Secret Sanctuary

Jim, thank you for being my first visitor to this new hub! I hope you listen to some of the music on it. It's really gorgeous and very relaxing! I'd plan to use other music for my hub-taking-shape till I ran across these pieces which seemed made for it, or vice versa! Each one is amazing.

You can like all the selections, by the way!! No need to pick just one. (tee hee) I really appreciate your visit!

Vellur, I'm thrilled that you enjoyed my poetry and this hub. I deeply appreciate your visiting it!

Debbie - good reason for you to come to Dallas and share a cup of tea and all with me! I'm delighted that you enjoyed your visit to my hub! Thank you, darlin'!

Joe, the mention of bougainvillea lifts me up! Mother gardened and had bougainvillea climbing on our house. I remember how gorgeous it was, - usually the magenta blossoms, though they come in a range of colors.

I can only imagine how wondrous they are, profusely cascading down the island cliffs! All your imagery takes me away on a magical tropical visit to the lava formations and all the beauties you've called home & which I've never seen! Thank you for bringing me these glimpses - and for visiting here!

Martin - I'm the one blessed by your visit to it! I deeply feel & am gratified by your response!

Ah, rdsparrowriter, thank you! I"m pleased that you enjoyed my poems and tuned in to the videos! Comment...

Tobusiness, - How pleased am I that you liked the hub! It's a delightful compliment! I simply passed along the enchantment from the making of it! Thank you!

Lisa Luv, as always, I'm delighted with your visit! Welcome back from whatever your absence has been! I'm honored to be your first read upon returning! Thank you!

Wayne, to such a superb poet as you, I give my humble thanks! Happy that mine sent your day off to a happy start!

Billy, my honored friend and fellow writer! I'm pleased that my words found favor in your eyes! Thank you. :-)

Faith, I can live for days on such lovely praise! Thank you, my dear!

Oh, yes, this season of renewal is a welcome tenant! My yard is so green (though some of it due to the abundant weeds that love the change of season, too. I spent some time earlier chatting with one of the squirrels on the fence about it. He had no practical suggestions, but merely looked at me with disdain as if to say, "if you don't know, don't expect ME to fill you in! I'm only a lowly rodent, you know!"

Seriously, 'my' squirrels recognize my voice. In this instance, I was inside with a closed windows between us when I got his rapt attention! He actually sat down on the top of that fence to allow me to ramble on! (Or maybe, 'she'. That squirrel was suspiciously plump!) I wrote a hub about my pesky squirrels 'way back when they were seriously invading my attic. ('Paranoid - Or Just Plain Squirrely")

My beloved Michael! Thank you! You know how it delights me to see you! It makes the sun shine.

I just saw the weather report. sigh. We're to get a rumble of the front. But I know you'll soon be in for some Spring! At least it will be well-watered up there.

Here, it will probably just plummet into summer.

Dear Mary, Yes, the garden in my mind is ever so much more beautiful than 'the real thing' in my yard. I didn't inherit enough of Mother's green thumb. I can keep houseplants alive - usually, if they're fairly self-reliant :-) At least I got most of her vivid imagination.. Thank you much for the visit and kind comments! Hugs.

Oh, what a delight that would be! Just give me warning enough to clear off all the writing stuff on this couch beside me so there's a place to sit! hehe.

Now you have me excited at the prospect!!

Rasma - Thank you for that lovely comment! I'm so happy that you enjoyed the package! I love that! You're very kind!

Hello dear Leslie - Oh, yes, the imagination is the left brain's beloved associate, with a major function at times: keeping analysis from consuming itself!

I'm pleased to welcome you into a peek into mine, though modest, perhaps at least it is a bit more risqué than the Garden of Eden, which was just so -- so - - so very naïve! ;-) hehe

Oh, btw - being secret isn't necessarily equivalent with being imaginary. . . and there's nothing either imaginary or secret about the ginger tea, incense, Mozart and Parrish, nor buttercups (though the hill is modest and their preferred time of day is brief) and playful shadows through the trees upon the grass were there the other day when that was written though today the sun is on vacation and the chill is not!). Tee hee

Dear Lurana,- Oh, I can always count on you to share many of my personal percepts and delights!

I only just discovered "The Secret Garden"; - it almost seems my deciding to make a hub about mine was somehow to lead me to that lovely work! I had difficulty not including more of the music. It's all wonderful!

My George inherited an original Parrish print ("Contentment"), which hangs on the wall directly across from where I'm sitting. I probably mentioned it to you in some previous discussion & that I gave him a lovely art book collection of Parrish's work which he dearly loved & which sits over there on the coffee table. I had to whittle down the artwork to include on the hub, as well as the music!

