Things Like Stars and Yoga and Podcasts

“When you consider things like the stars, our affairs don't seem to matter very much, do they?”  

It's Virginia Woolf's 136th birthday today! She's one of my favorite writers, and when I was accepted to study English at KCL last year, I couldn't believe it because KCL was the school she studied at. I obviously didn't end up moving to London and attending KCL, but I keep the letter from them on my desk just because I like seeing it.  And it's a more positive reminder of Virginia Woolf than the movie The Hours is.  I love The Hours for its tragedy and depth, but if I watch it again I'm afraid I'll end up an emotional wreck.  Are there any particularly heartbreaking movies that you feel drawn to?  I have a hard time not watching sad movies or reading sad stories because they're so powerful.

From Wikipedia

Speaking of which . . . this month, I discovered the On Being podcast.  Whenever I'm doing work-work, school-work, or house-work, I like keeping company by listening to podcasts, and the On Being show is amazing. Perhaps the best description of it is from the pod's website:

On Being opens up the animating questions at the center of human life: What does it mean to be human, and how do we want to live? We explore these questions in their richness and complexity in 21st-century lives and endeavors. We pursue wisdom and moral imagination as much as knowledge; we esteem nuance and poetry as much as fact. 

I'm hoping to write more here later about episode suggestions, but if you have the time, you should definitely listen to the episodes with Marie Howe and Matthew Sanborn.  Howe's episode is perfect for Virginia Woolf's birthday. It's about "how language . . . has a power to save us," and it explores the way poetry brings experiences to life and makes us each a little less lonely.  Sanford's episode is about feeling compassion and appreciation for our bodies, and Sanford's story is incredibly compelling.  Paralyzed as a 13 year-old, he now teaches yoga to everyone from those overcoming physical disabilities to teens battling eating disorders, and his perspective on life is eye-opening. You really have to listen to the episode or read the transcript to get the full impact of his thoughts, but one of the things that he said that stood out to me the most was that, instead of focusing on ways in which his body isn't working, he focuses on all the amazing work it does just to keep him alive. Wow. It's beautiful.

From Daily Mom

 

The last little tidbit for this morning is (cue fun music) morning yoga! Yay! There is a lot of struggle and disconnect and resistance in the world right now, and stress is something that we all experience on a daily basis. As you may know from previous posts of mine, I've been working to combat the body-image/control issues that have resulted from anxiety, and when I'm stressed, I have a tendency to want to move into GOGOGOGO mode. 
But Ayurveda teaches us that like increases like. If you're freaked out and high-strung and do activities that build on those feelings, then they're just going to get worse. So I've had to hang up my "harder, faster, stronger" fitness mentality and focus more on softness and flexibility, which I've come to realize may actually be better for my health than constantly pushing the limit was.  Truth is, running fast and far may be exhilarating for some, but for me it usually just meant feeling wired.  I got high off the endorphins, but then all I could think about was the endorphins and when I'd "hit the wall" again . . . which is bad!  Now that I'm foregoing heart-gargling intensity for yoga, I'm finding that I'm thinking a lot more clearly. I've always appreciated yoga, but I never realized just how true all those "yoga changes your mind" stories are. The past three days, my mum and I have done short Yoga With Adriene or Lesley Fightmaster videos together to detox after work, and during one of Adriene's detox videos, my mum and I actually managed to really breathe for the first time.  We didn't take those shallow stress breaths we normally take but rather long, deep breaths with audible exhalations, and it was really freeing to be loose and fluid, not tight and rigid.
So if you're feeling anxious or knotted up or under pressure, maybe take five minutes (yes, just five minutes) and try a little "feel good" movement with Adriene.  See? I'm making it easy and putting the video right here, just a click away :).

 

 

Much love and light!

<3 Frances

Writer Confessions and #Goals

I have to admit that I haven't been the most committed writer lately.  With school and work and etc. etc. etc., it's been challenging to find the time, energy, and inspiration to actually sit down and write anything worthwhile that isn't actually due for a class. I can't help but to feel bad about this.  I mean, if I'm not actually committed to writing, then I should probably stop identifying as a "writer." But I'm not ready to do that, so I'm going to try to recommit to writing.  No more slacking.  Obviously, studying and end-of-year projects will probably consume the next few weeks of my life (and graduation is coming up!), but I'm promising to myself that I'll do a better job of avoiding the distractions that normally steal my few moments of free time that should be spent doing something more productive than Pinterest-ing.  (Not that Pinterest is bad, of course--it's actually a wonderful tool for finding inspiration.)  

