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On Monday, we woke to the first snowfall of the season.  As soon as the sun started peeking through the trees, we were up and at ’em with morning chores and shoveling out our long driveway.  The world was so quiet.  It was so incredibly beautiful.

Since 2020, I have filled my head with a lot of negative things: arguments from all sides about all the things, war and rumors of war, just general bad news.  It’s taken me awhile to realize that this behavior is not sustainable.  Our souls crave the good, the true and the beautiful.  We cannot ingest a steady stream of negativity and expect it not to affect our everyday life.  So in 2024, I am fighting to include as much beauty into my day as I can muster: life giving books, time outside in nature, and spending time with my husband and kids.  For every minute of real world “ick,” I want to counter that with another minute of something soul-filling and good.

The soul craves beauty and I am passionately focused on seeking it.  (I think this weekly blog post will be helpful in this endeavor!)

Hoping to document the abundance around me all year long!

Around here, abundance looks like…

+ having all hands on deck to keep the animals fed, watered and warm.  We aren’t used to this kind of cold here in Virginia!

+ starting a new compost pile.  Compost is an important part of the garden and since I need so much, it can get expensive fast.  I hope to make a little dent in that by starting a pile of my own.  This week, I scavenged around and found some toilet paper rolls, a few kitchen scraps and egg shells.

+ renewing a new mission I started last year that l call “Seeking Beauty on a Budget.”  I want to fill my home with beautiful things, some purchased and some I make myself.  This week’s addition: we went to our local used bookstore and I found two gorgeous volumes of the Harvard Classics series for $3.99 a piece!  There are fifty books in the series and I’m going to see if I can slowly collect them over time.

+ working on winter emergency car kits for my husband and my teenage son.  I put everything in inexpensive backpacks that will live in their trunks.  Hopefully they will never need them, but better safe than sorry.  Items below in bold are the ones I’ve checked off the list so far:

• booster cables (need one more)
• flashlights and extra batteries
• blanket
• local map
• hats, gloves, socks
• snacks and water
• can of fix a flat
• ice scraper
• reflective vest
• tissues, chapstick and toilet paper
• hand warmers
• first aid kit (need one more)
• lug wrench (need one more)

+ selling five unneeded items: two tops, two books and a new pack of boxers that were the wrong size and I never returned.  After shipping and fees, I made $35.28!

Reading //

• What Are You Sacrificing to the Algorithm? by The Examine // Thought provoking.  I liked this paragraph about a reader of his who has a special kind of art project:

This ongoing project (as of the writing of her piece in 2022) is a sort of analog resistance, an act of anti-algorithmic art that’s quiet, non-monetized, and connective. It’s a human endeavor, one that doesn’t rise and fall on the whims of a sponsor, tech company, or subscriber base. It’s not likely to end up in a gallery, not likely to be as widely known as Wyeth’s Soaring. But does that make it less important? No. I might argue it’s more important given our current cultural context. Why? Because it’s an intentional act of human creation in opposition to a world driven by the machines.

• What Happens When a Community Works Together by The Rabbit Room // So inspired by this.
• It’s Time to Dismantle the Technopoly by Cal Newport for the New Yorker //

This emerging resistance to the technopoly mind-set doesn’t fall neatly onto a spectrum with techno-optimism at one end and techno-skepticism at the other. Instead, it occupies an orthogonal dimension we might call techno-selectionism. This is a perspective that accepts the idea that innovations can significantly improve our lives but also holds that we can build new things without having to accept every popular invention as inevitable. Techno-selectionists believe that we should continue to encourage and reward people who experiment with what comes next. But they also know that some experiments end up causing more bad than good.

Watching/Listening //

• Happy Bach // I had this on in the background as I did my computer work this week.
• Floriani Sacred Music Chant School // Continuing on with lesson three and Ave Verum.
• Episode 1: The Trigger Effect of the 1970s documentary series, Connections by James Burke // This was a recommendation and I liked it!  Excited to watch more.

Loving //

• reading The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe to the kids again
• this cursive workbook

This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission of any sale made at no extra cost to you.

I recently fell down a Youtube rabbit hole where multiple, seemingly unrelated videos expressed their difficulties with life outside of technology.  One Booktube creator now has crippling social anxiety and couldn’t even attend his father’s birthday party because he didn’t know the people on the invitation list.  Another creator shared her troubles in the classroom, reflecting on the current teaching advice to change instructional methods every five minutes in order to keep the kids’ attention.  And on and on.  I watched these videos with such a sadness in my heart.  What is happening to us as a society?

Ever since I was a little girl, I have had a stubborn streak and preferred to dance to the beat of my own drum.  That tendency was tempered a bit as I advanced in grades because well, kids are mean and “blending in” tends to be the best survival tactic.  But as I grow older, that little stubborn streak has returned.  I don’t want to become an automaton, a slave to technology.  I don’t want that for my kids either.  I want to experience the real world even if it’s inconvenient or messy or awkward.  I want to see technology as a tool, not something I cannot live without.  So I resist.  Gently.

