It's a Classical Life

  Last Saturday I posted an article about  finding inspiration in the classics . Writing it reminded me of all the reasons on why I chose to embark on this classic-inspired life. Then yesterday when researching today's Bitesize Inspiration I came across this quote by Rene Descartes, French philosopher, mathematician and scientist. Famous for the quote - "I think, therefore I am," Descartes focused much of his philosophical writing and teaching around the metaphysical. This week's quote, however, is a lot more straight forward than that.  When we spend time with classic literature, music or art from the past, we are indeed embarking on a conversation with the finest minds of past centuries. We listen to what they have to say, to what they can teach us and how we can empathise with them. When we have conversations such as these we no longer feel alone. Isn't that reason enough to dive into the classics? Have a lovely week, and thank you for stopping by.

  I imagine that if you have found your way here to be reading this now that you are in some way a fan of the classics - whether that be literature, poetry, music, art or any other creative outlet that has been known to stand the test of time. What I wonder though, is how many of you have consciously - and willingly - turned to the classics as a form of inspiration for your own life?  This revelation came to me in September of 2020 when I was sick in bed with a high fever. Between bouts of sleep interspersed with much tossing and turning, somehow my mind found its way to the people of the past who had been through illness and come through it unscathed. My sickness was just a bad cold, nothing life threatening, but still it made me think. I wasn't going through anything new. People had been sick before and would be sick again. We were, however, going through a global pandemic at that time and things were very uncertain. That's when I consciously chose to turn to ...

  There has been so much written about how to live well and how to live a simple life over the centuries. Some of our best sources of inspiration come from spiritual and religious texts - people who, centuries ago, had time to contemplate and meditate such existential questions. This week's inspiration comes from a contemporary spiritual writer - Joan Chittester . Chittester belongs to the order of Benedictine sisters and has written so much on spirituality, how to live well, religion, social issues and more. Recently I started reading her book, Becoming Fully Human, from which I have taken this week's quote. I hope it speaks it to as much as it did to me at this time.  I have made a lot of changes recently in my life and I am striving hard for a more simple life. I think what was missing though was this thought of Chittister's. I was making many physical and situational changes but not really addressing my own heart and reaction to the myriad of things that life brings. Th...

With the cost of living affecting people all around the world, the increased climate crisis, and the terrible abuse of underpaid workers in developing countries, buying second-hand can be the answer to these problems. I'm a big believer in shopping second hand, and have loved searching through op shops (thrift stores) and antique stores since I was a teenager. I loved finding something unique or knowing that I wasn't supporting fast fashion (yes, that was a thing all those years ago!) or compromising the lives of workers in developing countries who perhaps had made their products for a lower than acceptable wage.  However, there are many people who really don't like the idea of shopping second-hand or perhaps don't know where to begin. Not to worry, I'm here to help! Here's a list of some things to start looking for second hand. That can be in-store (which I highly recommend), or from online websites such as eBay , Poshmark , or  Gumtree . The joy of searching i...

  Have you ever noticed when a word or a saying comes to your attention, and then suddenly you're hearing or seeing it everywhere? This is exactly what happened with me over this last week with this week's quote. The more things change the more they stay the same.  It's an old-fashioned quote, one often used by the elders in our community. Those who have lived through a long life, and paid attention! It is often used in relation to social issues or politics but I think it can be applied to so many areas of our life.  As a historian and avid reader of the classics and historical non-fiction, I can see so many patterns that are repeated - whether that be due to human nature, social movements or simply the tendency that history has to repeat itself. Sometimes these are on a personal level - I myself claim to change but continue to fall into the same habits of the past. Or they can be on a bigger scale - schools and churches make new promises only to ...