Anyway . . . I suppose that I'm writing about this here to make my commitment to writing feel more "official" than it would if it were just something I mulled over privately in my mind.  And I also wanted to take the opportunity to encourage everyone out there (you, yeah, you, lol!) to set some fun goals for yourself for the spring and summer!  Make them positive goals that will help you expand your life and make the most of each day.  Write more.  Read more.  Learn dance choreography.  Learn a language.  I know this stuff all sounds sort of cliche and is mentioned all the time, but it can be meaningful in the long-term to commit yourself to making a positive life change.

Hugs for Wednesday!

<3 Frances

Dedications, Jane Austen, and Writer's Block

Yesterday, my great-grandmother--someone that I wholeheartedly love and admire--passed on to be with my grandmother.  Along with my mother, they are my biggest influences in life, and they inspired inspire so much of what I write about. I don't feel at the liberty to call myself "a writer" because, quite frankly, I haven't completed anything that wasn't a school assignment (or a blog post, lol) in a while, but I'm working on being more prolific and efficient and trying to get less distracted. I think one of the things that makes writing so difficult for me is my inclination to write about very heavy topics.  Historical fiction is the genre I spend most of my time working with, and the historical times I focus on are typically depressing and tragic, and I tend to feel incapable of writing anything meaningful enough to capture all the pain and suffering of the past.  But I'm working on that.

Of all the literary worlds to disappear into in times of heartache, Jane Austen's remains one of my favorites.  Sense & Sensibility got me through turbulent airplane rides and homesickness, and quoting Lizzy Bennet lets me pretend to be much more independent and self-assured than I actually am. And Austen's stories are markedly less depressing and dark than some of my other most-loved reading selections (i.e. the works of the Bronte Sisters, wartime tragedies, etc.).  Because of this, I'm incredibly excited to be reading Pride & Prejudice as my last novel of my last semester of high school. I started it once when I was in fifth grade but never finished it, and I'm determined to finish it all the way through now.  With that in mind, here is a little springtime style inspiration straight from Miss Austen's universe:

janeaustensworld.wordpress.com

ceciliaroselee.blogspot.com 

rjenkins.co.uk

dianegaston.com

formidablecourage.com 

<3 Frances

Study Corner: Writing Timed Essays (and Why They Make My Skin Break Out)

I had a timed essay in my English class today.  At the end, I felt good about what I'd written, but I also had a breakout of hives on my chin from the anxiety of the experience.  Skintervention setback! I guess I broke out because writing a timed essay is stressful, kind of like riding a roller coaster.  Once you're in your seat and the ascent has begun, you know that there's no going back and that you have to get through the ride now, but you can't quite imagine how.  It's a bit terrifying, really, and, unfortunately, I can't give you much advice in the way of the inevitable "drop" without passing out because riding roller coasters is not something I have much experience with.  Writing timed essays, though . . . that's something much more familiar to me.  I'm no expert, but I definitely have some tried-and-true tips for making timed essays feel less like timed essays (if that makes sense).

I definitely did not take this picture, lol, but it goes well with study time :).