Some small examples from the past few years: We don’t have any streaming services and buy secondhand DVDs instead.  We gave up Amazon Prime.  We have one television and it lives in the basement.  We don’t participate in any social media.  I haven’t replaced my cell phone in five years.  We grow our own food even though it’s a ton of work and way more expensive than just buying at the store.  We loathe debt and often pay for items with cash.  We read widely and often.

These examples seem small and insignificant, but are they?  Nothing is insignificant if they order us toward Truth.

Wendell Berry’s poem, Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front, provides the encouragement to keep going, to seek small ways to keep our humanity, both in body and in spirit.  You should read the entire poem, but I especially loved this part:

So, friends, every day do something
that won’t compute. Love the Lord.
Love the world. Work for nothing.
Take all that you have and be poor.
Love someone who does not deserve it.
Denounce the government and embrace
the flag. Hope to live in that free
republic for which it stands.

I think my life’s mission will be finding new things that just won’t compute.

Hoping to document the abundance around me all year long!

Around here, abundance looks like…

+ RAIN!  While winter rain is kind of miserable, I’m grateful for its arrival.  Last year’s drought was so terrible and I know our pastures and gardens are in dire need of the moisture.

+ committing to a vitamin routine (thanks, Little Things Bingo!) after waffling back and forth in December.  I’m not a doctor so do your own research – blah, blah, blah – but I’m currently taking a multivitamin, a probiotic, supplemental vitamin D, and fish oil every day.  I add in vitamin C, quercetin and zinc when I feel myself getting sick.  And bonus: I made myself a “poor man’s pill box” using a plastic tackle box and scrapbook stickers we already owned!

+ checking off another bingo prompt: make a new soup.  I made a tomato bisque with homemade chicken broth and a can of tomatoes from the pantry.

+ getting prepped for a new growing season.  I fortunately still have a large seed collection and only needed to purchase a few seed packets (tomatoes and flowers), onion starts and seed potatoes.  I also ordered our first batch of broiler chicks for arrival in early March.

+ trying winter sowing in milk jugs for the first time.  I used this tutorial and started lavender, foxgloves and brussels sprouts.  (I’ll be adding more as we drink through more milk.)  The process was super easy and I’m really excited to see if this will work!

+ making pizza sauce with cherry tomatoes I froze back in the fall.  We made homemade pizza for dinner one night and then used up the rest for pizza dip later in the week.  A pantry/freezer challenge win.

+ purchasing a brand new piano book for my daughter and a like-new Iliad & Odyssey for me on Pango Books for $17.  By not purchasing from Amazon, I saved $20 and supported another seller.  Win/win.

+ selling eleven unneeded items: five books and six of my son’s video games (I sell on his behalf and he gets the money).  After shipping and fees, I made $107.14!

Reading //

• Simple Acts of Sanity: A Seed Catalogue from School of the Unconformed // Includes a great list of ideas for gentle defiance
• In Praise of Repair Culture from Plough // A response to throwaway culture!  I loved this little paragraph about the author’s grandfather:

Grampa, who had grown up on a Wisconsin dairy farm during the Great Depression, shared his generation’s hallmark frugality. He couldn’t stand seeing anything usable or fixable thrown away, from leftover food to old books, which he restored in one of his other workshops, a bindery. (Not coincidentally, he also shared his generation’s penchant for packrat collecting.) But his repair work wasn’t primarily about saving money. The value of a thing wasn’t measured by its replacement price but rather by the use to which it could be put, and by the labor of those who had made it or previously repaired it.

• Why I Traded My Smartphone for an Ax from The Free Press // A teenager’s perspective on technology.
• The Machine Stops by E.M. Forster // A science fiction short story from 1909 that eerily rings true today.  Excellent.  I copied a ton of quotes, but here’s just one:

“You talk as if a god had made that Machine,” cried the other.  “I believe that you pray to it when you are unhappy.  Men made it, do not forget that.  Great men, but men.  The Machine is much, but it is not everything.  I see something like you in this plate, but I do not see you.  I hear something like you through this telephone, but I do not hear you.” (p.8-9)

Watching/Listening //

• Floriani Sacred Music Chant School // Continuing on with lesson two and Ave Maria.
• Self-Care for Homeschool Moms by the The Commonplace // Wise advice for all moms, not just for those who homeschool.
• Vintage Winter Music playlist // Thanks for reminder about this, Melisa!

Loving //

• the cat’s cradle book we got my daughter for Christmas // She and I are having so much fun!
• Rosemary’s 2024 reading plans // Because of her list, I want to jump into the Book of Centuries Challenge from the Literary Life Podcast!
• these power failure alarms for our deep freezers // We appreciate the peace of mind that we won’t accidentally lose all of our meat.

This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission of any sale made at no extra cost to you.

