3 things for you as I prepare to take a blogging break for a week or so. A beautiful poem, a sketchbook round-up, and a blog post from each month of 2014. I want to take some time here at the beginning of a year open wide with possibility to think about where I’ve been and where I’m going. I want to write, to think, to dream. To let my sleeping brain knit together a blanket of ideas for the new year that will warm me all year long.
This is my 1,590th post. For almost 8 years I’ve been merrily hammering away at my keyboard, uploading photos, sharing sketchbook pages, travel tales, books, poems, and yammering on about this & that. Sending smoke signals out into the world. Thanks for noticing. For visiting & responding. Your encouragement & kindness are good reminders that in a tumultuous world filled with blazing light & occasional darkness small bands of people can find each other across the vast interwebs. Big & small connections are made. Ideas ricochet off each other and grow. Inspiration is gleaned and shared. I plan to keep right on manning my post here. Sending out thoughts, images, and ideas into the world. Contributing my verse, as it were.
I wish you a splendid year brimming with big ideas & hopeful new beginnings of all kinds.
A poem that moved me
O Me! O Life!
BY WALT WHITMAN
Oh me! Oh life! of the questions of these recurring,
Of the endless trains of the faithless, of cities fill’d with the foolish,
Of myself forever reproaching myself, (for who more foolish than I, and who more faithless?)
Of eyes that vainly crave the light, of the objects mean, of the struggle ever renew’d,
Of the poor results of all, of the plodding and sordid crowds I see around me,
Of the empty and useless years of the rest, with the rest me intertwined,
The question, O me! so sad, recurring—What good amid these, O me, O life?
Answer.
That you are here—that life exists and identity,
That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.
Sketchbookery
12 Blog Posts
12 posts I wrote that do a fine job of summing up 2014. 1 from each month. Like anyone has time to read them! However they are totally perfect for all of you insomniacs out there who need something to do besides count sheep at night.
Jan. Where I Visit The Library In My Garage
Feb. Mama Moss Has Left the Building
March The Path
April Where I Meet The World’s Cutest Bestest Baby And Fall Head Over Heels In Love
May Hello Out There!
July Morning
Aug. Day 3 of My 1 Week Vacation
Sept. Untrammeled Idleness
Oct. Where I Chase The Blood Moon Around The Ponderosa
Nov. I Saw A Fireball
Dec. Driving North
See you in a week!
Over and out from Moss Cottage, where all the women are strong, all the cats are good lookin’, and all the ideas are above average. xoxo
Miss MAM,
Could you please contact me regarding Sketchbookery…you may still be having an issue. By the way, I am sure enjoying this class! This is just the kick in the butt I needed!
Good luck and good health to you in 2015, Mary Ann! I love your posts, and your sketches are just awesome. Do remember to take a break every now and then. Waiting for more wonderful and colorful pics from you. Have a good rest…God bless. Have a fantastic time, whatever you are doing now. Carrie
you might like this website if you don’t already know about it:
http://www.urbansketchers.org/
It’s about people sketching their travels
Wishes for the best kind of year for you! Thank you so much for all you share with the world through your blog. Your art, your life, your family, your great big ideas on so many things. I’m so glad to have found you.
Mary Ann — I’m hardly the first person to tell you this, I know, but — you totally rock.
I’m saving quotes, and I just added this one: “There are a lot of ways to be truthful and not all of them involve gut wrenching psychological poop storms.” — Mary Ann Moss
Amen, sister. Just because something is true doesn’t mean it ought to be spoken out loud, let alone recorded for the ages. I believe we should have some consideration for our future selves (and other innocents) who may read what we write……
lol……………………..
Reading your posts always makes me smile. Each one is a wonderful gem. By your example, you have taught me and others how to focus on the good life that surrounds us. Thank you, for continuing to be the place where your readers can go, to feel uplifted and inspired. I’m sending you best wishes for a happy and healthy new year!
Dear dear Mary Ann~~ Though we ‘know’ each other only as on-line folks, I held my breath at the beginning of your
post. So afraid was I that you were saying goodbye to all that. And then…..
******************NO*******************you aren’t!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can I write yay? YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Anyway, without this being a mash note, let me tell you that:
>what you do
>how you relate
>where you travel and where you stay
>what you say
>what you share and what you hold back
All of that matters. And, I thank you for it all. You widen my experience of the world.
Enjoy the peace of solitude…you so deserve it.
Peace…and Hugs until next time.