• Take a deep breath.  
• Read the prompt over once to familiarize yourself with it and then again to find its main point.
• Ask yourself what the prompt is asking for.  Usually, it wants you to take a stance on something and defend your position with evidence, but there are nuances in the way a prompt is written that can change the way you're supposed to present your argument. 
• Also--think of your rubric (if you have one). You want to make sure you hit the big points on the rubric.
• Decide.
• Once you've figured out what the prompt wants, think of your resources and come up with a general idea for what you want to say.
• You need to have a general idea of your argument in order to write a cohesive paper.  Find your focus! Center yourself on it, and let your ideas for your body paragraphs stem from it.
• Make your skeleton.
• Come up with the "key three."  These are the main body ideas for your essay.  Put them in boxes on your brainstorm paper to help you organize what you're going to write about. You have limited time, but it might help to write a few bullet points in these boxes if you can.
• Make sure all your boxes relate in some way to your argument!
• WRITE!
• Your thesis will go at the end of your intro, but don't get too caught up in the introduction. If you're getting caught up in it, get your thesis down and start your body paragraphs.  
• Each body paragraph needs 1) an opening, 2) examples, 3) supports, and 4) a conclusion to tie it up (and relate it to the argument).  This is the simplest formula, and it works.
• Once you get your three (or however many you end up with) body paragraphs down, work on your intro (if you haven't already) and write your conclusion.  Make sure your conclusion doesn't just summarize but instead also carries your argument forward, but remember that the intro and the conclusion aren't as crucial as getting in the key arguments of your essay and your main point, so don't freak if you're running out of time to make the conclusion super fancy.
• Check it over.
• Read over your paper (if you have time) and make sure it hits at least most of the points on the rubric.  If you have time, try to get all of them, but if you're running out of time, try to get at least the big ones.

Good luck, loves!!! I hope this is a *bit* helpful. Coming up with a skeleton is probably the tip that helps me the most.  Let me know if you have any study or writing questions.  I'm not an expert, but my tutoring work has helped me come up with some ideas to make school more manageable.

<3 Frances

Friday Playlist

I haven't gotten to share a playlist in a long time, and it's making me realize how I haven't been listening to as much music as I used to lately.  Maybe that's why it's been so difficult to write!  Music has such an incredible way of clearing the mind and distracting it from stressful thought forms (even-and sometimes even more so--if the song is sad), and it inspires creativity that seems to have been evading me recently. Hopefully some of these songs will reach your creative energy, too, and help make today a bit easier.

Daughter: "How"

The Lumineers: "Sleep On The Floor"

Kate Bush: "This Woman's Work"

<3 Frances 

The Bronte Sisters' Mum

I am completely and entirely obsessed with pretty much anything that has to do with the Bronte Sisters.  Their short lives were full of heartbreak and poetic tragedy, much like the stories that they wrote, and the love they felt for one another is so sweet it could make me cry.  Imagine my excitement, then, when I found some of their mum's writing published online. (I'd like to picture myself discovering it in some dusty English library somewhere, perhaps with tea and my glasses and lots of old books, but for now the only resource I really have at my disposal is Google, LOL.)

Maria Branwell Bronte

Anyway, if you aren't yet familiar with Mrs. Bronte, let me give you a little bit of a crash course.  Born Maria Branwell in April 1783, she grew up in Cornwall in a respected Methodist family. Like her daughters, her youth was marked by death, too.  Of her siblings, only five survived past childhood, and her parents were both dead by the time she was 19.  The light at the end of the tunnel, however, seemed to come when Maria met Patrick Bronte through her extended family.  The two connected immediately.  Unfortunately, their relationship wasn't entirely approved of because Patrick wasn't as well-off as the Branwells had been, but Maria didn't care.  She thought humble livelihoods and poorness were positives in the eyes of God, and she genuinely loved Patrick:

Surely after this you can have no doubt

 that you posess all my heart.

Two month ago

 I could not possibly have believed
that you would ever engross so much

of my thoughts and effections

and far less could I have thought

that I should be so forward

as to tell you so

I feel that my hearth

is more ready to attach itself

to earth than heaven.

 

(The above is from a letter to Patrick that I found on the "The Bronte Sisters" blog, which is amazing and can be accessed here.)  Patrick and Maria married and had six children: Maria, Elizabeth, Charlotte, Emily, Branwell, and Anne. But after Anne's birth, the now-Mrs. Bronte fell very ill.  She spent months in agony before dying of ovarian cancer in 1821. Her last words? "Oh, God, my poor children!"  Her story is heartbreaking, just like the tuberculosis-ridden lives of her children.  Only such poignant tragedy could've led to the production of works like Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre. 

