About this Site
Question: What does the name of this website mean?
Answer: It comes from the following poem by Thomas Traherne:
The corn was orient and immortal wheat, which never should be reaped, nor was ever sown. I thought it had stood from everlasting to everlasting. The dust and stones of the street were as precious as gold: the gates were at first the end of the world. The green trees when I saw them first through one of the gates transported and ravished me, their sweetness and unusual beauty made my heart to leap, and almost mad with ecstasy, they were such strange and wonderful things: The Men! O what venerable and reverend creatures did the aged seem! Immortal Cherubims! And young men glittering and sparkling Angels, and maids strange seraphic pieces of life and beauty! Boys and girls tumbling in the street, and playing, were moving jewels. I knew not that they were born or should die; But all things abided eternally as they were in their proper places. Eternity was manifest in the Light of the Day, and something infinite behind everything appeared which talked with my expectation and moved my desire. The city seemed to stand in Eden, or to be built in Heaven. The streets were mine, the temple was mine, the people were mine, their clothes and gold and silver were mine, as much as their sparkling eyes, fair skins and ruddy faces. The skies were mine, and so were the sun and moon and stars, and all the World was mine; and I the only spectator and enjoyer of it. I knew no churlish proprieties, nor bounds, nor divisions: but all proprieties* and divisions were mine: all treasures and the possessors of them. So that with much ado I was corrupted, and made to learn the dirty devices of this world. Which now I unlearn, and become, as it were, a little child again that I may enter into the Kingdom of God.
* This word is used here and elsewhere in its original sense, where we should now say "properties."
Thomas Traherne (1637 to 1674), English Mystic, from Centuries of Meditations ‘Third Century’ sect. 3
Question: Who created this site?
Answer:
- I am a woman in her 50s living in the U.S. state of Ohio
- I’m happily married and recently became a grandma
- I have lots of hobbies and interests (see list below)
- I suspect I have AuDHD (Autism + ADHD) and RSD (Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria) and am on a waiting list to be evaluated
- I am choosing to remain anonymous on purpose because my RSD is so intense that I can't stand it when anyone I know sees or hears my artistic creations
- I am against AI and there is nothing on my site that was generated or altered by it
- I have always been a spiritual seeker even though I was raised as an atheist. I’m a fallen-away Catholic.
- I’ve been a vegetarian since 1990 for ethical reasons (to minimize the suffering and killing of animals, as well as for environmental reasons)
My Interests:
- Composing music
- Photography
- Spirituality
- Mysticism (i.e. the direct experience of God or the Divine)
- Learning about different religions, philosophies, spiritual practices
- Writings of saints from various traditions
- Architecture
- Urban planning (Christopher Alexander)
- History
- Genealogy
- Astronomy
- Symbolism
- Fourth Way (Gurdjieff, Ouspensky, Nicoll)
- Psychology (especially Jungian)
- Mythology (Joseph Campbell and Mircea Eliade)
- 1980s retro games and computers (especially Atari)
- Solo journaling RPGs
- Writings of Colin Wilson
- Museums of all types (art, history, quirky)
- Travel
- Trains
- Cycling
- Long-distance walking / pilgrimage walks
- Journaling practices and the journals of Anais Nin and Etty Hilesum
Goals for this Site
- To be more creative in a consistent way; using the site for my own accountability; to create momentum
- To share my creative works online anonymously because I feel that gives me the most freedom to be my authentic self without being self-conscious
- To create a blog with inspiring, uplifting ideas and information while also tracking my creative activities over time