~sass
Enjoy your week off from blogging….you deserve it. My month off sabbatical from work ends tomorrow and although it wasn’t long enough, it was restorative! Thank you for years of inspiration, beauty and humor. I, like everyone else who follows your posts, will be waiting right here for you, when you come back!
Love the poem. Have loved all the posts. Looking forward to your thoughts and pix in 2015. Happiest of New Years to you. 🙂
Happy New Year, Mary Ann! Thank you for the joy and inspiration you bring to us. Wishing you wonderful new creative adventures, health, beauty and fulfillment in the coming days.
Whew. I got a little nervous at the beginning of your blog, hoping you weren’t going to sign off or something. I don’t comment that often, but do check in every day to be inspired by you: your journals & sketchbooks, travels, classes, & comments. And the fact that we “small bands of people can find each other across the vast interwebs” as you said and be connected by these surprising friendships of like-minded people is awesome indeed. I never thought I could bind a book or sketch ANYTHING until you encouraged and showed me. You’ve opened up a whole new world for me (a 70 senior citizen, ha). You are appreciated, my dear. Thank you & many blessings in the new year.
Thanks for sharing the beautiful and perfect words of Walt Whitman on a subject I so often ponder. Happy New year to You.
One huge THANK YOU from me for all the creative energy and thoughtful commentary you put out into the world.
Have a lovely restorative little blog break, so glad we’ve found each other! Here’s to 2015 mischief!
xox
Mary Ann, I don’t comment very often…you have so many admirers I don’t feel you need my drivel added…but I wanted to drop you a note about something I’ve had on a post it note, stuck to my monitor for a year now. (I didn’t realize it had been that long until I looked back at your posts from the past year.)
“There are a lot of ways to be truthful and not all of them involve gut wrenching psychological poop storms.”
Yeah, that stuck with me…humorously and seriously, too. A good reminder for me to remember what is worth remembering. Thank you.
Know that you are often in my thoughts and I always wish you joy.
Peace & Love,
Barb
Mary Ann, I think when the new year rolls around every year many pause to think about what matters and wonder if what we do in the world matters. I’d just like to say to you that your blog definitely “matters” in my book! I check in regularly, often without comment, but always find you to be an inspiration! Your words are funny, smart and motivating! I love to see what you’re reading, writing and what art work you’ve created. I’ve come to think of you as an online friend despite us never having met… I cheered for you when you took your sabbatical (and wished I could emulate you). I was sad for you when your dear Mama Moss left our world. I was encouraged when you returned to your work and got a dear little classroom with children who deserved you and students you deserved! I love following along… Thanks for all you do, for your openness and honesty! I’d miss you a lot if you closed down your site! Oh, and I love, love, love your classes!!! Happy New Year!
Happy New Year Mary Ann! And thanks for all your doing and inspiring. I’ve grown to a better version of me because you’re art helped open a door to my artist self. I’m so grateful for your generosity, joy and talent!
Whenever I need a shot of creative mojo, I stop by for a peek.
Whenever someone points out the downside of living in CA, I soak in your photos.
Whenever I need a reminder to be myself on my own blog, I refer to yours.
Thank you a year of inspiration, laughs and simply awesome fun.
Wishing you good fortune, health and happiness in 2015!
thank you for the inspiration all last year–the writing and the art. Your blog (and your sisters) are ones that I always take the time to stop and read and enjoy! Happy New Year to you and many adventures and sketches!!
Cheers! Thanks for being you.
Thank you for all your sharing, and i wish you all the best for the new year!
May your 2015 be filled with laughter, love, adventure, travel and ART. I will be following along and enjoying your photography, your writing and most especially, your art. Thanks for enriching my life.
XO
I’m glad you are you and that you share your goodness with us!! Happy New Year!!
Thank you for it all. I am inspired and encouraged by your musings and creating. Happy new year to you.
My world would grow a bit dimmer without your musings…photographs…and journals full of colour. I’ve traveled the world through your posts…places I’ll most likely never see in person. Beautiful places. Full of wonder and enchantment. I’m out here..looking in and enjoying every moment. Thank you for sharing your life with me. I hope your new year is full of adventures and blessings. And brand new places and things for you to share…
You have made my world a more creative and peaceful one through your instruction and sharing of ideas. I wish you all the best as you ruminate your way into what’s next in 2015. Happy New Year Ms. Moss.
Have a wonderful New Year Mary Ann… wishing you the best of health and happiness for the year to come. Thank you for bringing your dispatches out to our scattered lives for all these years!