My garden: festive feijoa
I retreated into silence last night to consider whether it was time to end my quest. My original intention was to post every day of Advent. But that has not happened to this point and, during my little retreat, I decided there would be no more posts after this one.
After 15 posts (16 including today’s) on silence, my quest seems to have come to a natural conclusion. For now, I am replete with silence. I feel no need to continue.
My quest has been an enriching experience. I am immensely grateful for your participation in my search for silence. Through silence and contemplation, and with your wonderful companionship, I have for the first time, in a long time, been able to create an accepting, peaceful, space in my heart and home for Christmas.
As Linda (Shoreacres) writes in her post Homes Made for the Holidays ” Christmas is coming, after all, and its spirit will find a dwelling in even the smallest or poorest of spaces.”
And so it has, already. In the silence, it came to me. From my humble home to yours, I send love and best wishes for peace and goodwill now and always. Happy Christmas.
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- Mary’s journey to Christmas
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- Santa’s journey
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- My journey
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- with my own hands
The interfaith tree in my dwelling space, 2018; this tree, fully decorated, was given to me in 2016 by a Buddhist friend. The skirt of the tree and the embroidered white cloth come from Christmas celebrations in Cairo. The green prayer beads were a Hajj gift from a friend in Egypt. The beads help to remind me of another Christmas tree; a fully decorated Christmas tree given to us by a Muslim friend for our first Christmas in Egypt.
silkannthreades 
Those trees are a delight. You’ve even planted the seeds of what I might be able to do with some of our homeless women during drop-in center hours.
I am so happy to hear that.
What a lovely lot of memories from your interfaith tree. Your search for silence during Advent reminded me of a line from Marianne Moore’s poem Silence: “The deepest feeling always shows itself in silence.”
Your post gave me great comfort to know that you found the silence and peace you were seeking Gallivanta. May 2019 continue to bring that which you sought to achieve.
Thank you, Mary. 🙂
I have enjoyed reading your Advent posts very much, Mandy. I am so pleased you were able to find the calm you sought and found a place for Christmas in your life. I am thinking of you today and have you in my prayers. xx
Thank you so much, Clare.
❤
How lovely is your interfaith Christmas tree. I love that idea. Happy New Year to you. 😘
The red flower on a first picture is beautiful! I hope all your wishes will come true this year.
Thanks, Alex. I hope your year will be just as you wish it to be. My best wishes.
I hope your Christmas was wonderful and that the new year has started well for you & yours. I love the messages of and around your Christmas tree ❤
It was a good Christmas, Tiny. The New Year is already a mixed bunch of events, starting with little Jack spending a day at the vet trying to figure out why his back legs were unsteady. No answers yet but probably some sort of arthritic pain. My wallet and my dog both suffered!
It must feel particularly satisfying to know when you need to pull back. The knowledge and desire to experience the possibilities of silence is a gift to yourself. And as you stated, bathing in simple tasks such as washing the dishes had its own meditative quietude.
Sally, it was lovely to realise that there was no real need to do more.
Here is to wishing you a prosperous and healthy New Year.
And the same to you, Zambian Lady. Good to see you here again.
Happy New Year! I absolutely love the tree you made with your own hands. It is such a simple design and uses repurposed materials, yet it is so beautiful and elegant.
Thank you, kindly, Sheryl. It was fun to make. Every now and then I feel inspired to do such things. 🙂
As I reenter this blogging world of ours, I’m sorry to have missed traveling this silent journey. I’m glad you shared your experience, and happy to hear, too, that you’ve found a place of quiet contentment. Peace
Hello Alys, lovely to see you. I hope you have had enjoyed some quiet and rest in recent weeks.
Thank you, Amanda. I had a lovely time with my both boys home from uni and Mike off of work. We did a lot of relaxing at home, took in a few dinners out, assembled puzzles, read and generally enjoyed ourselves. It looks like you’ve enjoyed some time of quiet contemplation. Your posts were lovely.
Thank you, Alys. And even I started a jig saw puzzle. Haven’t done puzzles in years.
Oh what fun! They’re a wonderful way to spend time.
Silence is gold. I find that many people are way too talkative, nobody wants to listen. Your creations look very attractive and lovely.
Thank you, Inese, for your kind comment. Silence and listening are both hardwork but worth the effort.
I just wanted to stop back by and wish you all the best in this new year.
Thank you, Karen. My best wishes to you, too.
Beautiful.
Your sense of discernment is powerful.
I have enjoyed the series, and thank you for it. It helped keep me sane during a stressful time. Thank you.
Glad the series was helpful. It helped to keep me on track, too. 🙂
All caught up now. I am glad to hear it was one of the best pre-Christmas times you have had in years. Have a happy, healthy 2019, Gallivanta. ❤
Thank you, Lavinia. I hope everything goes well for all of you at Salmon Brook Farm.
Much going on here right now, but all is well. Spring is not far off. 🙂
😊😊😊
What a lovely, peaceful quest. It yielded beautiful fruit.
Thank you, Melissa. It was one of the best pre-Christmas times I have had in years.
Merry Christmas Ann. Thanks for such beautiful images!
Thank you, Maria, for enjoying them with me.
I enjoyed all your advent posts so much. Such beauty and wisdom – plenty to sustain us all through the year. xxx
Thank you, Liz. Here’s to stillness, peace, and wonderful sustained creativity in 2019.
Hear, hear! Xxx
Beautiful.
I hope you had a lovely Christmas.
I hope you are having a wonderful Christmas Day.
Very much enjoyed, Karen. May it be the same for you.
Ah thank you my friend .. and a special Christmas to you! 🤗
🙂 🙂 🙂
Thank you for this lovely journey. “Ive begun to realize that you can listen to silence and learn from it. It has a quality and a dimension all its own.” Chaim Potok, The Chosen.
