What sort of wonderful plans to you have for today? I woke up in one of those "frantically productive" moods which is often more "frantic" than "productive":). Many projects and ideas twirled and danced in my head like the grand finale of a ballet opening night. Outside projects, inside projects, decorating the house, designing a new walking garden, ironing....all competed for my attention.
So I wrote a letter.
A dear cousin of mine graduated and I wanted to tuck a little money in a letter for her to start her new adventure with. In a wonderful turn of events, I had also bought a bottle of ink yesterday. You see few years ago I had purchased a hand blown glass pen which requires ink. I had gotten rid of my ink when we moved, and had been wanting to replace it. Thankfully a local store had some!
Then, of course, I wanted to take photos and show you, my sweet friend, how my writing desk is set up. So I dusted the desk (I do not mind dusting, but it always seems to be one of those chores that only gets done when company will be here or photos will be taken). I came across the tea cup my grandmother bought me....which spurred the thought of a nice cup of tea.
Which gets me to thinking... Excuse me, sweet one, as I digress a moment :): I think what is missing in our lives is giving weight to the moments in it. We hurry and rush, and soon hours and days and years are gone without a memory to stand for them. The years are burned out with no seed of remembrance planted in time. We are left with a blank history of uncelebrated life, unrecognized blessing. Of course we cannot make every day the 4th of July, but we can and should, I think, take the time to give weight to a moment with a stop, a thought, a care. If you are making bread, try making it by candlelight. If you are cooking supper, put on wonderful music. If you are paying bills, set a few pieces of chocolate on a plate for you to enjoy as you work.
And if you are going to write a note, make a cup of tea. TWS bought me a box filled with various types of tea when we were in Alaska and I set up my "coffee and candy bar" in a built in desk in the kitchen. I love this box. It is broken, but the presentation is wonderful. I used a brass honey spoon to get a precious dollop of organic raw honey. I chose strawberry black tea for today. My favorite is really the blueberry green tea, but I am running low on that one.
Now allow me to introduce you to my writing desk. First I must confess--I am wonderful at WRITING letters, but dreadful at sending them. Hundreds of pages of thoughts, love, care, sharing have been written then tucked away before reaching the intended. It is a sorrowful thing, I tell you, to discover a letter that you wrote to a loved one years previously, only to have them pass never having seen it. For this reason, I recommend addressing and stamping the envelope before beginning writing the letter.
Why write letters? Because, in this day of emails and texting, the thrill of opening the mail box to find a letter hand addressed to you is even more precious than it used to be when writing letters was special but more common. It brightens the day. It is a surprise of the heart. It is a kindness and a mercy that costs a stamp and a very few moments of time. Truly, it might have one of the most incredible "return on investment" of any blessing. It shows thought. It shows care. It shows the recipient that they MATTERED to you when they were not there, and that you took time out of your day to encourage, soothe, succor, remember, and delight them.
Here is a closer view of my desk. I bought this adorable little desk from a friend who was downsizing to prepare for moving. It is stained, but no matter--it is adorable. Of course, it is not necessary to have a desk like this--for many years I just had a pretty box that I kept writing supplies in.
Here is my glass pen and my ink. What a handsome bottle of ink that is! Tucked behind, in the recesses of the desk, is treasure! I love tucking surprises and treasures everywhere. I think "What if a little child found my desk? What can I put for them to discover that might delight them?". There is a basket candle that I had when I was a child. There is a shell bird that TWS's grandmother made. There is a clay bear that Precious made. There is a pretty little girl figurine dressed in the colors and flowers of my birth month. There is a calendar that Precious gave to me. And tucked on the side is a crystal candy dish filled with wrapped strawberry candies like my dear, sweet Aunt Sarah used to have at her house when we would visit Louisiana.
In the letter slots of the desk is wehre I keep books, notepads, stationery, stickers, and little treasure. There are pamphlets for addressing people who have lost a loved one or received a bad diagnosis. There are books of blessing and thought.
Photos of family and friends to set the mood of remembrance and love.
It is always much more fun to do things together. This little guy is right by my writing desk and gives me the most endearing expressions.
It did not take me long to write a letter to my young cousin. It took me longer to make the tea! I had beautiful music, a beautiful pen, and beautiful thoughts to make these few minutes...well...beautiful!
Let me encourage you to take a moment to put together a writing basket (or box). Find a pretty pen (it does not have to be a glass fountain pen. In fact, one of my favorite pens to write with in the world is Papermate "Profile" in 1.4 (bold)--I am a bit persnickety about pens, and that one feels wonderful and writes reliably.), get a few stickers and a box of stationery (or print some from the internet). Put some treats in the basket and dedicate a tea or coffee cup to place in there as well. Put your address book in there and some stamps. Perhaps even make a playlist on your computer or mp3 player to set the right mood. Tie a spare piece of ribbon around the basket and you have an adorable, portable blessing kit that you can keep out as decor! Choose a time and a day each week when you know you can devote 15 minutes to making yourself a cup of happiness (coffee, tea, cocoa), and then writing a small note to someone. Watch how much you are blessed as well as they are! Make the moment count, and it will count for you both. :)
No comments:
Post a Comment