 

<3 Frances

Poetry Break: "Her Kind" by Anne Sexton

Anne Sexton

Remember that scene in the cartoon adaptation of Alice in Wonderland when Alice gets swept away through the keyhole? That's sort of how I'm feeling right now, so any non-academic writing time has sort of disappeared for the time being. But my mum shared this poem with me and its lines are just so powerful . . . I mean, the combination of "suppers for the worms and the elves" and "rearranging the disaligned" is poignant and perfect, and Anne Sexton's story is a tragic one.

Speaking of tragic--has anyone been following the news about Hurricane Matthew?  It breaks my heart when I see the weather tracker images of it over the Caribbean, and I wish there were more I could do for the people there :(. 

I have gone out, a possessed witch,
haunting the black air, braver at night;
dreaming evil, I have done my hitch
over the plain houses, light by light:
lonely thing, twelve-fingered, out of mind.
A woman like that is not a woman, quite.
I have been her kind. I have found the warm caves in the woods,
filled them with skillets, carvings, shelves,
closets, silks, innumerable goods;
fixed the suppers for the worms and the elves:
whining, rearranging the disaligned.
A woman like that is misunderstood.
I have been her kind. I have ridden in your cart, driver,
waved my nude arms at villages going by,
learning the last bright routes, survivor
where your flames still bite my thigh
and my ribs crack where your wheels wind.
A woman like that is not ashamed to die.
I have been her kind.

<3 Frances

Where Literature Meets Nature

With the heat wave that's going on right now, the approach of the new school year (aka next week), and hospitalized loved ones, these past few weeks have been c r a z y . But they're a good reminder of how important it is to appreciate little simple things for all they offer, and I'm going to go along with the random horoscope I read and say that the "power word" for the next few months is "change."  Embrace it, accept it, live with it.  It's challenging, but it can be meaningful. Change doesn't always mean bad...change can very often mean good. And it can encourage us to do things we otherwise might not have...like being a literature/history person and deciding to also pursue environmental science despite the fact that I'm not at all a scientist.  I have found, though, that there are many places where literature and nature overlap. My brother, ever the nature-lover, is reading The Soul of an Octopus by Sy Montgomery--a writer the Boston Globe described as "[p]art Emily Dickinson, part Indiana Jones."  Is that not one of the best combinations ever?  I think my favorite part of it is that Emily Dickinson is included because she loved the environment so much. I have an anthology of her poems, and it's divided up into different categories, one of the most well-known being "Nature." She cared so deeply for the natural world...she even had her own herbarium!  Seeing it is on my imaginary and unrecorded bucket list ;).  Another author who loved the natural world was, of course, the one and only Beatrix Potter.  Her enchantment with Earth isn't all that surprising given the fact that her illustrations and writings were all about plants and animals.

 



 



 

Nature is what we see

by Emily Dickinson

“Nature” is what we see—
The Hill—the Afternoon—
Squirrel—Eclipse—the Bumble bee—
Nay—Nature is Heaven—
Nature is what we hear—
The Bobolink—the Sea—
Thunder—the Cricket—
Nay—Nature is Harmony—
Nature is what we know—
Yet have no art to say—
So impotent Our Wisdom is
To her Simplicity.

 

 

<3 Franceshttp://www.aquarellepublishing.co.uk/img/artists/Beatrix-Potter1.png

Poetry Break

 

          

 

The innate powers of literature and poetry have been haunting me.  I blame it on my AP Literature homework and the book that I'm currently reading about literary analysis and interpretation. It's Thomas Foster's How to Read Literature Like a Professor, and I think I'm enjoying it far too much.  (I mean, intertextuality?  Yes, always and forever!)  When I was little, I used to dress up in blouses that were way too big for me to play either hospital or school (or occasionally "newspaper" and "store") with my brother and misfit dolls, and I'd always get very emotionally involved in whatever role I was playing, but, regardless of whether or not we were in outer space or in a 1820s schoolhouse, books and reading were always involved.  They've been constant friends, loved to the point of torn pages and stains and memorization.  What's unfortunate, though, is that, no matter how much I love stories and books, there are still so many people in the world who don't have them. I've mentioned this before, yes, but the whole back-to-school (almost) thing has been reminding me of it because, while we're all seeing our summers wind down and wishing they'd last longer, there are whole villages of people that are starving and will never get to go to a schoolhouse or learn to read.  It's a true tragedy.  I hope maybe one day I'll be able to do more than just write about it, but writing is a start.

