The Worst Enemy of Creativity is Self Doubt – Sylvia Plath

A Happy Birthday to Charlotte Bronte, author of Jane Eyre, born on this day in 1816, and wishing each of you a happy, relaxing, and creative weekend…

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Friday at the Morikami Museum

It was a beautiful day to spend wandering through the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens in Delray Beach, Florida. Morikami’s gardens, named Roji-en: Garden of the Drops of Dew, were designed by Hoichi Kurisu to be a living exhibit as an extension of the museum. Its six distinct gardens are inspired by significant gardens of Japan. I spent hours taking pictures, and just sitting and reflecting, absorbing the serenity and beauty that surrounded me

“Immersed in society’s materialism, increasingly boxed into a systematized world, we have become immune to a simpler, more natural way of living and thinking. It is difficult if not impossible under such circumstances to experience and know reality. Despite our accomplishments and possessions, our deeper desires often remain unfulfilled. We find ourselves preoccupied with modern society’s demands, drawing us away from cultivating a more fundamental relationship with Life.

The development of the Cornell Japanese Gardens at Morikami Park offers rich potential for thought and experience. They are an invitation to stop momentarily and ponder anew what we are, where we have been, and where we are heading. My hope is that visitors will let the gardens speak to them of timeless truths and rhythms which can provide therapeutic insights for today. I hope visitors will listen to, cherish and act upon the inspiration the gardens impart to them individually.

Strolling through pine forest or bamboo grove, viewing the rock formations, arrangements of plants and cascading waterfalls, pausing to ponder the quiet surface of the lake and shoreline —little by little we are encouraged to lay aside the chaos of a troubled world and gently nurture the capacity within to hear a more harmonious, universal rhythm. We exchange burden, boredom and despair for renewal, inspiration and hope. Or, from the joy we already feel, we discover an even greater capacity for good. This is the tremendous power the Japanese gardens at Morikami Park hold for us.

My hope is that a visit to the gardens will genuinely and deeply touch each individual’s life. My hope is that progressive ideas will be born and that action will take root here, that the intuitive conviction of such enduring qualities as beauty, love, health and wholeness, integrity, creativity, renewal, and selflessness will be strengthened.

I will have accomplished my goal if visitors to the gardens come away refreshed and feeling better about themselves and their world while looking forward to sharing their experiences here with others.”

— Hoichi Kurisu, Master Garden Designer

Photos by NA Bersin

Wishing everyone a beautiful and tranquil weekend!

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Poet Spotlight: Mary Oliver (1935-2019)

I recently discovered the engaging and captivating poetry of Mary Oliver, a Pulitzer Prize-winning American poet and nature lover, whose influences included Walt Whitman and Henry David Thoreau.

Her love of nature began as a child in Ohio, where she escaped the drama of her dysfunctional family and found solace in the woods nearby. This love bloomed into a passion for both nature and poetry, which continued throughout the rest of her life.

She later worked at Steepletop, the estate of Edna St. Vincent Millay, and continued on to study at Ohio State University and Vassar College. Her first collection of poems, No Voyage and Other Poems, was published in 1963 when she was 28. She held several university teaching posts, as well as residencies in the northeast during the 1980’s and 1990’s.

She met her partner, photographer Mary Malone Cook in the late 1950’s, and eventually, the pair moved to Provincetown, Massachusetts where they lived together until Cook’s death in 2005. Mary eventually moved to South Florida, where she remained until her death in 2019.

She valued her privacy and did few interviews, preferring instead to let her poetry speak for itself. Her body of work is extensive, as is her list of honors and awards. She was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1984 for the book “American Primitive“, as well as The National Book Award for Poetry in 1992 for “New and Selected Poems”.

Here are the first few lines of “Wild Geese” which first caught my attention…

And these lines, from “A Summer’s Day”

“I don’t know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?”

Her thoughts on creativity drew me in as well…

“ I think we’re creative all day long. We have to have an appointment to have that work out on the page. Because the creative part of us gets tired of waiting, or just gets tired.”

“To pay attention, this is our endless and proper work”

For more information and to read some of her poetry:

MaryOliver.com

Mary Oliver / Poetry Foundation

Academy of American Poets

Interesting Literature

And here she is reading from A Thousand Mornings in 2019

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Another Year Winding Down

Finally getting caught up after National Novel Writing Month, and I just wanted to take the opportunity to wish each and every one of you…


The Happiest of Holiday Seasons

and a Joyful New Year

filled with Peace, Inspiration, and Love!!


I’ll be back in just a week or so with all new posts, as well as some new bonus features.

Austin Kleon- Steal Like An Artist

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Wordless Wednesday: 110222

Key Largo Sunsetphoto by Jody

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November 2, 2022 · 11:04 am

Wordless Wednesday: 102622

Gone Ridingphoto by Emily Bersin

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Wordless Wednesday: 101922

South FL Fall Colors – photo by nabersin

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Thank You For Your Inspiration!

I’ve been so motivated and inspired by all your posts showing the beautiful changing colors of the foliage, descriptions of the cooler weather, pictures of pumpkins and apple picking, the sounds of leaves crunching underfoot, and the feeling of renewal with the changing seasons. I can smell the pumpkin spice in the air!

Growing up in the Northeast, Autumn was always my favorite time of year. The cooler air seemed to bring on a refreshing recharge before the cold, grey winter set in, and the incredible landscape a welcome and renewed appreciation of the beauty of nature.

So, in appreciation of all your inspiration, here are a few ideas to hopefully return the favor and offer some encouragement in your creative journey. Hope you all have a fantastic, inspiring, and fulfilling weekend!

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Wordless Wednesday: 101222

Waiting For The Bus in WPB, FL -Photo by Jody

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Wordless Wednesday: 92822

Mom’s Last Words – photo by Emily Bersin

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