Inspirations

I have trouble with periodicals, generally. I look forward to getting magazines in the mail - ideally, I’d get one a week to peruse, be inspired by, and discard. But I can’t really justify ordering magazines I don’t read, or read only half-heartedly, which is why I’m lucky if I get one a month. Almost all the journals I currently subscribe to are seasonal, rather than monthly, and the wait can be long between issues. But patience is one of those virtues I always need to work on, so I try to enjoy the anticipation. This past week I was happy to pull the Spring issue of my friend Sia’s journal “Soul Gardening” out of the mailbox. I’d gotten so used to waiting that I’d almost forgotten to expect it. This issue is my definite favorite thus far. “Soul Gardening” is a journal by and for Catholic mothers, with a decidedly crunchy edge, and this edition fell right into my spring-cleaning thoughts and intentions with an article based around the William Morris entreaty to “have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful”. The article soon had me purging the yurt again, but with a peaceful spirit, unlike my many other purges, because the author writes peacefully of her own failings, and because the rain was falling loud and pleasant on the roof.

The other article that inspired was one we are continually revisiting in our house, that of consumer responsibility. There are certain stores I won’t support, no matter how low their prices, and certain stores I return to again and again. There are places I never intend to support, until a late afternoon wireless need drives me to break my good intentions, and the article was a badly needed jolt of encouragement. My husband and I try to avoid buying items made in China, we always avoid shopping at Walmart, we try to buy used, or locally made when we need something, but it’s so tempting sometimes to just coast through and get what’s easiest, cheapest, quickest. I needed a reminder that we aren’t really alone, and that it’s not awful to resort to China-made essentials when nothing else is available, or to spend an evening surfing Starbucks’ wireless occasionally.

Now I’m waiting for my next seasonal journal to come in the mail, consoling myself with old issues, new books, and all the work that Spring has put in my lap. We are trying to prepare for pigs, for transplanting, and for anything else that might come along.