Naming What Nourishes

Things inspiring me and providing sustenance

Jasmime, Coneflower, and Wild Bergamot

I wrote in my last newsletter about Culture as a Place to Grow.

In that post I shared pictures of my garden and the ways that growing things, making by hand, reading, and gathering with friends are things that have always sustained humans and continue to do so.

Lately, the culture nurturing me has been a delightful mix of things I am tending and gifts and offerings from friends. This newsletter describes some of the beautiful ways I am receiving sustenance and inspiration.

My friend,

Anne Brock

is an amazing quilter. She always has a new quilting project to share. This Spring she inspired and coached me with instructions for how to make t-shirt quilts for Ryan and Kevin.

Serendipitously, just as I was finishing up sewing Kevin’s quilt, a package arrived from Anne. Inside was a quilt for me, a gift from a series she has been making and gifting, inspired by the energy of the chakras and the colors of each. You can read Anne’s story of her process and see all the quilts in the series in her post, Healing Colors.

My quilt is orange to reflect the sacral chakra, seat of creativity. As I read more about this energy, I was also delighted to learn it is also the chakra of relationships, that felt like such an affirmation of my writing about deepening relationship with creativity.

I continue to be honored and inspired by this gift, its color and vibrancy, and the care that went into making it, the energy it carries

A few weeks later, I received a book in the mail. Its arrival was a surprise and included a note from the sender, my friend, Noelle. She kept thinking of me as she read this book and sent it thinking I would enjoy it too.

I had never heard of The Correspondent or the author, Virginia Evans. But I loved the birds on the cover, and I love letters. I was quickly immersed in this story told through the written correspondence of the main character.

After finishing it, I kept telling people how delightful it was and how it was a reminder of my own joy in letter writing. This is also a joy in writing and the realization has helped me feel new energy for my writing and revisions as I imagine future readers as I am writing.

I recently revisited a favorite book, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, I reread it because I had been thinking of the story in the context of my chapter on pilgrimage. The surprise here was learning that Rachel Joyce has since written two companion books to Harold’s story. The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy is the story of the friend and former colleague that Harold walks to see. She is dying and in hospice care. As she awaits Harold’s visit, she writes him a letter, repeatedly referring to this act of writing and telling her story as her own kind of pilgrimage. A good reminder that writing and creative acts are their own kinds of journeys, with the need for help and directions along the way as well. The third book, Maureen, tells the story of a journey taken by Harold’s wife, Maureen, years after his original walk. I loved how in the introduction to the book, the author wrote about her relationships with the characters she created and her sense that they still had one more story to tell.

On my walk Monday morning, I discovered some tulip poplar leaves laying on the sidewalk. The unique thing about this particular fallen branch was that the all the leaves had been eaten or decayed away leaving only their skeleton structures.

This discovery felt like a gift too and I made my first print of this delicate form this week.

I would love to hear what is nurturing you in this season too. Sharing what nourishes us and reaching out to our friends matters. It creates a culture for growth.

Thank you for reading and being part of creative community through this newsletter,

With a grateful heart,

Kathryn

Chickory, Daisy, and Black-Eyed Susan