<3 Frances

 

The Bronte Obsession Continues

Although my excitement about this post may not be shared by anyone not totally obsessed with literature, I have to share it anyway.  For Christmas this year, my big gifts from my mum were copies of Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre from 1943.  I know that those books were written in the 1800s, but having copies from 1943 is incredibly amazing to me because of a slight obsession with the 1940s (#modcloth).  That aside, though, the thing about these books is that the illustrations are so cool!  They're very dark and Tim Burton/Edward Gorey-esque, but they're from a pre-Tim Burton/Edward Gorey time, and they make the depressing moors and broken love stories of Charlotte and Emily Bronte's beautifully-crafted worlds really come to life.  It's like the books are haunted in the best way possible.

<3 Frances 

Writer's Block: How to Handle It

It hasn't stopped snowing yet.  At all.  As much as I love the snow, I'm worried about the plants and animals (and people) that are facing it right now, and I really hope all are well and safe! Sitting inside, I've felt very grateful for a roof and heat, and I've been trying to get some work done.  This brings me to my next subject: writer's block!  Yay! (Cue sarcasm.)

 



Writer's block--the bane of creativity--is an unfortunate phenomenon marked by an abundance of blank pages and a lack of inspiration.  It can be incredibly disheartening, making writers everywhere feel like they'll never ever feel inspired again, and it can cause major problems when you have essays due. But don't worry!  (Worrying is the root of all stress, and stress causes way more trouble than it's worth.) Here are some of my favorite ways to deal with writer's block.  I've by no means found the cure (does one exist?), but these things can help:

• Listening to music.  Anything works, really. It all depends on how you're feeling. Some of my favorite anti-writer's block songs are "Wings" by Birdy, "1904" by The Tallest Man on Earth, and "Midnight City" by M83.  And Lana Del Rey often helps me write history papers.
• Looking at art. Noticing a trend?  Art of any kind can be inspiring.  Photography can be the needed inspiration for a short story. Monet can spark an idea for your book report.
• Reading.  This is an obvious one, I know, but it really works!  There's nothing like reading Les Mis excerpts to inspire you to aspire to Victor Hugo-level literary brilliance.
• Dancing.  Not for everyone, but fun when it works.
• Watching movie trailers.  Some trailers have amazing combinations of visuals and music. I love the trailer for Baz Luhrman's The Great Gatsby. 
• Talking.  Even to yourself.
• Moving around.  Take a walk outside (or not, given the weather).
• Cleaning.  It's oddly therapeutic, and it'll help you think.  Plus, you'll end up with a cleaner home afterwards ;).

<3 Frances

Arts as Therapy, Trees of Green

We recently got a project at school in which we have to pick topic that we find to be incredibly interesting and meaningful and do research on it as a sort of "PhD."  AT first, I wasn't entirely sure what to do, but then one day while I was reading an article in Well Being Journal, I looked up and saw my copy of Jane Eyre and realized that the overlap between holistic healing and the arts is something that I'm really interested in.  Books and dance helped me cope with losing my grandmother, who I was very, very close to, and I've seen the ways other forms of art have helped other people, and I think that this is something I want to incorporate into my career (scary word, LOL) because it genuinely intrigues me.  Anyway, I was sharing this because I may update this blog with info about the research I'm doing if I stumble upon anything particularly noteworthy or anything that may help people. Struggles are real and hard times are often upon us, but finding ways to ease pain holistically and healthily can make a big difference, and I think that, for some, art isn't so much a means of expression as it is a way to survive.  You can find more info at moth-birdproject.weebly.com.
With all that said, here's a song that my grandmother used to love that never fails to make everything feel better--even when the world seems like a difficult place in general.

Israel Kamakawiwo'ole: "Somewhere Over the Rainbow"

Happy Thursday, friends.

<3 Frances 

Movie Style: Testament of Youth

I'm reading Vera Brittain's memoir Testament of Youth at the moment.  It's a beautiful, poignant account of life and love during World War I, and Brittain, a feminist and peace activist, offers an honest perspective on how the war changed the youth of her generation.  No longer were they focused on academics or leisure but on survival.  