I grew up with Maxfield Parrish illustrations on covers of the many magazines to which my parents subscribed. People also had the framed prints on their walls in art nouveau decor which was the rage then. Many an artist who's revered today was then just part of the then-current crop who painted for ads, calendars and magazine covers! Norman Rockwall was another one. Mother saved magazines, with her keen eye for what is today's everyday becoming tomorrow's antique treasure, but most of them were 'lost in the shuffle'. They're rather imprinted on my memory, though & a few survived. One reason some did was that she used them to store pastel sketches between the pages!

Actually, my original emphasis was not intended to be so much on a garden as to highlight the sanctuary of my inner retreat. I'd intended to include more spiritual elements of my Secret Sanctuary, but the romance seemed bent on dominating; and I must admit that I've associated secret yearnings with secret gardens at special - romantic - times in my life! hehe

The final music selection, though, speaks of the spiritual elements and, for me, leaves them pristinely & pleasantly in my immediate awareness, especially the way my inner 'sanctuary' includes romance, reality and spirituality.

The backgrounds to the music, - moon, sun, sky, mountains, bridges and ships, the magnificent edifices, both man-made & natural, accompanied by that gorgeous music and pervading mistiness, all say volumes about what truly reflects the most glorious spiritual imagery for me.

That poem you mention "Anyway it IS" is the only one on the hub that wasn't written specifically for it, last Sunday, as it was being prepared. That one, though, goes back to 1978, at a special moment in my life, - and yes, there was the sense of tension, though it was also one of acceptance and even, resignation. But so romantic and memorable. Thank you!

Kathi (Fossillady) - isn't it delicious? So much of 'reality' is one's own subjectly interpretation anyway! Might as well summon it for pleasure sometimes!

Thank you so much for your welcome visit and comments!

SilentReed ~ 'fFoggy comment'? Doesn't describe a comment from you, surely! But what's 'froggy' all about anyway? My online dictionary here defines it as adjective form of the noun defined as "a tailless amphibian with a short squat body, moist smooth skin, and very long hind legs for leaping." I believe there's a lovely haiku somewhere in which a Zen master uses the lowly frog to answer a question about the meaning of life, though it may exist only in my memory from ages ago.

But, OK - 'sanctuary' is a much more apt word to use in connection with meaning of life or how one pursues it.

'Divine' can also refer to anything that is considered excellent. Surely if a divine power is in charge, its characteristic should permeate the results, rather than the opposite. You certainly do me honor to say my poetry is a manifestation of it.

I so fully agree that the musical piece above titled "Secret Garden 'Sanctuary' - " is exceptionally beautiful. I must download a copy from iTunes (if they have it) to my phone so I can have it wherever I am. Ah! I just looked; they didn't offer that one but I've just downloaded the one on my hub titled 'Song from a Secret Garden' next to my poem 'Silent strains of Mozart. . ."

Rain! Too much rain. . .and here we're praying for more of it! We're merely teased with bits of the wet stuff but remain under the annual average. But I can imagine how it would affect one's mood to be getting more than enough, in spite of its benefit for both fauna and flora! So you'd refrain from kissing a lady frog, even in the event that she might be a princess in disguise whom your summon might materialize? My, my!

I just went looking for Ian's latest with those guests of honor for his Mrs Plantagenet-Featheringstonehaugh's formal affair, but all I found was the piece on hideous words in which the Kopi Luwak served at another of her soirees has taken over the comments' attention. While there, I added more banter to fan the flames.

Oh, yes - that "Golden Rule" is outstanding. A beautiful u-tube tribute to it. Thank you. How lovely that you saw the original! It was painted in 1961, long after i'd left home, but I still saw examples of his work, though not as often as when they appeared on the covers of "Boys' Life", which my brother, the Eagle Scout, received; & "Country Gentleman", one of Dad's choices; & "Saturday Evening Post", winch we all scrambled to read first, along with many others. SEP had great cartoons throughout on random pages. I loved those.

In 1943, there were many of his works which addressed social issues. I think of "The Four Freedoms" - (freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom from want and freedom from fear. There's also a good tube about those, http://youtu.be/9v22ONRKqDA

Now I know I must find the book and film adaptations of "The Secret Garden". My education has been sorely lacking!

Speaking of which, I just ran across a little book given me for my birthday when I was 11, titled "Jessica's First Prayer", which had an influence on my life. The giver was a lovely lady who was a friend of my much older sisters, who was to be named "Texas Mother of the Year" a little later on. She inscribed the book with an inspiring poem on its frontispiece.

