Thursday, March 17, 2016

Storytelling as ART

There is no question about it. Good storytelling is an art. In this TED Talk by Andrew Stanton he shares some hints on how to do it well.

 It is so worth watching!

Ted Talk with Andrew Stanton




Best wishes. Live a simple creative life!
~Mary

Author Website: www.MothAtTheWindow.com
Follow me on Facebook at  Moth at the Window and/or Mary Lachman Design
Order: Moth at the Window: Poetry of Grover W. Clayton and Recollections of Indiana 


Monday, March 14, 2016

Poems and Music

Lyrics are often poetry set to music. How else would those songs be so unforgettable!  The rhyme and rhythm increase a human's ability to remember the lyrics. In ancient times poetry was used as a method to communicate history of the people.

Poetry and music share an intimate connection. Both take some of the deepest and most intimate human emotions and distill them down to a few words.

In her TED Talk, Singing Old Poems to Life musician Natalie Merchant draws on her tremendous reserve as a creative and passionate artist and sings with from her heart.


I highly recommend the video. If the above does not work for you here is another link:

Link to Natalie Merchant's TED Talk


Best wishes. Live a simple creative life,
~Mary

Author Website: www.MothAtTheWindow.com
Follow me on Facebook at  Moth at the Window and/or Mary Lachman Design
Order: Moth at the Window: Poetry of Grover W. Clayton and Recollections of Indiana 

Thursday, March 3, 2016

Time to Downsize?

In a few weeks my husband and I will write the final check for our son's college tuition (payment plan). Graduation is in May and with any luck he will be finished! In addition, my older son and his wife are looking for their own place and will not be living with us any longer.

With those changes our house will be a quiet spot. We love our house, yard and garden but at some point one has to consider whether they are going to be in the same place long term (until retirement) or whether it is time to downsize.

Some of you know I work full-time in White Plains, NY.
My commute is 106 miles round-trip, daily. Could it be time to move a little closer?

Around here though, moving anywhere closer to NYC, also translates to paying considerably more for the same size house. As a result I think it could be time to downsize. But this is where the DH and I differ.  I would like a 2 bed cape walking distance to pizza and coffee. He would like a 3 bed colonial on at least 0.5 acre. Obviously we need to work this out.

We do agree that we need to sort out our belongings. (Of course he thinks I collect more than he, which I do, but I sort regularly and recycle regularly and he just piles his things in the basement. The basement is completely full, btw. Just saying.

I just finished reading the "Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up" by Marie Kondo, a Japanese professional cleaning consultant. Her premise is that when cleaning and sorting all things much be physically touched. And when you touch your belongings if you don't like them, if they don't bring you a surge of happiness or pleasure then you must eliminate them from your home and life. I like the idea. I get it.

Here is a link to Marie Kondo's website:   http://tidyingup.com

All the best,
~Mary

Author Website: www.MothAtTheWindow.com
Follow me on Facebook at  Moth at the Window and/or Mary Lachman Design
Order: Moth at the Window: Poetry of Grover W. Clayton and Recollections of Indiana 
Mary Lachman at a book signing