There is in us an instinct for newness, for renewal, for a liberation of creative power. We seek to awaken in ourselves a force which really changes our lives from within. And yet the same instinct tells us that this change is a recovery of that which is deepest, most original, most personal in ourselves. To be born again is not to become somebody else, but to become ourselves.
Thomas Merton
I am changing my blog’s name to fit the direction I want to take it, and my writing. There will still be plenty of photography, and if anyone should be interested in making a purchase, just click on “Gingerfancy Photography” above the blog header. To read more about why I am changing the name, and how it fits with the past history of the blog, please keep reading. Also refer to the pinned post at the top of the blog, the quote by Frederich Buechner.
Welcome! I’m Barbara and one thing I want to make clear straight away is that I am determined to live a full, generous, and creative life, one filled with love and laughter, despite chronic pain and disability. This is a good time to plug in one of my favorite quotes, by Joseph Campbell:
We must be willing to let go of the life we planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us.
It is spring again. The earth is like a child that knows poems by heart.
Rainer Maria Rilke
Every production of an artist should be an expression of an adventure of his soul.
Somerset Maugham
The arts are not a way to make a living. They are a very human way of making life bearable. Practicing an art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven’s sake. Sing in the shower. Dance to the radio. Tell stories. Write a poem to a friend, even a lousy poem. Do it as well as you possibly can. You will get an enormous reward. You will have created something.
–Kurt Vonnegut
May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you’re wonderful, and don’t forget to make some art. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself.
–Neil Gaiman
There’s just something about white roses at Christmas time…so lovely and pure and delicate, they are the perfect flower with which to welcome the Christ child.
A Benedictine Oblates Take on Life
Longreads : The best longform stories on the web
It's my chaos and I'll cry if I want to. And laugh. And cackle like a lunatic. Depends on the minute.
The intersection of faith and life.
All things skincare, green beauty and beyond!
Our every encounter leads someone toward beatitude or away from it
Presented by Benedictine University, Campus Ministry
Where the Middle Ages Begin
We are what we think.
The good and the bad of having an illness
Laughing at myself, and learning to love (live with) it!
Photography and Thoughts About Life and Aging
My life with Fibromyalgia
Scotland, Fibromyalgia, Sleep Apneoa, Mental Health, Endometriosis, Osteoarthritis, Nature.
Live A Visible Life Whatever Your Health
loving, living and learning with chronic pain, chronic fatigue and insomnia
Fibromyalgia Support for Women
exploring creativity and spirituality
Jodi Blazek Gehr, Oblate of St. Benedict
Faith. Books. Disability Awareness
Life is Grace 