You might be wondering, as you read this second post, "So, what is this blog about?!?"
And that's a good question... especially since 'you' (my one and only reader) are my husband. I'm sure you must be wondering. Well, I'll tell you. I'm hoping that eventually I'll have more readers! Like... maybe the grandparents, or aunts and uncles... and if I imagine with real ambition, then maybe some other parents, or crafters, or friends, or... I don't know yet! We'll see together!
Oh, and in case any future readers decide to read back into the archives, and come across this post, perhaps thinking to themselves "Now, what is this blog about, anyways???," perhaps I'll attempt a teensy description of my intentions here.
This blog is going to be about everything! Er, well... everything that I care about, in any case. That includes: my family, parenting, unschooling (ever heard of that?) sewing and crafts, healthy or not-so-healthy cooking, what our Judaism is looking like (you'll see why I include this eventually, I think), books I'm enjoying, local things of interest (can I be more vague?) etc.
So, anyhow, I am looking forward to this mishmash sort of blogging. And the best part? Its NOT a journal on lined paper and I can't stash it in the bookcase and forget to write for years and years. Although... I guess I could forget to come online and update it. Oh well, I can only promise I'll try my best.
Wish me luck, dear Hubby (and any future readers)!
Whats with the blog name?
I have no idea where that phrase comes from, and in this hectic life of being "mama!" I don't have time to go find out, but it seemed a suitable title for this first blog entry.
'Dew and Rain for a Blessing'
I chose the name months ago. It spoke to me, and yet I couldn't begin to blog, because I didn't know why it spoke to me.
And then tonight, as I lay in bed nursing Shua to sleep (the fourth, or maybe fifth, time tonight) I was thinking about a few things, and a pleasing explanation of this phrase came to me, peacefully.
In that moment, the phrase "Dew and Rain for blessing," came to mean to me the idea of "everything in its time." As I digested that thought (...Shua beside me, nursing away), a wave of calmness rolled over me. And when, after getting up from nursing, I still remembered (nursing has this amazing effect of making me forget mostly everything I think of once we're finished), I knew this was something meaningful and decided to sit down and write while it was still fresh.
"Dew and Rain for Blessing" is part of a Jewish blessing. In the fall, after the Holiday of Sukkot ends, we pray for rain, as the growing season in Israel begins. At another point in the year, the prayer is for morning dew. While I don't have a great grasp on this tradition, it is tied up in the idea of the Jew's relationship with G!d being reflected through nature. When Jews are 'good' as a people, then nature supports them. Waters come in their right time. Water at the right time is a blessing. Water at the wrong time is flooding, tsunamis, hurricanes, drought, etc. While I may, or may not, or not ever, or someday might, believe in G!d, this idea of rain at the right times, of 'everything in its time,' spoke to me tonight. Although, I think its more about how I see those times than whether its coming in the right time. Any time is the right time, if I see it so.
A lot of my life - my childhood, adolescence, early adulthood - I remember waiting for the right time. I remember daydreaming of the not to distant future, where whatever I was currently struggling with was over and everything was right again. I dreamed of a time where I would finally be content and not filled with conflict. I'm sure many people have felt this way.
Recently, after lots of struggles in my life (oh, and I forgot to mention JEALOUSY for those who I perceive not to have such struggles) I've arrived at, or at least found the beginning, of what I hope is a route to inner peace. And the funny part, the ironic part, is that none of the things I thought would happen to reach this place has happened. I haven't solved my inner turmoil over G!d, religion, etc. I'm still struggling with parenting philosophies. My marriage is strong, and mostly peaceful recently, but there isn't any less fodder for conflict than their used to be (oh, ok, maybe a little bit less...).
But I feel relaxed. Peaceful. Not all the time. There are moments of anxiety, stress, irritation. But having identified those things as coming from inside me, and not as reactions to reality, I've been able to temper them (so far) and keep my family's lives on a more even keel until I feel more like myself.
Old picture, from last fall... but this represents my feelings pretty well right now.
Life is nothing as I had planned.
I. Am. Content.
'Dew and Rain for a Blessing'
I chose the name months ago. It spoke to me, and yet I couldn't begin to blog, because I didn't know why it spoke to me.
And then tonight, as I lay in bed nursing Shua to sleep (the fourth, or maybe fifth, time tonight) I was thinking about a few things, and a pleasing explanation of this phrase came to me, peacefully.
In that moment, the phrase "Dew and Rain for blessing," came to mean to me the idea of "everything in its time." As I digested that thought (...Shua beside me, nursing away), a wave of calmness rolled over me. And when, after getting up from nursing, I still remembered (nursing has this amazing effect of making me forget mostly everything I think of once we're finished), I knew this was something meaningful and decided to sit down and write while it was still fresh.
"Dew and Rain for Blessing" is part of a Jewish blessing. In the fall, after the Holiday of Sukkot ends, we pray for rain, as the growing season in Israel begins. At another point in the year, the prayer is for morning dew. While I don't have a great grasp on this tradition, it is tied up in the idea of the Jew's relationship with G!d being reflected through nature. When Jews are 'good' as a people, then nature supports them. Waters come in their right time. Water at the right time is a blessing. Water at the wrong time is flooding, tsunamis, hurricanes, drought, etc. While I may, or may not, or not ever, or someday might, believe in G!d, this idea of rain at the right times, of 'everything in its time,' spoke to me tonight. Although, I think its more about how I see those times than whether its coming in the right time. Any time is the right time, if I see it so.
A lot of my life - my childhood, adolescence, early adulthood - I remember waiting for the right time. I remember daydreaming of the not to distant future, where whatever I was currently struggling with was over and everything was right again. I dreamed of a time where I would finally be content and not filled with conflict. I'm sure many people have felt this way.
Recently, after lots of struggles in my life (oh, and I forgot to mention JEALOUSY for those who I perceive not to have such struggles) I've arrived at, or at least found the beginning, of what I hope is a route to inner peace. And the funny part, the ironic part, is that none of the things I thought would happen to reach this place has happened. I haven't solved my inner turmoil over G!d, religion, etc. I'm still struggling with parenting philosophies. My marriage is strong, and mostly peaceful recently, but there isn't any less fodder for conflict than their used to be (oh, ok, maybe a little bit less...).
But I feel relaxed. Peaceful. Not all the time. There are moments of anxiety, stress, irritation. But having identified those things as coming from inside me, and not as reactions to reality, I've been able to temper them (so far) and keep my family's lives on a more even keel until I feel more like myself.
Old picture, from last fall... but this represents my feelings pretty well right now.Life is nothing as I had planned.
I. Am. Content.
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