Jessica in the book is a little orphan girl in pre-Victorian England who took refuge in a magnificent church & was summarily expelled as being unworthy to even set foot inside, much less to be there. I've forgotten most of it (I've ordered a new copy which is now in reprint, - since mine was damaged in our house fire, still readable, but quite fragile). I'm considering writing a little hub about this story.

The coup d'etat is that she learned to pray and learned that she wasn't just what her earthy fortune proclaimed, but she realized that she had intrinsic value as a person. I believe the book had an unsettling effect on the society of the time, possibly as Norman Rockwell's 1943 painting may have had on ours at the time!

Dearest Martie - Thank you! I felt sure you would appreciate the music! :-)

If stubborn means abiding, pervasive, interwoven, overwhelming, yes - it's the most stubborn. Once it's entered in its full regalia and one's heart recognizes and embraces it, - there's little on earth that can totally erase it and its effects it leaves even in its wake if, as you mention, 'nitty-gritty-fatal-events' come to unseat it with disappointment, fury, despair, fear, denial, doubt, jealousy - or whatever negative 'd-word' emotions those interlopers manage to summon & impose! What can one say or do, in that event?

My answer is neither said or done, but felt as gratitude for having been able and privileged to have hosted love at all, and still to experience it both in memory and in the present.

It's not an emotion one can buy, borrow, steal, command or invent. It's not one to stay in hostile situations. It simply comes to sit on one's shoulder and to invade one's being with the most magnificent tremors and tingles, certainties and hopes possible! If one doubts it or denies it its rightful place by bringing other emotions into that place where love seeks to abide, then it has the wings which delivered it in the first place and it will lift up and off until such time as it is again fully welcomed.

May I invite you to visit my little pages "Ah! Love" on my website? It can't hurt! :-) (There are 3 little pages in the series, linked at the bottom of each, if your heart yearns for more!)

http://nellieanna.com/ahlove1.html

Ah, my dear Shan! I am pleased to visualize you enjoying reading & snuggled - with or without a glass of wine, which is totally optional! The cup of ginger tea - or another choice - is probably a more fitting beverage!

For me, occasionally the one is preferable and sometimes the other. Most of my serious reading was long before wine ever touched my lips, since I didn't imbibe at all till I was in my 40s, and then, in moderation.

I still loved to read but it seemed more difficult to reserve the chance. I had to escape to a silent retreat to pursue it for a number of years. But then - I again had the opportunity and read everything I could about my then obsession - Emily Dickinson! I must face it - I'm rather obsessive at times.

Now, though - I think I'll go find an afghan and a book I just ordered and received! I'm done with anything but water for the day - but that's good too!

Thank you for this special visit! Hugs.

I'm so pleased that we share love of Norman Rockwell paintings. He was such a genius. I hadn't heard of the Normal Rockwell cookbook, though! How interesting! That 'Freedom From Want" print is perfect for a cookbook.

Ah, Lurana! I was in the Shirley Temple generation, you know, when every little girl dreamt of being her. I had a Shirley Temple doll and even a couple of Shirley Temple dresses my sister bought for me. One is shown on a page of "My Attic" on my webpage: http://nellieanna.com/attic1b.html & I'm wearing the other one in a picture of me @ 7 or 8 down this page: http://nellieanna.com/attic3.html in a B&W photo (as all were then) but the dress was red with little white polka dots. I'm wearing ugly shoes and socks in the picture. I notice I'm wearing the dress again on this page with my friend Barbara: http://nellieanna.com/attic3b.html. I had/have wild natually curly hair which responds to every bit of moisture or hint of breeze, but Mother usually tamed it into ringlets; so sometimes I was flattered to be mistaken for Shirley Temple by other little girls no more observant than myself! haha

I saw all of her movies and surely saw her "The Little Princess", though it didn't stick in my mind. It was the same year as 'Gone With The Wind' & 'The Wizard of Oz' (1939), which probably overshadowed it. That was when I was 7 - the time of those last two pictures in the Shirley Temple frock.

But another version of "A Little Princess" was filmed in 1995 with which I fell in love. Yes, the story is reminiscent of "Jessica's First Prayer"! I received the reprint of it today and am quite pleased that it's not modernized, just sturdy. It actually has wonderful period illustrations lacking in my little singed copy, which has only the text.

Dear Lurana - Yes, that sadness was great. It literally changed my life in a most major way - or set of ways. But it was so long ago. It will be 60 years ago next December, though it's still as vivid as then when I think of it. It just isn't something I think of too frequently, though, of course, it's a firmly entrenched event and part of my life. Leads me to think on how each event of one's life is like a building block of it.

