Singular Scene

So Singular in Each Particular

Nibblicious!!

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Once again a sibling of mine (Sis) has produced for me another nephew. This brings the utterly precious and adorable total to, hang on, 1..2..3..4..5..use other hand… 6..7..8.. 8 EIGHT nephews. Eight nephews and one utterly precious and adorable niece.

As I announced the auspicious event on facebook I asked also the question, “what’s the collective noun for nieces and nephews?” you know, like siblings is for sistren (yes, ’tis a word) and brethren. Low and behold, my intrepid google adventurers (ok, adventurer, Ian) went looking and found it. Niblings. How absolutely awesome is that???

There you have it, I have 9 Niblings. And I love them all dearly. Welcome little man – whose dad calls him ‘Rockstar’ because of his Britpop hair… I hope it [the name] sticks – you’re gorgeous!!


Doin’ it wrong?

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She said “will it always feel like this?”

I said “No”

And it’s true, it won’t. Heartbreak heals and with it you grow, and change and become a different (maybe even better) version of yourself. And you in turn, and in time, can tell someone else who asks you the same question that the feeling will pass, that you’ll feel better and that the next chapter will surprise you.

The hard thing is, that I’ve watched, and been with her, walking through 2 years of challenges, some of them of the heart, some of the body and some of the spirit and the cumulative effect of all these things is causing her to ask the really big questions. Does God see? Does he even care?

I see her and I can see the big picture. As awful as all of the swirly things in her world are making her feel I know that in the future she’ll be coaching someone else that “God will work it out, soon you will see, everything will be alright”. But even while we were speaking and I was seeing all the areas of hurt and healing that have been going on, the changes for the better that have already come about I asked myself, “if I’m feeling ok, if there are no major areas in my world where I can see God pointing to character flaws and ‘issues’ and asking me to deal with them, if I’m happy and relaxed and walking an easy road at the moment, am I doing it right?”

I wonder sometimes, if I shouldn’t be more holy, if I shouldn’t read my bible and pray more, if I’m a good enough Christian, if I’m a work in progress am I actually progressing? and so I mentioned it to my friend, a pastor, and he said, “if you’re doing it wrong, keep doing it that way” it’s working.

And then I remembered.

I’ve got almost 10 years on my friend, and in those last 10 years I’ve had times when I’ve looking at my world and wondered what the hell was going on. In college, pieces of me got broken and remade, that was hard; in 2004 my world fell apart and everything I thought I knew got turned on its head, and in 2009 my whole worldview changed where God, church and life were concerned, my faith got tested and I faced the worst fear I’ve ever felt while I learned to trust that things would be ok. That sort of change doesn’t come without angst, and in it all I realised something important.

There’s no guarantee the path will stay smooth, and it’s easy to take things for granted while it is. So I’m taking every opportunity to love the fact that right now, life is good. But I’m not going to hold on too tightly – change will come, and when it does I’ll look back at this post and remember. This too shall pass, and when it does, everything will STILL be alright.

As I Went Walking

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I took Thursday off (you know, as you do when you set your own hours). I walked down to Manly, something I’ve not done much of this winter and I took my trustly little CX3 (I probably haven’t told you about that… it’s my new(ish) toy).

I’ll let the results speak for themselves. (Handy tip, if you click on a photo you can scroll through the whole gallery.)














Sweet Baby James

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I remember the first time I heard him. The same place I heard a few people for the first time, and actually, the place I really learned to listen and appreciate the craftsmanship that goes into a great song.

So many times you hear music and enjoy it, never really knowing why, what it is about a song that resonates. For some it will be the lyrics, others the chords, harmonies, instruments. I love it all. And I love this song. Copperline, by James Taylor.

Taylor writes great lyrics (“Half a mile down to Morgan Creek, leaning heavy on the end of the week”), he sings with the most fabulous phrasing and the singers he has alongside him on projects like “Live at the Beacon Theater” are outstanding, and incredible artists in their own right. But this song was the first, it was in class in my first year of Creative Arts School and it will stay my favourite. (And I’m kicking myself still I didn’t pony up the cash to go hear him when he played in Sydney on my Birthday. Next Time, for sure.)

 

Oh, and happy birthday this week to my very own ‘Sweet Baby James’ who at age 10 can hardly be called a baby any more…