Welcome, Autumn
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Beauty Abounds
September 30, 2022
Welcome, Autumn
Dear ,
Happy Friday!
If you’re new around here, you probably found me through the 30 Prayers For When You Feel Lonely and Left Out Ebook. I write about belonging, identity, loneliness, culture, feeling like an outsider, faith, and finding beauty in this broken yet beautiful world. I’m so happy you’re here!
Welcome, Autumn
”Everyone needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul.” - John Muir
We’re a few moments past the Autumnal Equinox, this space between seasons. The transitions are small, but are there. Can you see them? A few leaves flickering and drifting down. Surges of flaming red appearing in the tips of the trees. A little browning on the edges of the rose. Yet more is coming.
It’s bittersweet. Autumn is a beautiful season but what comes after, for many in the country, is a long, bitterly cold, gray winter. And that does make me tense. I’m always cold and seeking places of warmth and safety.
I visited a beautiful place last week, a sculpture garden in a gorgeous setting, and with a little bonsai tree sanctuary. The bonsai in the photo above is 400 years old!
I wrote a little Ode to Autumn:
Autumn, I welcome you. I know you are part of life and an ordained season set in motion by a God of wisdom. I wish a cold winter didn’t follow, but I love the sparkling jewels of color that shimmer, that drift and die, before winter settles in. You teach of living and dying, of surrender, of softness and letting go. You are beauty, and I am grateful for the lessons you teach.
On the Bookshelf
Last month, I I had reached 30 books (with a goal of reading 40 this year), and now, I’m at 35+! Woo-hoo!
Here is a list of titles I've read or am currently reading since my last newsletter:
Inalienable by Eric Constanzo, Daniel Yang, and Matthew Soerens (almost finished)
Quiet by Susan Cain (still reading)
Saving Grace by Kirsten Powers
The Minority Experience by Adrian Pei
The Making of Asian America by Erika Lee
Big Magic by Jacqueline Bussie
This Here Flesh by Cole Arthur Riley (re-reading in October)
The Zookeeper’s Wife by Diane Ackerman
The Making of Asian America is a stunning, phenomenal read. It is a well-researched and well-written account of the history of Asian migration to the U.S. This is history I was never taught, and I immensely enjoyed it. I have the book on Audible, as well as a physical copy. This book should be part of an American History course. Highly recommend, five stars!
What books are you reading, or what’s on your nightstand? I’d love to know! Hit reply and share!
Book Writing Update
Making progress, making progress! I have drafted more words into coherent sentences! (If you’re new here, I shared more details about the book project in the .) I’m writing a book about ethnic loneliness, scheduled for release in 2024.
People are often interested in the process, and I’ve been asked several times about my particular process. One thing that is helping me is using index cards for organizing. I have each chapter divided with subtopics, and each subtopic is listed on an index card. I can then move those index cards as needed if I find a topic that fits another chapter. I will say this: it is a great deal of hard work, a well of soul-work, writing craft work, research work, and so forth. But I’m so excited at what’s coming and cannot wait, cannot wait for what’s ahead.
I have a couple more chapter drafts and outlines that have come to life, but there are “miles to go before I sleep”! Ha, and really there is no sleep, that just means I will “rest” from the writing itself, because at some point the book is written from my hand, and then it will go into the hands of readers, and more (good) work begins! You can read last month’s writing update , if you want to read last month’s report. : )
Multicultural Festival and Indian Dance
Recently I was in GA and attended both a multicultural festival as well as an art show with Indian American artists and some Indian dance. I ate Colombian arepas, Mexican tacos, Nigerian rice, Chinese moon cake and noodles, and of course, Indian food. : )
Here are some photos!
Poetry
Porch Swing in September
by Ted Kooser
The porch swing hangs fixed in a morning sun
that bleaches its gray slats, its flowered cushion
whose flowers have faded, like those of summer,
and a small brown spider has hung out her web
on a line between porch post and chain
so that no one may swing without breaking it.
She is saying it’s time that the swinging were done with,
time that the creaking and pinging and popping
that sang through the ceiling were past,
time now for the soft vibrations of moths,
the wasp tapping each board for an entrance,
the cool dewdrops to brush from her work
every morning, one world at a time.
***
This month’s poem speaks to me of the space between summer and fall, when the sun’s shadows lengthen, when flowers fade and soft breezes begin to blow. I can almost hear the soft flap of moth wings, I can see the spider web glistening in the sunlight, and I can imagine dust motes floating in rays of sunlight, though the poem doesn’t speak of dust motes specifically. I feel the quiet softness of the moment, the quiet transition between a season. Plus, it’s remarkable to me how he notices a spider web in the corner, and decides it’s time to stop swinging because doing so would break the web—or perhaps the spider is announcing it’s time to stop and let the season change.
In the house I grew up, my parents had a swing on the back porch. It was a favorite spot for us all, and my kids would all clamber up on top of that swing. This poem about the porch swing also evokes that happy memory.
Is there a particular memory about a porch or a swing that evokes a memory for you?
A Prayer for When You’re Searching for Answers
This month’s prayer is excerpted and edited from the 30 Prayers For When You’re Lonely ebook:
Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know. - Jeremiah 33:3 (NIV)
Lord, there certainly is no shortage of information in the world. I can’t escape the barrage of information heading my way on a constant basis. Yet, I often have deep questions that my friends and family can’t answer, that the news can’t answer, that no other book can answer. All of those are good sources, and can be helpful and I am thankful, but sometimes, I need answers that only can come from you. Please guide me and lead me to the answers I need. Thank you for being an omniscient God, for your all-knowing power. You have wisdom that I can’t find anywhere else. I trust you for answers. Thank you for being the source of all answers.
***
You can read last month’s prayer, A Prayer for Unbelief (which is not included in the free eBook, I am providing it only for my newsletter subscribers), by clicking
If you have not received a copy of the free prayer ebook, you can download your free copy here.
“Whenever I get lost, they find me in a poem. Poetry is my four directions.” - Dunya Mikhail
, it would make my day to hear from you. Hit reply and let me know what beauty you’re witnessing around you, what you’re reading, or something else that’s inspiring you. If you’re making your way through the 30 Prayers for When You Feel Lonely and Left Out eBook, I’d love to hear how that’s going, too.
Until next time, remember beauty abounds. What beauty can you find around you today?
Warmly,
Prasanta
Thank you for being here! If this is your first newsletter from me, you probably subscribed from my website, signed up for the prayer Ebook, for a giveaway, my Chai Recipe, or other resource. I’ll share helpful links, resources, and inspiration regularly. If this newsletter encouraged you in some way, would you consider sharing with a friend? (Make sure you check your spam folder and move this email to your inbox!)
Until next time, make it a lovely one,
Prasanta
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