Because we spill not only milk
Knocking it over with an elbow
When we reach to wipe a small face
But also spill seed on soil we thought was fertile but isn't,
And also spill whole lives, and only later see in fading light
How much is gone and we hadn't intended it
Because we tear not only cloth
Thinking to find a true edge and instead making only a hole
But also tear friendships when we grow
And whole mountainsides because we are so many
And we want to live right where black oaks lived,
Once very quietly and still
Because we forget not only what we are doing in the kitchen
And have to go back to the room we were in before,
Remember why it was we left
But also forget entire lexicons of joy
And how we lost ourselves for hours
Yet all that time were clearly found and held
And also forget the hungry not at our table
Because we weep not only at jade plants caught in freeze
And precious papers left in rain
But also at legs that no longer walk
Or never did, although from the outside they look like most others
And also weep at words said once as though
They might be rearranged but which
Once loose, refuse to return and we are helpless
Because we are imperfect and love so
Deeply we will never have enough days,
We need the gift of starting over, beginning
Again: just this constant good, this Saving hope.
~ Nancy Shaffer ~(Instructions in Joy)

“Cottage Mentality”…a better way to live ~
June 10, 2010 by asundayinjune
A cottage can be anywhere or anything (condo, ranch, farmhouse) as long as you have the “cottage mentality” of living simply, loving imperfection, and making do or doing without. It’s about cherishing the people in our lives and putting them before things.
~Jami
The little lady who said this, ~ Jami, who has a delightful blog (www.anoregoncottage.com) ~ which I’ve recently discovered and I just can’t get enough of, has become one of my favorites. This is what I long for…to live simply, to love imperfection, to make do or do without. I always want to make sure I am cherishing the people in my life and putting them wayyyyyyy before things.

"In the end, the quest for balance is bogus. Love your burdens. Love them hard. And when your loves knock you down or your weak ankles trip you up, stop worrying about balancing – ‘cuz you’re not – and bounce."
- Kelly Diels

Now I’m not thinking we should never try to improve ourselves, but should certainly stop striving so hard for perfection. Let’s screw up ~ mess up royally ~ fall down in the mud and get back up…muddy ~ belch because the food’s good (not really, don’t do that one) ~ slide all the way down the mountain on your butt…get back up and climb it again."https://www.anoregoncottage.com/