That it does. And what a lot I have learned.
Wishing you continued peace and much joy in the new year. Hugs, M
Thank you, Michele. And the same to you. May this Christmas be the start of many lovely Christmas memories in your new home.
Happy Christmas to you and I’m glad you found your silence.
Thank you, Andrea. I am going to try and hold on to it.
We have found a very peaceful spot this afternoon. In sound of the waves and a stroll beckons to see how high they leap. God bless you and yours, Ann. The carol service was delightful. A hurdy gurdy and a voice as clear as a bell, but no Silent Night. Sending Christmas hugs 🌞🎅🎄🍰🍷💕
Glad the carol service was a delight. Christmas Day is almost done here. It’s a quiet evening. Not much traffic on the road but I can hear children outside on the street trying out their new Christmas gifts with laughter and chatter.
It was lovely to read your posts in the Quest, and the best one at the end. Wishing you a peaceful Christmas in the circle of loved ones. Big hugs from Ute
Big Hugs to you, Ute. Wishing you all the best of everything for 2019.
Thank you Mandy! ♥ hugs♥
That’s too beautiful. I wish I could’ve joined in — but workload was cray-cray until today X Have a beautiful quiet happy Christmas.
And I hope you have time for some peace and rest, too.
Inner Quiet
Quiet I bear within me,
I bear within myself
Forces to make me strong.
Now will I be imbued with their glowing warmth.
Now will I fill myself
With my own will’s resolve.
And I will feel the quiet
Pouring through all my being
When by my steadfast striving
I become strong
To find within myself the source of strength
The strength of inner quiet.
-Rudolf Steiner
Happy Christmas xo
Ah, Pauline, what a delightful poem to send me. When my brother was a Steiner teacher I used to get calendars from the Steiner school where he taught. They had lovely artwork as well as a few well-chosen quotes. May we all be filled with the strength of inner quiet.
I did not know your brother taught too – we have more in common than I knew
Yes, he taught in a Steiner school for decades. He only works as a relieving teacher now. He’s enjoying his retirement.
Your image is beautiful in its simplicity. As I mentioned a few days ago, I have very much enjoyed being invited to share in this journey and I am glad it has ended in a place of peace for you. Meri Kirihimete e ngā mihi o te tau hou
And a Merry Christmas to you, too. I am hoping I can hold onto to this place of peace and quiet. It may need some reinforcement as time goes by. 🙂
Fingers crossed for you 😀
Thank you.
LOVELY… ❤ hummin' with Sting:"every little thing she does is magic…" 🙂
Awww….so nice.
Wow.❤️
🙂 🙂 🙂
Are you celebrating Yalda Night? If so, best wishes for your celebration.
Awww, it’s amazing that you know about yalda. Yes dear we did, thanks 🤗❤️
I am pleased to hear it.
🤗❤️
For your interfaith Christmas I’ll wish you Shalom and Eve will add Maayong Pasko.
And I will borrow from Su Leslie’s comment and add Meri Kirihimete e ngā mihi o te tau hou. And from blogger, Kim in Fiji, I can give you Vakanuinui Vinaka na Siganisucu ( Merry Christmas in Fijian)
Thanks. It’s interesting that Kirihimete is as close as the Māori could originally come to pronouncing Christmas.
Hmmm…. that’s an interesting observation. I was thinking it may have been the missionaries who came up with that word when they translated the Bible. But perhaps not.
My initial hunch was what I said. Before commenting I checked the entry at
https://maoridictionary.co.nz/search?idiom=&phrase=&proverb=&loan=&histLoanWords=&keywords=Meri+Kirihimete
to confirm that the expression was a loan.
Excellent sleuthing.
When natural endings come, it’s best to honor them with acceptance. You’ve offered multiple avenues into a space of silence and solitude, and, for that, I’m grateful. May the rest of your holiday journey be equally peaceful, and of course celebratory. After all, December 25 is only the beginning of the Christmas season for us — not its end.
And the fact that it is the beginning is hard to hold on to, given the commercial insistence that the minute Christmas Day is over, we must throw ourselves into Boxing Day and New Year sales. Mind you, I am fairly good at resisting commercial pressures, so I won’t worry too much about those sales.
It’s been lovely reading these posts Mandy. Your quest affected me and helped me remember that I’m not a very peaceful person, but I find more and more solace in silence – albeit brief stints for me at this stage. Thank you for sharing.
Much love
Angela xxx
Brief silences, I have decided, can be as beneficial as longer silences; a bit like the proverbial, 40 winks. Thanks for being in on the quest. Peace and love be with you. xxxx
Mission accomplished. How wonderful that you’ve achieved such peace, and shared it with us. I’ll miss the posts–they were a lovely quiet space in busy days.
I am glad to hear it. I am now looking forward to immersing myself in the Christmas experience in whatever form it takes; silence, singing, laughter, awe, giving, receiving, and, of course, food. The same friend who gave us the Christmas tree is coming to our home to prepare a special Christmas dinner for us. How good is that! All I have to do is wash the dishes. 🙂
Thank you for taking us with you on your quest. I’ve enjoyed the silence and the fellowship in equal measure.
I love your choice of the word fellowship. I haven’t use that word in a long time, but it is very apt. Thank you for reminding me of it.
I was channeling my dad on that one. (He was an Episcopal priest.)
Ah, of course. Well -channeled.
May you continue to enjoy the Peace that passeth understanding.
And the same to you. 🙂
Thank you, Ann, for this and all your mindful advent posts. Wishing the bestest of best wishes. Tx
Thank you, Tish. It’s been lovely sharing this time with you.