There’s something about the beginning of a new year that steers us toward the virtue of hope, don’t you think?  New calendars, fresh resolutions, and a garden resting before an abundant growing season all lend themselves to this feeling of infinite possibility.  Sadly, many of us also quickly fall to despair as sickness, long forgotten goals and just the drudgery of everyday life appear.  Life is messy – the world is messy! – and things quickly don’t go to plan.

This reminds me of one of my favorite stories in the Bible, a short little passage from the Gospel of Matthew:

He got into a boat and his disciples followed him.  Suddenly a violent storm came up on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by waves; but he was asleep.  They came and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us!  We are perishing!”  He said to them, “Why are you terrified, O you of little faith?”  Then he got up, rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was great calm.  The men were amazed and said, “What sort of man is this, whom even the winds and the sea obey?” – Matthew 8:23-27

I read this passage over and over because oh man!  I am the disciple in that boat, sloshing around and unable to get my bearings.  I’m focused on the storm and those waves hitting one after another.  I’m coming up with Plans A, B & C…and forgetting about the One who is in the storm with me.  Thankfully, His one simple answer rights me back to center, “Why are you afraid?”  And once again, I’m rooted in the hope that Our Lord has overcome all things and His love conquers all darkness and despair.  Where hope leads, peace follows, even in the midst of the storm.

Pope St. John Paul II once implored, “I plead with you. Never ever give up on hope. Never doubt, never tire, and never be discouraged. Be not afraid! There is no evil to be faced that Christ does not face with us. There is no enemy that Christ has not already conquered. There is no cross to bear that Christ has not already carried for us and does not bear with us now. Be not afraid!”  What a statement.  May I never forget the beauty of hope.

Hoping to document the abundance around me all year long!

Around here, abundance looks like…

+ keeping most of the decorations up until Epiphany.  We fully embraced Christmastide this year!

+ a new way to budget using this printable from The Busy Budgeter.  My husband and I changed the top categories to better fit our needs and are excited to see if we can “game-ify” our expenditures.  Really hoping to find a few extra pennies to put toward our financial goals.

+ jumping in with the Three Rivers Homestead pantry challenge.  I watched the video on 12/30 (so very little prep time before starting on 1/1!) but I’m going to do my best regardless.  My goal is to eat down our chicken freezer as well as a lot of the produce I preserved this summer.  We’ll buy dairy products and fresh fruit at the store, but will try to make do with what we have in the pantry.

+ unsubscribing from many promotional emails.  Less inbox clutter and more peace in staying the frugal course.

+ writing thank-you notes with greeting cards I already owned.  (They were unsold inventory from the BWF Shop days!)  I still love the illustrations and am happy to finally have a reason to get them out of my house.

+ using old Advent candles for some angelic light while I wash dishes.

+ constructing a little junk journal for January.  I used Christmas money to buy a few scrapbook papers and the rest of the materials were things I already had at home.  Can’t wait to fill it with memories this month.

+ selling nine unneeded items: three wall hooks, four books, a boys dress shirt and a small jewelry dish.  After shipping and fees, I made $66.33!

Reading //

• Planting Our Flag in the Real World: Parents Take the Postman Pledge from Front Porch Republic // One group’s endeavor to pull back on the lure of technology.  Where we’re not at the point where we want to remove all smartphones from our home, I did like that the pledge mentions the action is “an attempt to recover goods that can be so easily ignored, forgotten, or lost.”  Beautiful and doable even with a more moderate approach.  Good advice from the interview:

Q: How can we work against the grain of our culture and many of our communities on this issue, without adding to the clamor and division?
A: I think that the answer to this is rather simple. Be hospitable. Precisely because your family is working on habits of attention and presence, exercise them by welcoming people into your home. Do real things together. Celebrate. Take delight in the world—together. Don’t feel compelled to broadcast your views about the dangers of technology. Let your life speak, but be prepared to give an account of why you’re living the way you are. And do all of this in a spirit of humility—knowing that we are all susceptible to the pull of the screen and a myriad of distractions—and do it with gratitude for the good world we have been given by a God who is goodness and love itself.

• Reflecting upon the quiet heroism of winter mornings from Aleteia // “All around me, if I stop to pay attention, I notice my family, friends, and neighbors making daily sacrifices, great and small, for the sake of those they love.”
• two new-to-me reference books for the homesteading shelf: The Doable Off-Grid Homestead and Just in Case: How to Be Self-Sufficient When the Unexpected Happens

Watching/Listening //

• Are Smartphones Making Us Modern Gnostics? from The Commonplace // Very thought provoking.
• Floriani Sacred Music Chant School // Starting at lesson one – I learned how to chant Ave Maris Stella!

Loving //

• my 2023 favorite Christmas carol, Adeste Fideles, in all its forms!
• my new piano book
• a new notebook to be used as a commonplace/note-taking book for my 2024 Mother Academia work (I’m also using these circle stickers to differentiate what quotes come from where)