My George's heritage was more totally Scottish on both sides. My Dad's heritage was Germanic.

Mother's saving ways were only semi-organized, but nothing like the 'hoarders' one sees featured on TV! The teabags - ah yes. Frugal! Mother didn't prefer sugar in her coffee or tea, but when ordering it 'out', she put sugar in it, 'to get her money's worth"! haha!

I think my online things may be becoming more invaluable to my family. There's been a distance which seems to be closing, spontaneously. Facebook has helped in that respect. My purpose wouldn't have been for that, thought because there was no promise it would ever matter, unless, posthumously - if ever discovered. I'm just a natural chronologer, story-teller and historian, I guess. They advise to write about what one knows - and what does one know better than one's own life?

It's such a pleasure to share with you here, just for the pleasure of it.

:-) Mother didn't miss many opportunities! thank you - Lurana!

Just watched "The Age Of Innocence" for the umpteenth time - always makes me cry a little.

(smiling) - Well, 'Secret' suggests at least a little bit of mystery in the imagery! :-) There's love in it, for sure.

Thank you, Audrey, I'm pleased you liked that.

Thank you, Monis Mas. I really was drinking ginger tea & burning incense, though candlelight was from another moment. I usually only have one kind of scented thing burning at a time. :) Nice to know that it feels 'homey' to you! We must have some things in common!

Hello, dear Eddy! I'm delighted that you visited and enjoyed my hub! Your comments do my heart good!

Thank you for the good wishes, too! It is a beautiful weekend here, with perfect weather. Hope yours is equally lovely! Hugs and love!

My dearest Maria ~ I'm so glad my words and expressions draw you now. I could not be more pleased. I'd be honored if you felt them here just for you. Thank you and much love.

Hugs. I am thinking of you and hope you have a lovely Mother's Day. I had a really sweet loving message from Michael, which filled my heart with joy.

Hello, sky2day, and welcome to my hub-world. I peeked at your hub site and see that you're from the Rocky Mountains, so it is small wonder you can appreciate the pictures featured on this page, which are so reflective of those magnificent mountains from the artist's perspective!

I'm glad you've honored my hub with your visit and look forward to exchanging visits! Thank you!

(And I thought I've been on HP a long time! My 3rd year as of last March!)

Thank you, dear Gwen. I love coming here and hearing the Secret Garden music. I've downloaded some of their songs from iTunes so I can hear them on my phone. It's so calming. I'm delighted that you enjoyed the hub! Thank you for your visit and sweet comments - and votes, of course! :-)

I must be doing something right, to get two visits in rapid succession from my dear poet friend, Vincent! I'm pleased~! Sometimes I fear that my frank opinions may turn you away! I ought to know better, after all this time! :-}

I've recently read many of your musical paeans to love and joy, as well as those shadowy ones to the triumph of those dark corners which beset you. You are both, dear Vincent. It's honest. But it's encouraging if your own purpose may be to lighten up your heart! If there are actions one can do to steer it that way, they need to be taken. But otherwise it's all within oneself.

Recently my friend John, who writes his church's bulletins & seeks my opinions, shared this with me; something which he intended to include on his 'Comments' page". You may have heard it before. I think I had, but it was good to be reminded:

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people.

He said, "My son, the battle is between two wolves inside us all.

"One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false prie, superiority and ego.

"The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility kindness, empathy, benevolence, generosity, truth, compassion and faith."

The grandson thought about it for a minute, then asked his grandfather:

"So, which wolf wins?"

The old Cherokee simply replied:

"The one you feed."

Author - Unknown

I can identify some of either of those wolves' bag of tricks within myself at times, struggling to 'win'. . . . I'm sure all of us have a combination. ;-) (And a choice which one to feed.)

We all also feel some of each make us who we are, as human beings. So I think we can be a bit selective. I HOPE! (Otherwise, I'm in danger! hehe)

It's a delight to have you visit my Sanctuary, Mike! I'm pleased that you liked it. Thank you! "Exquisite" is such an exquisite compliment! :-)

Hello, Theresa! A delight to see you've found my secret sanctuary and enjoyed it. I confess that if Maxfield Parrish is involved, it's a magic moment for me. I've loved him, it seems, almost all my life; and then found that he was one of George's favorites, too.

So many things about his art draw me, but his treatment of light and shadows is simply wonderful, sometimes other-worldly. Even so, one senses its origin and direction so that it's a living part of the imagery, making it personal and intimate. It feels like one is in on the secret!

Your words convey the same sort of feeling about his art and my, as you say so well, 'intertwining' it together in time and type. I could not be more pleased that you like it!

Thank you!