Anyone can paint a picture.Unless they don’t have a brush, a canvas, a piece of paper.Anyone can grow a garden.Unless they don’t have land, seeds, a patch of dirt.Anyone can learn to read.Unless they don’t have a book, a paragraph, a teacher.Anyone can make dinner.Unless they don’t have a fridge, a stove, some food.Anyone can…
Author: L.M. Beatty
Artist & Author. Passionate Believer. Addicted to coffee, sunshine & laughter.
Inspired to find & share about the remarkable things that make life extraordinary.
Book Review: The Secrets of Florence
Why I was interested in this book: Last fall, my family took a lovely vacation to Italy. We started in Rome, took the high-speed train up to Venice and the ended our trip in Florence (with a final flight back out of Rome). In preparation for the trip, my sister and I had found some…
Above the Clouds I, II & III
I. Let me be above the cloudsjust for a moment;up here, I can breathe.The worries of the earth have to leave me alone.I can’t tend to my garden above the clouds.I can only dream of the roses, peonies & lilacsthat will make my home a glorious altar to the senses.I can’t harvest my vegetables.I can…
Scars
It doesn’t take much effort to createa lifetime of damage; to spoil the perfectionof a smooth façade. But come to think of it:even before being marred by a weaponwas anything ever without fault? For beforethe damage was done, imperfections were imparted.There is no true symmetry in nature,there is nothing created by God that doesn’thave a…
Book Review: The Writer’s Table — Famous Authors and Their Favourite Recipes
Why I was interested in this book The Writer’s Table caught my eye as I wandered through Anthropologie on a sunny Sunday afternoon. I really had no business buying anything that day, let alone a coffee table book, but the book’s concept & design were really captivating. I own quite a few art books that…
Book Review: Hamnet
Why I was interested in this book: I think I had heard of Hamnet, the novel, without making any effort to read it for multiple years. As you may remember, I often avoid modern, trendy novels. But, when the stars aligned for trailers of the film and promotion for the run of the play at…
A Beautiful Mind
I need to beautify my brain. I don’t often let her take up intentional space.She thrives on the autopilot I’ve programmed her for.Routine.Repetition. But lately, I’ve given her space for ideas to take root—a dangerous plan for an unexplored landscape. Over silent lunches punctuated onlyby my chomping sounds as Imethodically chew my salad,or in the…
Book Review: A Time of Gifts
Note: I’ve been on the struggle bus with book reviews for the past month or so—not because I haven’t been reading books. On the contrary, I’ve read quite a few good ones lately and I’ve felt rather guilty about not sharing the wealth. A few years ago, I decided that writing reviews on this blog…
Americana
I used to love America. She was expansive, she was bold, she was great. The mythology, the lore didn’t hide her faults.Like all gods, she had stumbled and fallen.Numerous were her vicious sins,but many were her stellar victories.She was scrappy; an ambitious overcomer.In my naivety, I saw her as a beaconof what could be good…
Presently Weak, Eternally Hopeful
The world is a heartbroken at the momentstitched back together in the nextby well wishes for peacewasted on ears seemingly benton being deaf. Sutures don’t fix fractures.Fissures in our bonesin our backsin our neighborhoodsin our homesrequire a reset—a brace,a cast,a sling,an apology. Healing takes timetakes prayertakes lovetakes understandingtakes humility. But the body can’t healwhen it’s…
L.M.Beatty 