Sydney Avey's Blog, page 8
October 13, 2016
Book Review: Soma Song by Joy Willow
I ran into local poet Joy Willow at the Great Valley Bookfest in Manteca. I read her poetry collection, Soma Song, a couple of years ago. Our encounter reminded me that I had neglected to review this little gem. So, a few words about the Bookfest, a couple comments about reviews, and then I will sing Soma Song‘s praises.
My poet friends Denella Kimura and Joy Willow at the Great Valley Bookfest
A book festival is a community gathering centered...
October 6, 2016
Book Review: The Confessions of X
The Confessions of X by Suzanne M. Wolfe
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The Confessions of X illustrates the power of historical fiction to portray the earthiness of a saint in waysethereal iconography cannot. Suzanne M. Wolfe gives us a slant on Saint Augustine that helps us mortals understand a mystery. That is, the roots of divine love dig deeply and affectour most formative relationships.
I confessI didn’t get beyond the second chapter in Augustine’s Confessions.Still, the man himself intrigued...
September 12, 2016
Great Theater in Ashland, OR: Choose a play to challenge your thinking
A fall walk in Lithia Park to ruminate on voices that appeal to our better natures.
Every year wecan count on seeing great theater at the OregonShakespeare Festival. Like good books, great theaterhas the capacity to engage individuals in conversation. It might be an internal dialogue between reader and author over the treatment of a theme. It might bea lively book discussion with a friend. In the case of a play,the playwright, the director, and the audience each bring a uniqu...
August 15, 2016
Costa Rica vacation: Don’t overthink it
Don’t overthink it, a friend laughed when I mused about the purpose of our trip to Costa Rica. Just have fun.We did have fun,but now that we’re backI feel compelled to shift back into overthink.
Papa survived the travel. His best days were hanging back with our son and grandson enjoying the hot springs in the shadow of the Arenal Volcano.That andzip lining in Costa Rica high above the Los Suenos canopy.
Arenal Volcano, Costa Rica
A silent, majestic presence that commands attention
Son preferre...
August 11, 2016
Book Review: Born Survivors
Born Survivors: Three Young Mothers and Their Extraordinary Story of Courage, Defiance, and Hope by Wendy Holden
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
A friend who visited Auschwitz recently told me tourists were buzzing about this book. Sadly, it’s a story that never gets old. Man’s inhumanity to man makes headlines daily. Holocaust can never happen again, we tell ourselves, but it can and it is.
This is a work of history, well researched and well told. Wendy Holden has organized her account of three wom...
August 5, 2016
Book Review: The Faraway Nearby
The Faraway Nearby by Rebecca Solnit
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
The line separating memoir and essay blurs in this book, which serves the reader well. Threaded through the author’s recount of a stressful time in her life, deeper stories exist. When do the stories we have always told ourselves about our lives, loves, and relationships need to be reframed? What are our options when life hands us the lingering illness of an aging mother and cap...
August 2, 2016
Book Review: Self To Lose, Self To Find
Self to Lose – Self to Find: A Biblical Approach to the 9 Enneagram Types by Marilyn Vancil
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
In Self to Lose, Self to Find, Marilyn Vancil masterfully sharesher examination of the Enneagram system in light of Biblical wisdom. Not an easy task. She avoids the pitfalls of detailed explanations byintroducing only the basic tenets of the Enneagram personality types to the faith community,chartingthe typesso they are easy to under...
July 4, 2016
A Traveling Mender of Broken Hearts
I am not so much a gypsy as a tinker
a traveling mender of broken hearts
a seeker of soul parts
to restore to good use.
In my tinker’s sack, my tools of restoration:
prayer, consolation
laughter, appreciation
placebos of activity
balm to help our sore eyes see
visions of new ways to be.
This week four of us are traveling to Costa Rica on a Road Scholar tour. We are three generations: a grandma and grandpa, a son (and uncle), and a grandson (and nephew). Each one of us has a hurt. In body, mi...
June 9, 2016
Preserving Family Stories: What’s your story?
Preserving family stories beyond our digital footprint depends on how we create meaning out of memorabilia.
Are you preserving your family stories? Theysaythat after we die, we will live on in cyberspace. I heard this in a TED talk: unlike past generations, we have a digital footprint that will last an eternity. Certainly technology has allowed us to be present to our family and friends, even beyond death. We continue to post comments on the Facebook pages of long buried loved ones. But is it...
May 24, 2016
Great Giveaway: Motivation to keep going
A failed knitting project
Five months into my great giveaway project, I am lighter by approximately 150 household items. In the process I’ve freed up shelf and drawer spacethatI’m not refilling.
Add to the list of stuff I’ve tossed the accounts I’ve closed, subscriptions I’ve stopped, and apps I’ve deleted. I’ve freed up a bit of mind space as well.
Life is starting to feel a little less insane.
As a bonus, I’m learning lessons about motivation that I’d like to share.
Bend the rules to adju...