“There seemed to be nothing left in the world, for I felt that Roland had taken with him all my future and Edward all my past.”

Last year, a film adaptation of Testament of Youth came out, and my mum and I, always drawn to the tragic beauty of war poets like Wilfred Owen, watched it together.  The scenes of the trenches recreated the horrific reality of the war, and the film captured well the novel and the transition that the youth went through from being completely disconnected from war to being fully involved in it.  But while so much of the movie brought out the pain and horrors of the WWI era, the costumes designed by Consolata Boyle reflected (like the poetry) the beauty that so many clung onto during the darkness.










<3 Frances

Bibliophilia

Between textbook readings and study guides and essay prompts, I haven't had a lot of time to write any posts, but today I'm very excited to share a new discovery!  Being a bibliophile, I'm capable of completely losing myself in books, and libraries have a special place in my life.  Last year, I herd about this project called "Book Traces" that finds old books that have been written in, drawn on, etc., over the years and collects them as historical artifacts.  But you can still check a lot of them out! I'm seriously too excited about this.  You can visit the tumblr page here: http://booktraces.tumblr.com/  

 

 

 

<3 Frances

Bibliophiles Anonymous

It's amazing how, to some people, stories stay in the pages of the books in which they are written while, to others, they became a tangible and powerful part of reality.  Last night, Iris and I were engaged in a dialogue about book quotes because of an article we found on Buzzfeed.  We were both totally overwhelmed with excitement every time we came across another beautiful quote, even if it came from a book we hadn't read before (many of them did...), and then I mentioned the quotes to some other people, and they thought that they were very well-written but didn't succumb to butterflies and euphoria the way that I did. 

 

<3 Frances

Alice in Wonderland

As anyone who knows me can tell you, I very much enjoy anything Alice in Wonderland-related. Black-and-white striped socks, talking rabbits, pocket watches, mirrors....everything is just so storybook eerie!  Iris was showing me some of the Alice-inspired art/fashion/etc. she found online the other day, and we wanted to post about it, too :).  Everyone could use a little Wonderland, right?

weheartit.com

www.authorama.com

www.strangeling.com

aliceindeadland.devianart.com

www.pinterest.com

manaloempire.com

lovewiththeproperstranger.blogspot.com

pixshark.com

<3 Frances 

Writer Struggles

Iris shared this really funny and entirely true quote with me the other day, and I can't help but to post it.

The sad thing is that when this happens, I just want to tell my imaginary friends, "Really?  Who else are you going to talk to?"  I love them, but it's difficult when they're not cooperating.  Those who have experienced this totally understand what I'm talking about.  Those who haven't may think I'm crazy.  

Here are a few more #writerstruggles:

successing.com

pinterest.com

imgarcade.com

pinterest.com

<3 Frances

Friends of Books Anonymous

It's officially Friday! ¡Viernes! Vendredi!  *sigh of joy*

Art by Emily Winfield Martin 

As a liberal arts geek (no shame!), I can't help but to fall head-over-heels for literature and all things literary.
I was raised in a world where "Faulkner" and "Woolf" were household names and the stories of Jay Gatsby
and Elinor Dashwood were very, very real.  Books, then, aren't works of paper but instead friends.  When one
ends, I'm physically pained, like I've just lost someone (I'm still getting over A Separate Peace).
If you, too, find yourself both emotionally tortured and fulfilled by literature, then welcome to Friends of 
Books Anonymous, where it's totally okay to have imaginary conversations with book characters....

<3 Frances

P.S.  If you're currently going through literary withdrawal, here are a few Jill's Library-approved books that would definitely be worth checking out:

This is The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzergald.  Must anything else be said?

Wuthering Heights, one of the saddest love stories ever, written by a girl with
a very sad story herself.

The Vietnam War is captured--raw, real and poignant--in
the O'Brien's brief chapters.  It's like being there.

Few novels will leave you more disturbed by the meat industry than Upton Sinclair's muckraking masterpiece.
It's a graphic, real, painful, and incredibly important piece of literature.  

Set in a WWII-era boarding school in New England, this starts with a seemingly small accident
and "ends...as deep and as big as evil itself" (Aubrey Menen).