics.

2013.05.02

[This post pertains almost exclusively to Facebook.]

[Also: This is not a post about politics. This is a post about human behavior, and language, and my hurting head.]

It’s kind of amazing how much of my ‘news’ feed is going by unread (thank you SocialFixer), simply because of the vitriol used by the people making the posts. Yes, you are completely free to say whatever you want, in whatever language you want. I am completely free to mark your post as something that I don’t want to see, and let my software take care of the rest.

I guess I don’t understand the motivations of these people. (And, trust me, the people in question here includes the full spectrum of liberal to conservative to weapons rights (or wrongs) to religion to reproductive rights to … just about anything a person can feel passionate about, really.) It’s clear that the people in question have no intention of actually trying to change someone’s mind, or they would use language conducive to that outcome. So, are they really just preaching to the choir, and hoping that the simple levels of noise pollution will get others to pay attention?

Because that’s what it is. Noise pollution. It’s clear that the system is on, but any signal is rapidly getting lost in the noise.

I’m all for rational debate. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen one on Facebook. (I was about to say “the internet” but would have been lying. I’ve been on the internet for a long time, and there used to be actual discourse out there.)

Finally, if this post makes you want to remove me as a friend, then, well, it’s probably for the best. If it drives you to tell me how wrong and pigheaded and close-minded I am, then it may compel me to learn how to remove you as a friend, because my friends simply don’t behave that way.

I now return you to your regularly scheduled $SOCIAL_MEDIA_PLATFORM.

Annoyances, Language, Navel Gazing

On making things look easy.

2013.04.25

[Warning: Your meri is very tired, and is waxing philosophical. Weirdness may ensue.]

I’ve encountered several situations over the past week or so that have made me realize what amazing friends I have. Yes, you. You’re an incredibly diverse, often eclectic group of people, and I wouldn’t trade you for all the yarn in … someplace with a lot of yarn.

(more…)

Navel Gazing

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